A fundamental right to opt out
By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | ∞
When the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled last week that parents do not have a constitutional right to home-school their children, what the judges were really saying is that parents don't have the right to opt out of the public school system, no matter how deeply they disagree with what, or how badly, the schools are teaching their children.
But the judges are wrong, for we do have -- and the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld -- a fundamental right to opt out of what are generally considered mandatory obligations. From offering conscientious objector status to those who are opposed to military service to letting Jehovah's Witnesses refrain from participating in the Pledge of Allegiance each morning before school, the courts have ruled that the government's power to compel participation does not trump a citizen's right to hew to his or her own conscience.
There are exceptions, of course: You still have to show up for jury duty even if you're morally opposed to our judicial system (although you're not going to be put on a jury if you make your beliefs known). And if you're arrested, guess what? You're still going to have to face the charges, no matter your beliefs.
The most visible example of the courts overruling a citizen's prerogative to be left alone has been in the area of medical care for minors: While the courts have found that adults have the right to refuse modern medical treatment based on their personal beliefs, they don't have a right to deny such care to their underage children. (Although parents may exempt their children from immunizations that are otherwise required to attend school.)
Yet it would be a bit of a stretch to compare home-schooling one's children to denying them chemotherapy. Home-schooling children has not, so far as we know, been shown to shorten the lifespan of a child.
To this point, both state education officials and home-schooling advocates are advising home-schooling families not to panic. The governor has promised to push legislation through to overturn the state court if necessary, while state education officials say that any home-school child enrolled in a self-study program through a public or accredited school is already in compliance with the appellate decision. (And of course, private schools, religious and secular, offer yet another alternative -- although not one that every family can afford.)
But these approaches seem to simply ignore the court's basic assertion: that citizens have an obligation to shut up and to do as they're told by the state government.
Far better than ignoring such a misguided ruling is to either appeal it to the state Supreme Court, in hopes of having it overturned, or have the Legislature place a state constitutional amendment before voters, clarifying the right of each of us to educate our children as we feel best.
Yes, even home-schooled children should have a firm grasp of commonly agreed-upon subjects like math, history, the sciences, the arts and citizenship.
But how our children gain that knowledge is best left to each family.
-- Contact staff writer Jim Trageser at (760) 761-4413 or jtrageser@nctimes.com
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PLEASE! wrote on Mar 13, 2008 8:39 AM:Before commenting and making generalizations about the stupidity of this ruling, one needs to read the ENTIRE opinion and UNDERSTAND what it said. The opinion stated that under CURRENT CALIFORNIA LAW, a certified teacher overseeing home school instruction is required. In this particular case, this did not occur. The parents had enrolled their kids in a 'charter school' that the court deemed did NOT comply with the CURRENT LAW (not a constitutional issue here). The school did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that it's program was in compliance with California EDUCATION LAW, specifically, it did not provide a certified teacher to oversee the education of the home schooled children on a regular basis. The kids saw a teacher less than 3 times a year. The parents then played the 'religious belief's' card. After considering the evidence, it was obvious to the court that these particular parents and 'charter school' were not home schooling their kids for religious beliefs. There was no crediable evidence to support the parents' claim that they were educating their children at home to support their religious way of life. It was simply a legal argument advanced by the parents' attorneys which the court saw through. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE OPINION BEFORE MAKING GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT HOW STUPID THE RULING IS. The ruling shows that corrections/clarifications in the law are needed by the legislature if it wants every parent to have the option of homeschooling their kids without any type of professional oversight by the government. IT DOES NOT TELL THE PUBLIC THAT THEY HAVE TO 'SHUT UP AND DO WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SAYS'. It is a well known fact that courts can only enforce the laws as they are written. If the governator and congress want to clarify the law, they are free to do it, but until then, the court's hands are tied.
Olaf wrote on Mar 13, 2008 8:55 AM:Good article! I still am worried about the home schooling of children from parents who have no degree or haven't even graduated from high school themselves. Granted the majority of home schooled kids are being thought by parents who have at least meet one of these criteria and I know the stat's of home schooled vs public (heck I might even home school mine when I have them) but you know some where there is some poor family keeping their children home from school and they are not at least getting a K-12 education (as bad as that might be. So maybe there should be some involvment as to who can and can not home school. Just my two cents.
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