MARCH 11, 2008
CALIFORNIA HOME SCHOOLERS
IN JEOPARDY--
Greetings, Home schoolers:
We here at Wisconsin CHEA have been abreast of the situation in California, and we would like to inform you of what is going on there.
Please read the following information and advice, pray about this situation, and then act accordingly. We know that God is in control of this situation, and we pray that His hand be upon this situation. As Christian home schoolers, we encourage you to do what you believe the Lord would have you to do.
We will give you all of the background information, and then we will tell you what Wisconsin CHEA's stand is on this situation. Please read on:
BACKGROUND: HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) has a Petition on their website to Support Homeschool Freedom in California.
As of today, March 11, they have over 200,000 signatures!
The California Court of Appeals recently decided that
homeschooling is illegal in California unless a parent is a certified
teacher.
The case arose in a confidential juvenile court proceeding. The family
was represented by court-appointed attorneys and HSLDA did not become
aware of the case until the Court of Appeal case was published on
February 28, 2008.
The Court could have restricted its decision to the facts before it,
but instead, it issued a broad ruling that effectively outlaws home
education in California. The Court also certified its decision for
publication, which means that the decision can now be cited as legal
authority by all other courts in California.
HSLDA will be formally petitioning the California Supreme Court to
depublish the opinion. We would like to show that many other people,
both in California and across the country, care deeply about homeschool
freedom in California.
Keep homeschooling free in California by petitioning the Supreme Court
of California to depublish the opinion. If the opinion is
depublished then it cannot be used by other California courts
and this threat to homeschool freedom will be neutralized for other
California homeschoolers.
Please show your support for this effort by signing the petition by
going to:
www.hslda.org
Even the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger believes in the parent's right to home school. Here is information on his input in this situation.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denounced a state appeals court ruling that severely restricts homeschooling and promised Friday to change the law if necessary to guarantee that parents are able to educate their children at home.
"Every California child deserves a quality education, and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children," Schwarzenegger said in response to the ruling, which said children educated at home must be taught by a credentialed teacher.
"Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education," Schwarzenegger said. "This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts, and if the courts don't protect parents' rights then, as elected officials, we will."
State Education Secretary David Long, a Schwarzenegger appointee, said that meant the governor supported allowing parents without teaching credentials to educate their children.
"The governor sees this as a fundamental right of parental choice," he said.
I had a lengthy conversation this morning with Christopher Klicka, Wisconsin native, long-time CHEA conference speaker, and attorney at the Home School Legal Defense Association.
After our conversation, we here at Wisconsin CHEA have decided that we do indeed agree with HSLDA's advice in this situation.
First of all, home schoolers all over the country, and especially in California, should indeed NOT PANIC. We should of course, go about homeschooling as usual.
Then, in order to show support of keeping home education legal in CA, and to show that we stand with CA in their right to educate their children as they see fit, we encourage you to sign the petition on HSLDA's website.
The website address is: www.hslda.org
Have the CA homeschooling organizations opposed the petition HSLDA is promoting? According to Chris Klicka, to HSLDA's knowledge, as of today, March 11, there has been no opposition to the petition shown to them by other CA organizations.
Does HSLDA have the authority to submit the petition and signatures, since they are not a party to the case? ABSOLUTELY!! According to Chris Klicka, the way the law reads in CA, HSLDA indeed will be able to submit a petiton to the CA Supreme Court. If you go to their website, you can read what the petition states, and read the explanation they have about depublishing the case. This is the first line of defense in protection of home schooling in CA.
I would like to insert one more piece of information here. HSLDA has been working for years and years protecting the freedoms of home schoolers throughout our great nation, and even internationally. They have over 80,000 members and have been a non-profit ministry for 15 years. I have always found the entire group of attorneys and staff there to be humble, godly people. They have won many, many court cases, and have worked diligently to protect our freedoms to home school, many times "over and beyond" the call of duty!! What is refreshing to see is that instead of claiming glory for themselves personally, I have ALWAYS see them GIVE THE GLORY TO GOD. I truly believe God has His hand on that ministry, and they are doing the right thing.
For those of you that would like to read about many of these victories and cases that HSLDA has confronted over the years, pick up Chris Klicka's book "Home School Heroes." It is available on their website.
Lastly, should we here in WI be helping those in CA? Is our help really needed? In order to answer that question, please let me quote from an email I received from a home school parent here in WI. I believe she is absolutely right, and this quote fits the situation well:
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.Then they came for the Communist and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist...Then they came for me...
I would like to end by copying the entire email sent by this home school mom, as it is evident that she has thought this situation through, and has put her thoughts into print very well. Please read her email.
Dear friends and family,
Perhaps this little quotation (above) sounds a bit melodramatic, but it seems to at least remotely fit something outrageous that's going on right now that may, if there's any truth to this quotation, indirectly affect us all.
I imagine that some of you are aware of a recent judicial decision in California, essentially making home schooling illegal for the entire state. The frightening thing about this case is that the judicial branch apparently used some secretive and underhanded tactics to basically nullify California's current home school laws. When renegade judges are allowed to use their position in this manner, it affects everyone, maybe not today, but eventually. That's why, whether or not your family currently home schools, I wanted to write to each of you about this issue.
This situation, although it originated with a court decision against one California home school, has been broadened to include the entire state. California is now requiring all home school teachers to be state certified, which, at first glance, looks fairly benign. But, according to Michael Ferris, a legal defense attorney, 99.9% of the population will be unable to home school their elementary-aged students, and 0% would be able teach at the junior/senior high level. As it now stands, this court decision can be used as a precedent for other states, and California is known in many arenas, for setting the trends for the rest of the nation.
The Home School Legal Defense Association, a group of attorneys who has for many years dealt with such cases, is extremely concerned about this ruling, and they are asking people, whether home schoolers or not, to sign an on-line petition requesting that this CA court decision not be applied to the entire state, and my understanding is that if this request is granted, the decision will not have precedent-setting power in the rest of the nation. These types of petitions have been very effective in the past when dealing with similar situations.
On behalf of my home schooling family and others around the nation, I'm wondering if you would consider taking a minute to go to www.hslda.org to sign an on-line petition that will take you one to two minutes to complete. HSLDA has guaranteed that you will not be contacted in the future as a result of filling out this petition. Also, would you be willing to forward this email to those you know, who may be able to help us with this battle?
With heartfelt thanks,
Valori, for the Cadwell family
Thank you for taking the time to read this. To sum up, Wisconsin CHEA recommends:
- read all of this information, twice through if you need to.
- go the HSLDA website to gain even more information about the situation
- pray about this situation, and pray for those in CA
- DO NOT PANIC, this situation will not affect our state, as we are protected by our own home school law
- DO NOT PANIC for those in CA, and if you know of any homeschoolers there, convey this message to them
- Remember that God is in control--
- go to hslda.org and sign the petition
- get the word out to others to do the same
God Bless all of you.
We pray that God's blessings be upon each of you!
Al and Jan Gnacinski
Wisconsin CHEA
