Court Deems Homeschooling a Criminal Offense
Steven Greenhut
Lew Rockwell.com
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Pacific Justice Institute in Sacramento sent along a
statement about a disturbing California Court of Appeal
decision finding that parents have no right to homeschool
their children. Parents who do not send their kids to the
school deemed appropriate by the state may face criminal
charges and fines. Remember when former Superintendent of
Public Instruction Delaine Eastin tried to criminalize
homeschooling? Here we go again. It’s ironic, given how badly
the government miseducates students, that officials are so
determined to criminalize this basic freedom. This really
shouldn’t shock anyone who realizes the degree to which
government at all levels runs our lives.
Here’s the PJI statement:
Home Schooling Found Unlawful by California Court of Appeal
Los Angeles – In a stunning decision affecting thousands of
families in California, the California Court of Appeal has
issued an opinion finding no legal right to home school.
“Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may
be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty
of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an
order to complete a parent education and counseling program,”
wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey whose opinion was joined by
the other two members of the appellate panel.
(Article continues below)
The opinion was issued February 28, 2008, in a case titled In
re Rachel L, which reversed a Superior Court Judge, Stephen
Marpet, who found that “parents have a constitutional right to
school their children in their own home.” The parents of
Rachel L. enrolled her in Sunland Christian School, a private
home schooling program. In his opinion, Croskey, 75, described
what he called the “ruse of enrolling [children] in a private
school and then letting them stay home and be taught by a non-
credentialed parent.”
Despite this statement by the Court, it should be noted that
Sunland Christian School has been in full compliance with the
requirements of the law for more than twenty years. “We’ve
never been given an op****tunity to represent our case in the
Court of Appeal,” said Terry Neven, the president of the
school. “Consequently, we are excited that PJI will represent
us before the California Supreme Court so that the rights of
home schooling families are preserved,” he stated further. In
a section titled “Consequences of Parental Denial of a Legal
Education,” the Court said that “parents are subject to being
ordered to enroll their children in an appropriate school or
education program and provide proof of enrollment to the
court, and willful failure to comply with such an order may be
punished by a fine for civil contempt.” “The scope of this
decision by the appellate court is breathtaking. It not only
attacks traditional home schooling, but also calls into
question home schooling through charter schools and teaching
children at home via independent study through public and
private schools,” stated Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific
Justice Institute “If not reversed, the parents of the more
than 166,000 students currently receiving an education at home
will be subject to criminal sanctions,” he continued.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/greenhut/greenhut51.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2008/060308Homeschoo
ling.htm
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A government, of, by, and, for: Rich, Elite, Freemasons.
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the
light:
for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
The light ****neth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be
single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is that darkness!
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
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