ARTICLES

Home Schooling On the Edge

Berkeley Cracks Down

By Maria Elena Kennedy

Four home schooling families in the Berkeley Unified School district were brought before a School Attendance Review Board on May 19th and were asked to produce attendance records and information regarding the curriculum they use in their home schools by May 31st. The families produced their R-4 form, which certifies a private school in California, but that did not seem to satisfy the board members. Jeff Kerwin, an attorney who is representing one of the families said that he requested an extension of time in order to prepare his case, but the review board refused. "As far as I can tell, the school district is proceeding with their demand" he said. The families were told that they had to provide school records by May 31.

David Gordon, a staff attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association, said that they are advising the attorneys who are representing the families. Gordon expressed concern about the case saying that if the case goes far enough, a judge would have to decide whether or not the filing of an R-4 form is sufficient to create a private school. Many home schoolers in California create their own private schools by filing an R-4 form with their county department of education. Home schoolers in the Berkeley Unified School district file their R-4 forms with the Alameda County department of education.

When asked for comment, Toni Adams, assistant to the superintendent of the Alameda County department of education initially denied any knowledge of the May 19th hearing that the four families were required to attend. Attorney Kerwin told me that the attorney for the Alameda department of education had served as counsel for the Berkeley Unified School district at the review board's hearing. Adams explained that the presence of the attorney that represents the Alameda County board of education does not mean that he was there representing them. "The school's counsel serves various agencies through a joint powers agreement," she said. Adams added, "There is no such thing as home schooling in California. They [home schoolers] are starting a private school and they must maintain school records like any private school".

Adams indicated that it is the position of the Alameda County department of education that home schoolers are private school students and that there was not a problem with parents operating private schools. Adams faxed a copy of the material that her agency sends to home schoolers when they request a copy of the R-4 form. A review of the materials, however, shows why some home schoolers are concerned about the Alameda County department of education. A document titled, "Response from Alameda County Counsel Regarding Home Schooling" states that home school is illegal in California. "Private home instruction by a parent of his or her child is not legal in California unless the parent holds a valid state teacher's credential for the grades and subjects taught ... if any parent persists in unlawful home instruction and all reasonable efforts have failed to persuade the parent to comply with the compulsory education law, the matter may be referred to the District Attorney for prosecution." The document was dated 1986. It is unclear if the document was created by the current county counsel or by a predecessor. Sterns did not return calls for comment on the apparent conflict between the Alameda County board of education's position on the filing of the R-4 form and the opinion issued by the county counsel's office.

The Berkeley Unified school district's action against the home schooling families has created much anxiety in the home schooling community. The California Home School Network has posted information on the situation in Berkeley on its web site (www.cahomeschoolnet.org) to keep home schoolers abreast of the situation. Another attorney involved in case, Will Rogers, is a home schooling father who said that the families are in full compliance with California state law with regards to establishing a private school. When asked for comment for this story, the Berkeley board of education tried to distance themselves from the controversy. A message was received from Pamela Dolan, a member of the Berkeley School Board, "It is true that there was some kind of [review board] meeting and related to a complaint. It had nothing to do with the school board. We have taken no action in this, it's never come to the school board. That's something between [the board] and the families. [An earlier article] made it appear that the school board had made some decision regarding home schooling and this is not the case."

The California Home School Network said they are closely watching the situation involving the four families that appeared before the hearing. "Many home schooling families in CA are concerned about these families in Alameda county, and are watching this situation very closely, and giving them our support. It appears that Alameda county is using tax dollars to harass families who are exercising their right to choose a creative approach to education that works (witness the recent spelling bee results, and many other instances of home schooling in action) -- when those dollars could be used to be educating children in their classrooms" spokesman Tina Petty said. As this story went to press, the review board had not taken further action. According to attorney Kerwin, the families are just waiting for "the other shoe to drop". Unwilling to back down, in June the board referred the families to the Alameda County District Attorney's office for prosecution on truancy charges.

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