Home-School Rules Set by a Hypocritical State

Re “State Warns Parents of Home-School Edict,” Oct. 10: The California Department of Education says parents without teachers’ credentials [or affiliation with a public school] who home-school their children are doing so illegally. I am amazed at the hypocrisy of the department, considering the fact that in California, 27% of public secondary school classes are taught by teachers who lack a college major or minor in the subject they are teaching. In other words, art teachers in California public schools are trying to teach history, math teachers are lecturing about biology, etc.

Home-schoolers (who, by the way, have higher average test scores than either public or private school students) are being attacked to divert attention from the real problem: the abysmal track record of public schools in our state. If the Department of Education were really concerned about children’s education (and not money) it would spend more time figuring out how to credential public school teachers and less time harassing home-schoolers, who are doing quite well without the help of the public schools.

Kenneth Vasquez

Chino