California homeschool controversy

Recently I was asked in a comment on "I did it!" about my opinion on the ruling in California regarding homeschooling. You can read about it here or here. This mess has been overtaking all other discussions on my VT homeschooling yahoo groups. I really am not sure what to think about this ruling. I don't think a parent should need a teaching credential to homeschool. And I don't understand how, if there is no law about homeschooling in CA, the court can arbitrarily decide what qualifications there should be. State laws vary so widely regarding requirements for notification and I am of two minds on the topic.

On the one hand, I don't really want the government hovering over my shoulder with everything I do in the privacy of my home. I also don't appreciate the implication that I am not capable of teaching my child basic math, reading and life skills without teacher certification. In Vermont, I am required (once my child is of 1st grade age) to notify the Dept. of Ed. of my intent to homeschool. This will involve filling out some forms including a course of study outlining our plans for the year. Then at the end of the year, I have the option of having a teacher evaluate the work and write a report, sending in a portfolio of representative work, or subjecting my child to a standardized test. If we do this successfully for 2 consecutive years, we will be considered a successful homeschool and will just have to notify them of our intent and not have to justify every year. These requirements are among the strictest in the nation and they upset some of the homeschooling population of our state greatly.

On the other hand, these rules don't upset me that much. I think it is interesting that my child would have to pass a standardized test to be considered successful, but children fail those tests all the time in public school and are advanced to the next level. Otherwise, I think that in order to protect children, the state needs to have some oversight. There are places like CT and DC where you don't have to register at all. The trouble with this is that there are a very few parents who pull their children out of school or never enroll them to avoid the prying eyes of mandatory reporters and those children go unprotected from abuse. Not to mention the fact that some people may be incapable of teaching their children basic skills. It certainly doesn't help that California family's case that the father used the word "ain't" in his statement to the press.

So, Dave's comment back to my original reply (a much shorter version of the above) was this:

But isn't it possible that a great many parents may, in fact, be unable to teach kids basic math and reading skills? Can we, as society, bear the risks of those kids not being properly educated? And what about the signals that a contrary ruling would send to elementary school teachers? That their skills and talents are negligible because any parent can do what they do?

Yes, Dave, not only do I think it's possible, I think it is probable that there are many homeschooling parents who are unable to provide their kids with a basic education. More than math and reading, I fear for the "science" being taught to some Christian homeschoolers which focuses on creationism as scientific fact and does not mention evolution or the "Big Bang" theory at all and presents fossils as trickery planted by the devil. I can't imagine what this will mean for our country's future. We fare poorly enough compared to other countries as it is. I honestly believe, though, that the vast majority of homeschooling parents are very capable people who have their children's best interests at heart. And most of them do use packaged curricula, especially for math.

As far as the teachers go, I would hope their skins are not so thin. It does not in any way make their skills and talents negligible to say that I don't need certification to teach my 2 children. They are being expected to teach anywhere from 10 to 35 kids at once to whom they are not related and of whom they don't have the knowledge that a parent does. It is entirely different. Knowing my children as I do, I will have a better idea from the start how to present a topic for the best chance of comprehension, where a teacher would have to spend a portion of the year just figuring out how each child learns.

Basically, I think that it is the state's responsibility to educate our children in the event we can't or don't want to do it ourselves. It is in everyone's best interest to have a well-educated populace. Whether a child learns in a public, private or homeschool, the important thing is that he learns. But if a private school need not require a teacher to be certified, why must a parent be?