The Golden State has amped up their attack on the Homeschool community in a knee-jerk reaction to an abuse case uncovered in Riverside County, California back in February. It’s a classic case of a global progressive solution to a single-situation and promises to penalize thousands of upstanding homeschoolers in California in the process.
Admittedly the Turpin family case is a nasty one. A starving 17-year-old escaped a cruel homeschool environment to blow the whistle on parents who were neglecting and abusing their 13 children. Nevertheless, the Turpin case is an exception rather than the rule regarding homeschooling. There is absolutely no factual basis to believe that homeschool children are at greater risk of abuse than the population at large. Understanding this requires a modicum of common sense – something the left often lacks in its rush to regulate everyone and everything.
California – The Uber Nanny State
Thus, California homeschoolers are once again on the front lines of a legislative battle that is headed for them like a freight train. Assembly Bill 2756 and 2926 will be taken up on April 25th and contain myriad homeschool restrictions. Of course, the end game is to thwart homeschooling in California — as in death by a thousand cuts.
According to California Homeschool.net 2926 would:
Establish an advisory committee that would make recommendations about the following:
“appropriateness and feasibility of imposing on a home school additional requirements, which shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following.”
(1) Health and safety inspections.
(2) Additional, specific curriculum standards.
(3) Certification or credentialing of teachers.
Apparently, the fire inspection requirement has been removed but as you can see language like “shall include but are not limited to” is legal lingo for giving authorities carte blanche to invade one’s home with impunity. Here’s a thought from Sam Sorbo in an opinion piece for Fox News that just about sums it up:
We already have mandatory vaccines in California. With the current anti-religious climate, perhaps the bureaucrats would insist all religious items, including Bibles, be removed from private homes. Would they make all homes gun-free zones? Maybe your family eats too much sugar, so the government would impose candy restrictions in your home.
No more Starburst or Sweetarts for Jimmy. But if Jimmy goes to a public school and pulls out his Snickers what happens then?
There is a point to this exaggeration. It is meant for lawmakers to see the folly of their ways. More rules and regulations are not the answer to every societal problem. Chicago’s myriad gun control laws haven’t reduced the homicide rate in the Windy City, and by the same token, taking children out of their homes and put into public schools will not reduce incidents of child abuse.
Progressives always seem to find the answer to every problem under the rubric of “control” thereby penalizing law-abiding citizens in the process. As anyone who has homeschooled can tell you, it is an arduous and challenging endeavor. It takes a mountain of energy to educate your child at home. What homeschoolers do not need – in California or any other state for that matter – is the interfering and multi-tentacle hand of the government getting in the way.
With just about a week left before the proposed legislation is taken up, it will be fascinating to see if there is enough power in the California homeschool movement to push back these legislative efforts. No doubt it will be an uphill but worthy battle. In the end, should these new anti-homeschool restrictions become the law of the California land, it’s likely that many homeschoolers will do what countless Golden State business people have already done: pack up their bags, call the moving company and hit the road.
