A California court has issued a ruling which effectively makes homeschooling in that state illegal. (Not surprisingly, neither the legislature nor any sort of popular sanction was involved. Such is "law" in this day and age.) In fact, the ruling is broad enough to affect charter schools and even study-at-home programs that are overseen by the public system. The case is headed to the state supreme court, so the ruling could be overturned, but that's only temporary.

According to the ruling, 166,000 families could face fines and other criminal sanctions for failing to comply. The article linked above mentions that the "sanctions" can include "an order to complete a parent education and counseling program." So, you send your kids to public school, or you go to school yourself. (Sorry, but that sort of "sanction" is just so... California. "Oh, those parents just don't understand." Bleah.)

Does this sound familiar to anyone? It should, because this is exactly what happened to the Busekros family, and to many other German families, who chose to exercise their God-given right to homeschool their children. Furthermore, if (I should say, "when") this ruling sticks, and a California parent chooses not to comply, rest assured that armed men will turn up at their front door and cart their children off to school (and probably into state custody) at gunpoint.

It will take a while, but this ruling will start a ripple effect that will spread. The "blue" states will be the first ones affected, and the former Confederate states will probably be the last. The whole process may be short-circuited if one of these cases makes it into federal court. Whatever the means, one way or another, the German system will arrive here in America. The "land of the free," indeed.