"When We Stand Together, We Can Still Make A Difference" How Homeschoolers Stopped California's Attempt to Take Power from Parents

Tony Perkins : May 1, 2018
Family Research Council

"This is a great lesson to everybody—stand for what's right and do the right thing. This is a great victory for homeschoolers everywhere! We live to fight another day!" -Pastor Jack Hibbs

EDITOR'S NOTE: This victory for homeschoolers in California underlines a powerful realization. Even in the most liberal areas, all is not lost in terms of family values when those who live by them come together in prayer and action. Video footage of just how many homeschooling families showed up and filled the halls of that statehouse was absolutely inspiring! But just imagine if none or only a few bothered to attend and stand up for what they deem important—if not precious. That controversial (at best) bill may have continued. I hope what these homeschooling families accomplished will encourage and motivate all of us who value the Constitution and freedom, and that their efforts will be replicated many times over, as needed. -Aimee Herd, BCN. (Photo: via CaliforniaFamily.org)

[Family Research Council] They came by the hundreds, one newspaper said—"perhaps thousands." Some traveled hours, others waited hours, all for the opportunity to protest one of the most outrageous homeschooling bills every introduced: California's AB 2756.

Spilling out into crammed hallways and overflow rooms, families poured into the statehouse just for the opportunity to spend a few minutes speaking out on a measure that would give the government more power over parents who educate at home. Initially, the bill tried to mandate fire inspections of all homeschooling families (which, not surprisingly, firefighters rejected). Then the proposal was amended—this time to force homeschooling families to give out private information about the names and address of homeschooling families.

(Click here to watch the YouTube video documenting how many showed up to defend homeschooling)

Liberals used a nightmarish story to prop up their argument, insisting that the case of the Turpins, parents who used homeschooling as an excuse to torture and starve their kids, meant that greater oversight was necessary. Conservatives fired back. Committee member Kevin Kiley (R) said that using the Turpin family to create law was not good policy. "That is an extreme outlier case. Any data set will have extreme outlier cases." Nearly 1,000 people spoke out in opposition, reporters said, including a candidate for governor, Assemblyman Travis Allen (R). "AB 2756 is absolutely wrong. It must fail. It must fail today," he said. "California's parents and children have the right to the very best education this state can possibly provide."

The line of opponents waiting to testify snaked around the building, many, one outlet pointed out, "with small children in tow." By afternoon's end, only two people from the surrounding area spoke in support of the controversial bill. Hours later, families got the news they'd been waiting for "no member of the committee was willing to make a motion for a vote." The bill was dead. Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, cheered the outpouring of parents from around the state. "All is not lost in California," he said. "When we stand together, we can still make a difference."

FRC's good friend and fellow Watchman on the Wall, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills Pastor Jack Hibbs, who helped flag this issue for thousands of Christian families, celebrated on Facebook. "This is a great lesson to everybody—stand for what's right and do the right thing. This is a great victory for homeschoolers everywhere! We live to fight another day!"

Tony Perkins' Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.