by Jennifer Shin

There is much controversy going on in the state of California, as there was a state appellate court ruling on February 28, mandating that parents who aren’t credentialed cannot educate their children at home. Legislators stated that parents do not have the constitutional right to teach their own children and that under the law, these children should be sent to public schools where they will receive instruction from credentialed and “qualified” teachers.

According to Justice H. Walter, who was one of three members of the district court to sign the opinion, “Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program.”

There are an estimated 166,000 students in California who are currently being homeschooled. If the decision isn’t appealed, then many parents will be considered offenders of the law and their children considered truants.

Teachers, especially those firmly rooted in the teachers’ union, stated that only credentialed teachers are qualified to teach. Others said that homeschooling is elitist and anti-democratic. Two professors emeriti at Cal Poly Pomona said in a Los Angeles Times article, “It’s evident that the vast majority who teach their offspring in front of the television do so because they don’t want their children to be subjected to such dangerous doctrines as evolution, abortion, global warming, equal rights and other ideas abhorrent to the evangelical mantra.”

This statement shows the blatant hostility toward parents who homeschool their children, especially those within the Christian realm. The two professors at Cal Poly Pomona and others who are supporting the decision mock these parents, stating that they “fear the contaminating influence of what is commonly known as a liberal education.” To them, it is a matter of being open-minded in a liberal society. For us as Christians, it is more than a matter of law or conforming to how the world thinks. In fact, in Romans 12:2, Paul states, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” It is not a matter of children being taught by “qualified” teachers but a matter of keeping their minds from being infiltrated with the world’s doctrines and being exposed to teachings that support evolution, homosexuality, same-sex marriage and sex education that contradicts God’s design.

Many Christian parents homeschool their children because what is taught at the public school contradicts what is taught in the home in alignment to God’s Word. A Christian parent in Sacramento stated in the Los Angeles Times, “I want to have control over what goes in my son’s head, not what’s put in there by people who might be on the far left who have their own ideas about indoctrinating kids.”

Ephesians 6:4 calls parents to “bring [children] up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Legislators and teachers are stating that parents are not qualified to teach their own children. But God declares that parents are the primary instructors in their children’s lives. We must keep in mind to be discerning in what we teach children, whether they are our own or not. Even what we teach is to be set apart from the world. Though we are called to submit to our earthly authorities, our ultimate authority is God and our perfect and complete source of instruction that is profitable for all things is His Word.