A little more than a month after thirteen Turpin siblings were found locked up in their home in Perris, California, Assemblyman Jose Medina (D-Riverside) is proposing stricter regulations for the homeschool system that some say facilitated an environment of abuse in the Turpin home.
David Turpin had registered their home as a private school with the state Department of Education in 2010, re-submitting the form, known as a private school affidavit, every year. Under existing California law, there is no additional oversight – no home visits or assessment of academic performance – which has led for calls for reform.
Cue Medina’s Assembly Bill 2756, which would mandate that city and county fire departments do yearly inspections of all home schools.
Critics say the legislation unnecessarily targets home-school families in light of a case that had more to do with abuse than the homeschool system, and that home inspections are a breach of their Fourth Amendment privacy rights. Reform advocates, on the other hand, say the bill doesn’t go far enough.
If you were homeschooled or run a homeschool, we want to hear from you. Does this bill create much needed infrastructure for oversight? Or is it a violation of a homeschool family’s privacy? If you do want more oversight, what kind of regulations would be effective, if any?
Call us at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Pam Dowling, president of the California Homeschool Network, nonprofit that aims to support homeschoolers and ensure that homeschooling remains a legal option
Hännah Ettinger, a homeschool alumni advocate with the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a nonprofit that aims to reform policy around homeschooling to protect children