The on-going debate in California regarding homeschool rights took a positive turn on Tuesday of this week when nineteen members of the House of Representatives filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of homeschooling families.

The brief reminds the court that the “primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition” and that that role includes their education.

It also reminds the court that “all 50 states and the District of Columbia permit home-based education, either under a specific statute or alternative provision.”

Currently there is no specific homeschooling law in California. Instead, California homeschoolers fall under the private school code, which defines a private school as ‘a person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation offering or conducting private school instruction on the elementary or high school level.’

It does not require that teachers within the school have a teacher credential.

If you are a California homeschooler, I urge you not to sit back and watch the courts settle the issue on the merits of this case alone. Rather, I urge California homeschoolers to work together to establish a specific homeschool law.

Such a law will protect homeschooler’s rights throughout the state much more concretely than the vague terminology of the California education code.