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Judges in California ruled on two cases related to Christian education in August, deciding against an association of Christian schools but ruling in favor of parents' right to homeschool without a teaching degree.

A federal judge upheld the University of California's refusal to recognize certain high-school courses offered by Christian schools when considering admissions eligibility.

U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero ruled that UC professors had a "rational basis" for rejecting credit for five courses, most of which used textbooks from Pensacola Christian College's A Beka Book curricula publisher. A biology course that used A Beka Book's Biology: God's Living Creation was deemed by a UC professor to have failed at adequately teaching critical thinking or the theory of evolution.

UC provost Wyatt R. Hume praised the ruling. "As we have said all along, the question the university addresses in reviewing courses is not whether they have religious content, but whether they provide adequate instruction in the subject matter," he said.

The schools have appealed the recent decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, believes the case could have implications for schools across the country.

"The University of California claims that they are not interfering with what this Christian school or other schools are teaching, that they're just setting standards for admissions," Haynes said. "A closer look reveals that by denying credit because of their religious content, the California school is putting pressure on Christian schools to teach courses from a secular perspective."

In another closely watched case, a California Court of Appeals ruled that state law allows parents to homeschool their children without obtaining teaching certificates. The ruling reversed an appellate court decision in February that families' religious convictions do not guarantee a right to homeschool their children.

An estimated 166,000 students are homeschooled in California, and Michael Farris, founder and chairman of the Virginia-based Homeschool Legal Defense Association, estimates that two-thirds of parents who homeschool do so for religious reasons. Farris argued before the court against the earlier decision, which said that minor children must attend a public school unless the child attends a private school or is taught by a teacher with a valid state teaching license.

"The initial decision was the death of homeschooling in California," Farris said. "The only reason not to panic was that it wasn't the final word." The case came to the attention of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services after one of a family's eight children alleged physical and emotional mistreatment by the father.

The father involved in the case, Phillip Long, told Christianity Today that they homeschool because of their "strong biblical beliefs."

"The Creator said that we are to teach our children; he didn't say hand our responsibility to others to teach our children," Long said.

California families who homeschool are required to file a private school affidavit with state regulators or to enroll their children in alternate education programs, such as private school satellite instruction or independent study.

The children in the case had been enrolled in Sunland Christian School, an institution that coordinates independent study programs for homeschooling families. The school's principal, Terry Neven, said the case gives parents who homeschool more clarity.

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October 2008, Vol. 52, No. 10