Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Michael Farris:
In 2001, the Palmdale School District in California decided to give a survey to students in its elementary schools. Included in this psychological survey were a number of fairly explicit, sex-related questions. Understandably, parents were outraged that this survey was conducted without a proper disclosure to the parents, and they took the matter to court.

In its 2005 ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stated that:

Although the parents are legitimately concerned with the subject of sexuality, there is no constitutional reason to distinguish that concern from any of the countless moral, religious, or philosophical objections that parents might have to other decisions of the School District . . . Schools cannot be expected to accommodate the personal, moral or religious concerns of every parent.

The court went on to say explicitly that once children are left at the public school’s front door, all parental control over the child’s education ceases.

The First Circuit Court made a similar ruling in 1995, explaining that while parents have the right to choose alternative forms of education for their children, they have no constitutional right to direct their child’s education once inside the public school.

According to the courts and current constitutional interpretation, parents’ rights to control the education of their children ends at the schoolhouse door. This guiding theory has implications for homeschoolers as well, as we will see next time. I’m Mike Farris.