JONATHAN L. v. Superior Court

In this dependency case, we consider the legality of, and restraints upon, home schooling in California. We will conclude that: (1) California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education; and (2) the statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared dependent.

As indicated, these issues arise in the course of a dependency proceeding. The family in this case had a history of dependency court proceedings involving charges of physical abuse, neglect, and failure to prevent sexual abuse. After the two youngest children were declared dependent due to the abuse and neglect of their siblings, their attorney sought an order that they be sent to private or public school, rather than educated at home by their mother, so that they would be in regular contact with mandatory reporters of abuse and neglect. The dependency court declined to issue such an order, primarily based on its view that parents have an absolute constitutional right to home school their children.

The children’s counsel sought relief in this court by a petition for an extraordinary writ. We filed our…