Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
Well, even in the wake of a major homeschooling victory in the California Court of Appeal, homeschoolers still need to be vigilant. Joining me today is Mike Farris. Mike, tell our listeners what recommendations the judges made to the California legislature that still has us concerned.

Mike Farris:
Well, the court didn’t order the legislature to do anything, which is important to say. But they recommended that the legislature adopt “more clear guidelines” for homeschooling—and that’s how the court would phrase it.

We don’t think that it’s necessary to have any more clear guidelines, and every homeschooling group in California is unified on this point. There are inclusive groups, that are a combination of Christians and secular homeschoolers, and then there are Christian homeschool groups—everybody agrees that the current law is plenty clear already. All the private schools in the state operate under this law, and the little private schools can operate under it just fine.

It’s important that we maintain our vigilance for liberty long-term. And especially, it’s important to recognize that parental rights need to be in the Constitution of the United States, as a protection against these kinds of things. What the court said about that subject, we don’t have time to go into it, but it’s troubling that they don’t recognize parental rights as a federal constitutional right.

Mike Smith:
Mike, thank you for giving us a strong warning for the future. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.