DEBATE ON WHETHER TEACHING CREDENTIALS ARE NEEDED REOPENS

With the battle lines drawn, a state appeals court in Los Angeles today will once again consider a controversial case that could drastically affect the growing home-school movement in California.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal will hear arguments in a legal fight over whether parents who home-school their children must have teaching credentials. The same appeals court earlier this year sent shock waves through the nation’s home-schooling movement, finding that parents who lack teaching credentials are violating California’s compulsory-education laws if they home-school their children.

No other state has that requirement.

The ruling triggered protests from top state education officials, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others, prompting the appeals court to reopen the case in March. Since that time, both sides in the home-schooling debate have filed stacks of briefs to weigh in on an issue that arose by happenstance out of a Los Angeles child welfare case.

The appeals court has 90 days to rule, which would result in a decision sometime around the start of the next school year. The California Supreme Court may still have the last word in the case.

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