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California Appellate Court OK's Home Schooling, Reversing Earlier Decision

By Howard M. Friedman

In a widely-followed case, today a California Court of Appeal, on rehearing, reversed its earlier ruling (see prior posting) and held that California law permits parents to home school their children without employing a certified teacher to carry out the instruction. In Jonathan L. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, (CA Ct. App., Aug. 8, 2008), the court held that the private-school exemption in California's compulsory education law includes a parent teaching a child in the home. Finding that the language of the statute is ambiguous, the court relied on legislative history to reach its conclusion. It found t while the legislature never explicitly repealed a ban on home schooling, various of its laws dealt with home schools as if they are permitted. The court said its conclusion if further bolstered by the past administrative interpretation of California law, reliance by parents on that understanding, and by the preference to interpret statutes so as to avoid constitutional questions.

The court went on to hold that while parents have a constitutional liberty interest in directing the education of their children, the state also has a compelling interest in protecting the welfare of children. Therefore a dependency court could decide that a child's safety requires removing them from home schooling The court remanded the case for the trial court for a determination of whether such safety concerns exist. In concluding its opinion, the court urged the California legislature to provide objective criteria for the oversight of home schooling. Today's Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury News both report on the decision. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Full post as published by Religion Clause on August 08, 2008 (boomark / email).