ADF Alliance Alert

The following excerpts are from today’s ruling in Jonathan L. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, No. 192878 (Cal. App. August 8, 2008)

In this dependency case, we consider the legality of, and restraints upon, home schooling in California. We will conclude that: (1) California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education; and (2) the statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared dependent.

As indicated, these issues arise in the course of a dependency proceeding. The family in this case had a history of dependency court proceedings involving charges of physical abuse, neglect, and failure to prevent sexual abuse. After the two youngest children were declared dependent due to the abuse and neglect of their siblings, their attorney sought an order that they be sent to private or public school, rather than educated at home by their mother, so that they would be in regular contact with mandatory reporters of abuse and neglect. The dependency court declined to issue such an order, primarily based on its view that parents have an absolute constitutional right to home school their children . . .

Under these circumstances, it is our view that the proper course of action is to interpret the earlier statutes in light of the later ones, and to recognize, as controlling, the Legislature’s apparent acceptance of the proposition that home schools are permissible in California when conducted as private schools.

This conclusion, however, does not resolve all of the issues before us. California statutes also permit a dependency court to issue any reasonable orders for the care of a dependent child, including orders limiting the right of the parents to make educational decisions for the child. Because the United States Supreme Court has held that parents possess a constitutional right to direct the education of their children, it is argued that any restriction on home schooling is a violation of this constitutional right. We disagree. We conclude that an order requiring a dependent child to attend school outside the home in order to protect that child’s safety is not an unconstitutional violation of the parents’ right to direct the education of their children. The constitutionality of any other restriction on home schooling (see fn. 35, post), including a prohibition on home schooling in its entirety, is not before us in this case . . .

Thus, the level of scrutiny to which alleged violations of the parental liberty interest in directing the education of one’s children are subject is not clearly established. Nonetheless, it is clear that if a restriction on the right satisfies strict scrutiny, the restriction is constitutional.

HSLDA has issued this press release.

Pacific Justice Institute has issued this press release.

UPDATE:

California homeschooling decision
Mirror of Justice, Richard Myers, 8.11.2008

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