In Re Rachel L.

Christopher Blake, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, San Diego, for father Philip L.

Aida Aslanian, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, Glendale, for mother Mary L.

No appearance for Respondent.

Raymond G. Fortner, Jr., County Counsel, Larry Cory, Assistant County Counsel and Judith A. Luby, for Real Party in Interest.

CROSKEY, J.

In this dependency case (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 300), we consider the question whether parents can legally "home school" their children. The attorney for two of the three minor children in the case has petitioned this court for extraordinary writ relief, asking us to direct the juvenile court to order that the children be enrolled in a public or private school, and actually attend such a school.

The trial court's reason for declining to order public or private schooling for the children was its belief that parents have a constitutional right to school their children in their own home. However, California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children. Thus, while the petition for extraordinary writ asserts that the trial court's refusal to order…