Homeschooling unconstitutional?

“California parents without teaching credentials cannot legally home school their children, according to a recent state appellate court ruling.”Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in a Feb. 28 opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeal. Noncompliance could lead to criminal complaints against the parents, Croskey said.” CNN

When I saw this on the news I was outraged. Public schools are failing to teach the kids, failing to prepare kids for the “real world,” and failing to protect them from abuse both from other students and staff, yet parents who cannot afford private school are going to be forced to send their kids to these schools. You read in the news how public schools hire teachers that aren’t qualified, but in order to home school, parents are going to be required to be more certified than teachers. It doesn’t make sense.

I understand that there may be concern that uneducated parents have difficulty teaching certain subjects. With co-ops, the internet, library, and home school programs parents have all the available materials to teach their own kids. Not only that but in some states since parents of homeschoolers still pay school taxes they are entitled to take advantage of certain public school resources.

This will be appealed and I pray that the ruling will be changed. If not, I can’t help but wonder if other states will follow California’s lead. I certainly hope not, but won’t be too surprised if they do.

Marie-Anne