Asking for trouble

A state appellate court in California has ruled that "parents who lack teaching credentials cannot educate their children at home, according to ruling that is sending waves of fear through California’s home schooling families... Unlike at least 30 other states, home schooling is not specifically addressed in California law. Under the state education code, students must be enrolled in a public or private school, or can be taught at home by a credentialed tutor." “Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children,” wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey in a Feb. 28 opinion signed by the two other members of the district court. “Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program.”

Rico says home schooling is its own punishment, though he has met (to his surprise) homeschooled kids who were both smart and well-informed (yes, and extremely cute and, fortunately for Rico, interested in the Civil War):