Posted by Howard Richman on March 26 2008 at 09:30:52:
Since the California appeals court ruled that homeschoolers can no longer be homeschooled under the supervision of a private school, there have been lots of columns and editorials against the ruling, including one that I wrote for Enter Stage Right.
Dave Johnson has written the first column that favors that ruling. Here is a selection:
This post is not written in opposition to home or private schooling, but to point out the importance to all of us that we all operate under the same set of agreed-upon rules. At least in California, another agreed-upon rule is that our children should receive the best possible education. Article 9 of our California Constitution states that a good education is "essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people." The wording at the beginning of Article 9 is as follows:HowardA general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural improvement.To this end Article 9 describes how California will manage a system of free, public schools. And Article 9 makes it clear that to this end our children deserve qualified, "credentialed" teachers.Once again, We, the People of California have decided that a good education is "essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people." This is what we want. Just what is it that Gingrich and other conservatives want instead if it doesn´t involve qualified teachers providing education to our state´s children?