California Needs a GOOD Homeschool Law

California Needs a GOOD Homeschool Law!

By Kathleen Moore Kordenbrock

California has been sitting on the fence between schools and homeschools now for over 30 years, alternately approving and disapproving of parents who wish to educate their own children at home. The pendulum swings across the state from counties and school districts that are cooperative and helpful to those who are difficult and sometimes downright hostile.

Officials even at the California Department of Education seem to have been drawn to both ends of the spectrum. At the positive end we have a letter from the then Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Hoenig written to homeschoolers in the fall of 1982, giving them permission to use the Private School Affidavit (PSA) to turn their homeschools into “mini” private schools. At the negative end we have some state lawyers who have insisted over the years that homeschooling is not legal in California.

We as homeschoolers should not return a hostile attitude, but work together for a good law to benefit our children. We must not approach schools and education officials as the enemy. Many have been very helpful. Officials come and go, and we need to be constantly informing and educating them.

What Now?

The present Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of California Delaine Eastin sent out a letter on July 16, 2002, outlining the new online process for filing the PSA or R-4 Affidavit. Many homeschoolers reacted with anger and frustration to the line at the end of the letter, which stated that “those parents who home school their children are operating outside the law…” Outraged homeschool advocates descended upon her with phone calls and faxes, which prompted her to demand homeschool legislation from the California State Assembly three days before they broke session at the end of August.

It is unfortunate that feathers were ruffled on both sides. Both reactions were unnecessary and unwarranted. We all need to calm down and look carefully at the issues.

First of all, the law has not changed. Many thousands of families have homeschooled in the State of California for 20 years believing, based on the letter from Mr. Hoenig, that they were complying to the best of their ability with the law by filing a PSA. Now I’m no lawyer, but it looks to me as if a precedent has been established here.

Secondly, the problem as I see it is that homeschooling is not specifically addressed in the California law. That’s why we have had the disagreements (including court cases), waffling and confusion of these past decades. What we do need is a good law! There are many states (Virginia, Missouri, Alaska, etc.), who have good laws and enough history of implementation for legislators to get a clear idea of how they work.

As the moment we have no homeschool bill submitted to the California legislature, but now may not be the best time to begin this process anyway, considering the present liberal legislature and governor. But we need to do our homework!

Thirdly, we need, as homeschoolers and educators, to present a selfless and united front, working in a reasonable and deliberate way to ensure that we enact the best possible laws. We need to look deep into the mirror, making sure our own motives are above reproach.

A Standoff?

The uncertainty of the legal climate in California these past years has produced an infrastructure of “umbrella schools” and homeschool “insurance.” But many homeschoolers see them as hampering rather than enhancing their freedoms.

Some independent homeschoolers have filed (or purposely not filed) the R-4 Affidavit, discounting the fear of being “visited” or “known.” (Of course, if homeschoolers didn’t have an independent nature, their children would be in school!) But these parents are particularly self-sufficient and resist any kind of control, not only of the State, but even of the “insurance” and “umbrella” organizations.

However, most appreciate the initial role played by those who have provided “insurance” for homeschoolers who have been challenged by a school or a district. They have also valued those “umbrella schools” with which homeschoolers could enroll to avoid the fear of putting their own names and addresses into county and state files. Yet these structures have now become embedded in California’s homeschool society and made themselves so indispensable as to keep many parents from seeing the reality of the need for a good law.

And now these organizations don’t want to leave—they’re well established and making good money. They may be out of business in California, if the legislature enacts a good law. I run an “umbrella” school in this state, too, but if there is a choice between a good homeschool law and keeping my school open, I will move on by choosing to embrace a law that benefits homeschooled children.

Thus we have a three-way standoff: the State with its legislature, the homeschool organizations with their supporters, and the independent homeschoolers. The State wants the federal and state money promised for each student enrolled in their public schools and charter schools. (See Judy Shewmake’s article about Charter Schools.) The “umbrella” and “insurance” organizations want their tuition and member dues. And the homeschoolers (even those who support those organizations and may not yet have seen the “big picture”) just want the freedom to follow their consciences in choosing the education of their children.

Conclusion

What is the priority here? Are we looking for the best education for our children or are we looking for dollars? I do not mean to imply that all education officials and all homeschool organizations are in business just for the money. That would not be true. Many have good motives, but it still comes down to a marketing issue, doesn’t it? What’s more important? The product or the profit?

Let’s look at this in the right light—all of us! We may disagree on method, but we can all agree that we love our children and want them to be properly educated. We must believe that we can find ways to cooperate in getting California a good homeschool law, in order to provide for those parents who are willing to put forth the effort to properly educate their children themselves.