CALIFORNIA
Massive Legislation Review Gets Underway
The deadline for introducing legislation in the state of California has finally come and gone. Now the process begins to review hundreds of bills on education and related family issues to determine if any of them endanger home schooling. Home School Legal Defense Association, Family Protection Ministries, and the Christian Home Educators Association work together to monitor and respond to this massive legislative challenge. Specifically, much credit must go to Roy Hanson of Family Protection Ministries for his diligence in reviewing each piece of legislation and addressing any concerns regarding home education found in the hundreds of bills that he reviews each year.
From our initial review, the good news is that we have found no legislation that directly addresses home education. Despite continuing rumors that legislation will be introduced to purposefully bring home schoolers under the control of the local school district or the state department of education, that has fortunately not happened this year. However, we will continue to monitor legislation which inadvertently fails to protect private education from legislation dealing with public school truancy, as well as peripheral issues which affect home educators such as driver's license requirements, work permit requirements, and general education goals provisions.
The Bad Bills
A major area of concern is legislation that tightens up the laws regarding truancy. Well-meaning legislators attempting to crack down on public school truancy are failing to recognize that there are due process protections that students and parents should be entitled to. Since any action against a home schooler will ultimately involve truancy allegations, we closely monitor any bill that deals with the consequences of failing to attend school.
Additionally, we watch legislation regarding juvenile and family court issues. Because of the child abuse allegations and continuing threats from social workers that home schoolers face, these bills could affect home schooling families.
Because California is a private school/home education state, we must watch out for certain special problems. Take for example Assembly Bill 14, an attempt to improve attendance and academic performance in the schools by stopping payments to AFDC recipients if attendance is less than 80%. On its face the bill appears to have no application to home education. However, upon reading the bill closely, we discovered a provision relating to truancy, in which the term "comparable education through a home program" was used. The problem with this language is that "home program" and "home education program" are not defined by statutes in California. Therefore, this could force the legislature to define "home education" or "home program," which would then propel a legislative battle regarding home education.
The organizations conducting the legislative review have the job of alerting the sponsor to such potential problems and proposing amending the language to properly comply with the law. Wording problems frequently occur in legislation. Rectifying these flaws by clarifying the language before the bill passes prevents many future legal battles, so we greatly appreciate your prayers for this important process. By the grace of God, we have been able to convince the authors of the bills to accept our language in every situation to date.
As we continue through this legislative year, should we not be able to convince the authors of bills to amend language that we believe is detrimental to home education, we will inform you so that you can become involved in the legislative process by notifying your legislator of your concerns and urging him to vote the right way.
The Good Bills
We can cheerfully report that several bills have been introduced in the Senate and Assembly to provide additional due process protections for families under investigation by social workers in California. This is drastically needed. According to HSLDA attorney and Vice President Michael Smith, California provides fewer protections against unwarranted invasions of the home than any other state.
Representative David Knolls has introduced three favorable pieces of social service reform legislation. Assembly Bill 1353 would provide parents in juvenile court the right of jury trial according to rules of procedure and evidence applicable to criminal proceedings. The bill would also require proof by clear and convincing evidence for finding a parent guilty of abuse or neglect.
Assembly Bill 1355 would apply the same civil immunity standards to social workers and child protection workers as police officers. Social workers and child protection workers currently have almost absolute immunity for any action they take against a family.
Assembly Bill 1349 would make it a crime for any one to intentionally make a false report of child abuse.
Senator Ray Haynes has introduced Senate Bill 402, which would require a jury trial and a jurisdictional hearing in juvenile court, and entitle parents to an attorney at public expense in a juvenile court matter involving allegations of abuse or neglect against children.
Senate Bill 86, also introduced by Senator Haynes, would make it more difficult to introduce hearsay evidence in evaluation reports by social workers. This provides additional due process protection for parents, and it should assist in preventing the unwarranted removal of children from families based upon hearsay reports rather than live testimony.
This type of legislation deserves the support of the home school community in California, and we urge you to contact your senator and ask them to support the bills outlined above. Callers should identify themselves as "concerned parents," not "home schoolers," since these bills do not directly affect home schooling, but do affect parental rights.
