CA: Home schooling poorly monitored
BevK May 19th, 2006
http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_3836902
Marin’s public school districts have failed to provide proper oversight of home schools, according to a report issued this week by the Marin County Civil Grand Jury.
Under state law, home schools must file a private school affidavit with the state Department of Education for exemption from the compulsory public school system.
In turn, state law requires that public school districts check that the affidavits comply with state education rules, meaning that the home schools keep attendance records and teach comprehensive subjects in English.
In a May 8 report titled “Caught in the Middle: Home Schooling Neglected in Marin County,” the grand jury found that local school districts had neither checked the affidavits, nor were they aware of how to do so.
The grand jury found that some public school districts, such as Gilroy Unified, check private school affidavits when they receive complaints from the public.
It is unclear precisely how many children ages 6 to 18 are being home-schooled, McKown said. “It is probably benign neglect,” she said.
A total of 58 home schools in Marin County, serving six or fewer students, had filed affidavits with the state as of September 2005, the grand jury noted.
Until about five years ago, the affidavits were filed with local school districts.
Now they are filed with the state Department of Education.
The grand jury report was sparked by a complaint from a local citizen, who was concerned that a Marin student was being improperly home-schooled.
I don’t know the ins and outs of homeschooling in California. The HomeSchool Association of California gives information about the affidavit that musts be filed and their interpretation of what the affidavit represents.
