April 8, 2008 — The California Court of Appeals has granted a motion to rehear the controversial In re Rachel L. case, which ruled a Southern California family could not home school under the California Constitution unless a parent is a credentialed tutor and that parents possess no constitutional right to home school their children. The automatic effect of granting this motion is the prior opinion is vacated and no longer binding on anyone, including the parties involved in the case.

When the Second Appellate Court of Los Angeles made its ruling in the case on Thursday, Feb. 28, the Home School Legal Defense Association encouraged home-schooling families maintaining the accurate advice it has given for the past 25 years and that filing a private school affidavit or enrolling in a private school independent study program are valid options under California law. It also said no laws had changed affecting private schools whether in one’s home or on a campus.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell also defended home schooling in this statement, “The California Department of Education policy will not change in any way as a result of this ruling. Parents will still have the right to home school in this state,” he said.

“O’Connell has it right,” said Michael Farris, chairman of HSLDA. “But the court decision must still be overturned before home school freedom can be restored in California.”

HSLDA has been pursuing several legal options including seeking a review by the California Supreme Court and petitioning the same court to de-publish its opinion in order to return California to being a state where a family can legally home school their children.

According to the HSLDA, originally, the ruling resulted from a juvenile court case on allegations of abuse or neglect, which originally had nothing to do with home schooling. The family has a 20-year history of litigation in the juvenile courts over the care of their children,

When the juvenile court judge would not prohibit the parents from home schooling their children, the court-appointed attorneys for the children went to the California Court of Appeals, who went further than it needed to and ruled state law does not provide options allowing parents to teach their own children at home.