Court Does the Unheard of: California Judges Change Their Minds, Homeschoolers Win Big Case
Roughly six months after ruling that parents in the state of California must be certified teachers to continue their practice of homeschooling, the three judges who sit on the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District reversed their decision.
What are some of the Merits of Homeschooling ?
- Homeschooled children consistently score well on standardized achievement tests. The most comprehensive study shows a 20 - 30 percentile point gap in favor of homeschoolers. For example if the public school average is the 50th percentile a homeschooler will on average be in the 70th or 80th percentile.
- Homeschooling is the fastest growing education sector in America, growing at a rate of 7 to 15 percent per year. Some of the Reasons people homeschool include:
- Safety of their children in public school, crime, drugs, and negative peer socialization.
- The ability to teach from a religious perspective.
- The belief that parents, in conjunction with a homeschool support group, can provide a better education than either a public or private school.
- Desire to spend more time together as family for better quality of family life.
- Homeschool graduates are more involved in community activities than the average public school student.
- Homeschool graduates are significantly more politically active than the average public school student. Over 74 percent of homeschooled graduates aged 18-24 voted in an election in the past 5 years. Compare this to a token 29 percent of public schooled graduates who voted during that same time period.
- Homeschooled students consistently win national geographic and spelling bee contests.
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