Is Homeschooling Unconstitutional?
According to California Justice H. Walter Croskey who recently published an opinion that parents “do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children”, it is.
I don’t homeschool my children because I realized that I didn’t have the patience nor wherewithal to give them the education that I know they need. However, I do hold great admiration for parents who are so strongly dedicated to their children’s education that they have taken on the task themselves. I know several women who have gone this route and they are super moms in my book. Their children are well adjusted, happy and most of the time more academically advanced than children in public schools. I promote the idea of homeschooling. I value the option of having the choice to homeschool.
However, some people do not agree and think that parents do not have the right to determine how their children should be educated; that alternative methods other than institutional schooling is unconstitutional. I’m not in a position to say whether homeschooling is right or wrong, but I liked having the choice to be wrong if that was the case. I agree, some parents shouldn’t presume to educate their children when they are not qualified (I’m in that group. I know that about myself). There are parents out there though, who are doing a terrific job educating their children and they are to be commended.
Visit the Reverse The Ruling - Homeschoolers Unite website to learn more about this issue and join hundreds of thousands who share this high regard for freedom by signing the petition and become an active participant in the fight to keep this choice available to all, whether you homeschool or not.
Read the press release below for additional details.
PRESS RELEASE:
Sorting Fact From Fiction, Opinion From Opposition with ReverseTheRuling.com
Parents are responsible to train their children to the very best of their ability and to teach them all they believe to be true. Parents are blessed with children, and obligated to care for all aspects of their children’s lives, including who, what, where and how they are educated.(PRWEB) March 11, 2008 — Homeschooling activists across the nation are calling to “Reverse the Ruling,” targeting the recent opinion published by California Justice H. Walter Croskey that parents “do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children.”
On www.ReverseTheRuling.com, education activists have been separating fact from fiction, and schooling the general public on the recent events relating to homeschooling in California, as well as working with homeschoolers all across the nation to gather over 100,000 petition signatures demanding that this ruling be reversed.
“Homeschooling has been a freedom practiced long before the Constitution captured our inalienable rights, with many of the Declaration of Independence signatures coming from men that were homeschooled. Our opinion is quite clear,” said Mimi Rothschild, leader of ReverseTheRuling.com. “Parents are responsible to train their children to the very best of their ability and to teach them all they believe to be true. Parents are blessed with children, and obligated to care for all aspects of their children’s lives, including who, what, where and how they are educated.”
Since release yesterday, the ReverseTheRuling.com petition has been inundated with signatures, Ms. Rothschild and other activist are encouraging those that oppose this ruling to be active – signing as many national petitions as possible, gathering information and writing about their experiences on such sites as www.ReverseTheRuling.com.
About www.ReverseTheRuling.com:
ReverseTheRuling.com is the one-stop source of information for homeschoolers across the nation to learn, spread the word and be heard regarding the recent actions and events that affect homeschoolers throughout the state of California. Please visit www.ReverseTheRuling.com to learn more about the issue, and see how you can participate in reversing the most shocking ruling to hit homeschooling ever.To schedule interviews with Mimi Rothschild, nationally known education expert specializing in Homeschooling, please contact:
Michael Broome
T. 215.487.3700 ext. 67266
mbroome@LearningbyGrace.orgMimi Rothschild
Mimi@LearningbyGrace.org
Mar 11, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Kit says,
He’s not referring to the Constitution of the United States - he’s referring to the State Constitution of California.
That’s the legal authority, since education is the domain of the individual states.
This is why so many Federal education programs are a problem- the Feds do NOT have to allocate monies to the states for education - they can however ‘offer’ money as incentives to use such and so a program.
NCLB isn’t even mandatory - IF the states choose to, they can refuse Federal monies, no problem.
But given the Cali constitution, Homeschooling is not a right.
I really wish Californians would DO something about that, instead of complaining only when existing laws are enforced.
May 1, 2008 at 8:15 pm
captainah says,
just another of our rights as parents and americans they will try to take away.the educational system is a complete failure they will not teach any of the history that we learned when we were in school,and they fall short teaching every other subject.today’s schools are focusing more on the f-cat tests for funding rather than teaching what they should be teaching our children.the reason for this is they want to teach just enough to get the children through school so they will be labor for the elite as they enter the work force.if we dont stop them now and make the improvements for our childrens future then they will gain and we will have lost everything.