I posted six months ago about a decision by a California court to require all parents homeschooling children to have teaching certifications.

Apparently, the news is still just getting around. Some syndicated content recently hit some front pages and sparked a ton of really good debate about the role of government in education and the rights of parents to also have a say in how their children are taught. The original ruling obviously went over the line, and suggested that the highest purpose of education was a purely civic one – that students should be molded in such a way that provides the greatest value to society (whatever that means, and whoever gets to decide).

Anyway, a lot of this debate is kind of out of date: As of Aug 8, 2008, the ruling has been reversed.

The judges agreed to re-hear the case, and their final decision was that they had unintentially set a higher burden for homeschool teachers than the law provided for private school teachers.

There is still some regulation and oversight, the teacher must sign an affirmation of the grade level, how many students are involved, attendance, and how the overall curriculum differs from its public school equivalents. If a teacher/parent is caught fudging the numbers, they’re vulnerable to prosecution for perjury.

I’m glad the story about the California Court’s initial ruling got out – but I’m even more excited that the ruling has already been overturned.