MorganHillTimes.com | Homeschoolers under fire

Homeschoolers under fire

Apr 25, 2008
By Natalie Everett

Local homeschooling advocates are undeterred by recent district court events and are confident they will continue their tradition of teaching their children at home.

A March 25, Court of Appeal granted a motion to rehear the Feb. 28, case that found that parents without a teaching credential don't have a constitutional right to teach their children, leaving homeschooling parents in the same legal limbo they'd been in all along.

State law determines that children must be enrolled in public school or private school by the age of 7. Homeschooling parents bypass the existing requirement by signing an affidavit to create a private school in their home.

The ruling only legally bound the family involved, but would likely set a legal precedent in District Two, which roughly covers the area from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. If the case were upheld, the ruling may serve as precedence in future arguments.

The case revolves around a homeschooling family of eight in which the eldest child complained of abuse.

The California Supreme Court will rehear the case. If they agree with the Superior Court of California's finding calling teaching without a credential illegal, homeschoolers statewide will feel the effect.

Rita Luttrell, mother and teacher of three elementary-age children, said she's confident that it won't come to the point where she would need a teaching credential.

"I trust completely that the constitutional freedoms established in this country will be upheld," she said.

Patti Trapp, a home schooling mother of seven, said the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has given her piece of mind.

"HSLDA has done a lot about (this case)," she said. "I don't feel particularly impacted."

Trapp and Luttrell are members of the nondenominational West Hills Community Church, which organizes an extensive support group for homeschooling parents and children.

Trapp also organizes West Hills' homeschooling co-op, in which 50 children are students. Trapp said the school is for parents of older elementary children who aren't comfortable teaching difficult subjects like biology and chemistry. Although Trapp isn't teaching her children every subject, she said she likes having the influence over who is teaching and what curriculum they have.

"We have values that we want our children to receive," she said. "This way, if I'm not directly influencing my kids, I still know who is."

Several members of West Hills agree with Trapp and Luttrell that homeschooling in California is vibrant and well-organized, making this ruling no cause for concern.

Members of this support group say their faith is a main reason for homeschooling.

"I would call us a conservative Christian family," said Elaine Hays, a homeschooling mom of four. "For personal reasons, I feel that (homeschooling allows us) to continue down the road we started on a long time ago."

Hays has another reason to homeschool. Her eldest son, Alex, 17, has Down syndrome.

"It turned into a lot of work to keep him in public school," she said.

Public school's strict time frames and rigid curriculums wouldn't be conducive to Alex's needs, she said.

Other homeschoolers echoed Hays' sentiment that learning and growing begins long before school age is reached.

"We educate children from the time they're born," Luttrell said. "We have a literature-based home. We've read to them from the beginning."

Aside from special needs like disabilities, other parents note the curriculum individualization, allowing them to tailor lessons to their children's needs.

Luttrell's daughter Christiana has become interested in cooking and gardening, while her son Nathaneal is interested in "all things animal."

Emily Murray, homeschooling mother of four, said exploring the surrounding region, in the context of their studies, is an added bonus for her family.

"I love being the one who guides them and answers their questions," Murray said. "We not only learn in our house together, but to get out and about and see the places we're reading about, the animals we're learning about, to as a whole family make use of the resources all over the Bay Area - it's neat to be able to do that together."

Togetherness for these families is a major bonus to teaching at home.

Carolyn Norris, a homeschooling pioneer in the Bay Area, pointed out that homeschooling used to be the norm in America.

"In 1985, I had a dear friend who homeschooled two years ahead of me," she said. "She gave me the confidence and encouragement to homeschool."

At the time, Norris said she knew of only her friend and 14 others who homeschooled in the Bay Area. There are 200,000 homeschooling families in the state, according to the HSLDA.

"It's acceptable now," Norris said. "People aren't shocked when you tell them."

Based on the California State Superintendent Jack O'Connell's comments after the ruling, which assured homeschoolers' right to teach, the sheer number and organization of California homeschoolers make these parents comfortable that their way of life is here to stay.

Natalie Everett

Natalie Everett
Natalie Everett is the education and city reporter for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106, ext. 201, or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.