Education Law

Last month, a California appeals court agreed to reconsider its previous ruling that required home school instructors to have teaching credentials.  Parents, religious groups, home schooling organizations and Governor Schwarzenegger support the court’s decision to reconsider the ruling.  The state’s largest public school teacher’s union does not.

There are over 160,000 children in California who are homeschooled.  The ruling is expected from the court by the end of September.

Private schools in California are not required to have their teachers credentialed.  Should parents who chose to homeschool their children be held to a different standard?  Are there sufficient ways to make sure that kids who are homeschooled in California get a good quality education without making their parents (or other instructors) become licensed teachers? 

I would argue that if private schools can do it, so can home schools.  Parents who, for whatever reason, decide to home school their children should be required to provide them with an appropriate education.  The state should be responsible for monitoring the progress of homeschool students and for making sure that there is not educational neglect - just as it should for all students, no matter where they attend school.  However, it does not seem fair to require parents to have formal teaching credentials in order to home school.  What do you think?

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