Carol Lui and her daughter Raven, 5, enjoy the advantages of home schooling and oppose the new proposed law that would require parents to have teaching credentials in order to teach at home.
Carol Lui owns three pet stores - in Hollister, San Jose and Sunnyvale - and home-schooling caters better to the family's on-the-go lifestyle.
For Stacy Lakin, it suits her family's busy schedule and aptness for travel - and her husband's odd work hours.
Nancy Field says it's about putting family first.
These local moms all have widely varying reasons for preferring to homeschool their kids. They all have different stories about what pushed them toward it - whether it be an "overwhelming school district" in Gilroy for Field or a realization for Lakin after Columbine and Sept. 11 that she wanted to spend all the time she could with her kids.
And they all contend it not only conforms better with their families' higher demands for lifestyle flexibility, but it's also a learning environment conducive to academic and social growth.
"It's not just about education," said Field, of Hollister, who homeschools 14-year-old daughter Claire. "It's a lifestyle."
Considering there's such a broad variety in homeschoolers' situations - and also that they are confident it's the best environment for their kids - these local moms are baffled by an appellate panel's recent ruling requiring parents who homeschool their children earn teaching credentials, as a justice opined within a Los Angeles case involving reported child abuse.
In the L.A. court case, there was an attempt to force two of the couple's kids to attend either public or private school. With California law requiring that minors enroll in one or the other, or at least receive tutoring from a credentialed teacher, the 2nd District Court of Appeal found the family didn't meet the exemption criteria. The opinion then included a stark interpretation that parents lack a constitutional right to homeschool their children.
"(The justice) didn't have a right to take one specific case and deem homeschoolers bad," Lakin said.
Such a mandate, if made law, could affect a vast majority of the state's 166,000 homeschooled students. The precise number of homeschool families in San Benito County is unclear.
Families here have an array of options to use, though, such as going through local and out-of-county districts for curriculum or establishing their own private schools. Many families use outside, public charter schools, but some use the local districts' offerings, too.
The Hollister School District has just under two dozen families involved, said Dennis Kurtz, the district's assistant superintendent who oversees the homeschool programs. The district provides books, curriculum, assignments and a pacing guide, and a teacher meets with students and parents about once a month to go over their work and keep them on task for state testing, he said.
"As far as we're concerned, homeschooling is a part of the educational landscape," Kurtz said. "It's a choice we want to give parents."
Kurtz acknowledged he didn't know Friday when he spoke to the Free Lance how broad the ruling's effect could be. All three of the local women - who are friends and met up Saturday to interview at Lui's downtown store, Raven's Pet Safari - said they doubted it will end up having much clout.
Homeschool organizations already have vowed to appeal the ruling, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called it "outrageous" in a statement released Friday.
Parents such as Lui will attest that a teaching credential isn't necessary for prosperous learning. Her oldest daughter, age 13, reads all the time and takes some courses at Gavilan College, such as an intensive rhetoric class she took that Lui described as "pretty close to college level." She expects her daughter will take the high school exit exam at the end of next year.
Her three kids - she also has an 8-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl - get their school work done at desks and tables at each of the three business sites. Their laptop is a big help, too.
"It's car-schooling," said Lui, of San Martin.
One of the main reasons Lakin touted the lifestyle's flexibility is that her two daughters, ages 10 and 7, take part in intensive sports and other outside interests. Lakin, of Hollister, said they get all their work done during regular school hours and they're better suited to follow their extracurricular activities.
The three moms all talked about many outside activities in which home-schooled kids take part. They often build relationships with other kids and families through such outlets as USA Sports and several cooperatives.
They don't believe there are disadvantages to it. They stand by their teaching method, and the lifestyle, and remain stumped by a court's decision to penalize such an inherently diverse group for such an insulated circumstance.
Kollin Kosmicki Kollin Kosmicki is editor of the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 337 or editor@freelancenews.com.
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