Alot of families at Grace Fellowship Church--over half of them, in fact--homeschool their children. More often than not their children are way ahead of their public school counterparts in the educational process. There is verifiable data statewide that confirms that.
"Parents do not have a constituitonal right to home school their children." Not every parent should/can homeschool their children. Some parents would willingly acknowledge that their own formal education leaves something to be desired as well as their patience quotient being inadequate for the teaching process. Others would have to admit, "I do not have the time or energy for this task". Undoubtedly, there are some parents who are not so honest about their weaknesses and have abused the homeschooling situation by not being diligent about the requirements and daily disciplines.
The family at the heart of the recent ruling by judges in Los Angeles County concerned one family who has a twenty year history of litigation in the juvenile courts regarding the care of their children. Sucha ruling should not have been used to punish an entire class of people who are committed to the regimen of effective homeschooling.
The Home School Legal DefenseAssociation in California has filed a contesting brief in this case, and the California State Governor has issued his own deprecation of this irrational order that potentially affects nearly 200,000 school-age children in California--the only state with such a prohibition.
What seems to be at the heart of such a ruling is the restriction of freedom and the imposition of regulations on parents seeking to provide the best education they can for their chidlren. Given the decidedly-secular propensities of the public school system and the high cost of private schooling, the option of homeschooling has become more inviting for concerned parents.
As a grandparent--my children all raised (private school "survivors")--I am concerned for my eleven grandchildren, some in public school, some in private school. At the very least I trust their parents to decide what are the best options for their children, and then to pursue them with the freedom to assess and access all the options available to them.
Should they decide to homeschool, I would support their decision and freedom to do so!
1 comment:
Wow, tricky stuff! We hear Texas is the Golden state when it comes to homeschooling...we may give it a shot...such a big decision! Thanks for your thoughts on this topic.
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