First Things: Homeschoolers and the Law in the Golden State
By Joseph M. Knippenberg
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

As word of an appellate decision—In re Rachel L.—in California got around earlier this month, homeschoolers around the country reacted with incredulity and outrage. Ruling on a petition filed by attorneys representing the youngest two of eight homeschooled children, the judicial panel told a lower court to “order the parents to (1) enroll their children in a public full-time day school, or a legally qualified private full-time day school and (2) see to it that the children receive their education in such school.” In coming to this conclusion, the three judges found not only that California’s education law permitted home education under the narrowest possible circumstances, but also that it would be quite difficult (though not altogether impossible) to claim a religious exemption from the law’s strictures.

The contrast between what the court held and the expectations of California homeschoolers was stark. the rest

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