Homeschooling a fragile right

Earlier this week, President Obama gave a speech calling for more money for education and "innovation." He seemed to be focusing mostly on college tuition and programs, but homeschoolers may fairly ask, what about us? If you're looking for education innovation for pre-college children, it's unlikely to come from the union-ruled public school system. Homeschooling is itself a much-needed antidote to public schools' failures. But instead of backing homeschoolers, government at all levels either ignores the opportunities provided by homeschooling or even sometimes goes out of its way to put up barriers to parents who won't condemn their children to educational failure. In 2008, a California appellate court ruled that parents without teachers' credentials cannot legally educate their own children. Only the resulting outcry forced the judges to reconsider their opinion. But arguing that the court should uphold its previous ridiculous ruling was the California Teachers Association. Surprised? At the federal level, the National Education Association opposes homeschooling. While our homeschooling rights in California may sometimes hang by a thread, we can still be thankful that we don't live in Europe or other parts of the world. Many supposedly democratic countries in the EU have outlawed homeschooling altogether. In Sweden, authorities recently jailed Christer Johansson, father of 9-year-old Domenic, for taking his son home overnight from his state facility without official approval. The reason the boy is being kept separate from his family? Aside from letting the boy live with a couple of cavities and not following the Swedish government's vaccination schedule, the main complaint authorities have is that Domenic's parents were discovered homeschooling him. Now they only get to see their son for one hour every five weeks, and they can call him on the phone for 15 minutes every two weeks. The case is being appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. In New Zealand, Gerno and Andrea Schöneich are awaiting a decision on their application for asylum. The Schoneichs fled two years ago from Germany, where they faced fines, jail time and the threat of losing their children because they homeschooled. Germany continues to harass, threaten and jail homeschoolers who don't have the resources to leave the country. Homeschooling is also illegal in: Argentina, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Croatia, Greece, Netherlands and Spain. While homeschooling in America isn't currently threatened, we can't take for granted that it won't be, particularly when teachers unions hold such sway nationally and in state houses across the country. We parents owe it to our children to always be vigilant and make our voices heard. After all, our children are worth fighting for.