The Resident
News
Success is best defense in home-school debate
By Michael Rizzo
In the comfort of his Almaden Valley home, Alex Lamascus starts his school day by popping in a video. His algebra instructor appears on the screen, introduces the day's lesson and gives him practice problems to work through. In a typical day, the high school student reads up on philosophy, economics, civics and music--he plays the saxophone.
His school routine could change dramatically by next month--but not by his family's choice. The San Jose teen is among the estimated 166,000 home-schooled students in California who could be affected by a recent California appeals court ruling requiring parents who home-school to be credentialed teachers. The court is set to rehear the case in June.
Alex was shocked by the decision.
"I have a lot of friends that go to public school," Alex said. "I've seen some of their textbooks and whatnot, but I think I get a better education doing home school."
Alex has maintained an A average since he began home schooling in second grade, and he performs well on standardized tests. He's most proud, though, of the recognition he's earned for his skill at debate, a passion he discovered three years ago. He competes regularly at local and state tournaments with two debate leagues, one organized solely for home schoolers. After placing second out of 60 local teams in the Coast Forensic League, Alex and his debate partner, Nathaniel Clark, qualified to compete in the California High School Speech Association state championship being held at Santa Clara University. In June, Alex will compete with teams from around the country in a National Christian Forensics and Communication Association tournament. He and his partner placed sixth at the qualifying debate in March.
Alex's parents, Kathy and Jim, said it was his one-on-one learning environment that fostered his talent.
"By doing it all at home, you can see what your child's strengths and weaknesses are," Kathy Lamascus said. "You can cater it to your child's personality. You can keep going over it until they get it."
The court's Feb. 28 decision threatens to take that environment away from families like the Lamascuses.
The ruling stems from a dispute between the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and Phil and Mary Long of Lynwood, who home-school their eight children.
One of the children claimed to social workers that the father was physically abusive, and an attorney representing the youngest children asked they be ordered to enroll in public or private schools as a form of protection.
Since the ruling, home-school families say they have been put on the defensive. Advocates statewide maintain that the flexibility of home schooling provides an enriching childhood experience and that the typical classroom setting isn't the right match for every child.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger criticized the ruling and pledged legislation if it wasn't overturned. State schools superintendent Jack O'Connell also supports the rights of home schoolers.
The Home School Legal Defense Association collected 250,000 signatures within a 10-day period opposing the court's decision.
"The case before them was about one family," said Loren Mavromati, the president of the California Homeschool Network, "but the decision they handed down referred or applied to all home schoolers."
Advocates for home schooling claim about 166,000 children in California are enrolled in home education programs. The California Depart-ment of Education estimates the number at between 50,000 and 100,000. Parents who wish to home school their children either hire a credentialed tutor, enroll the child in an independent study program overseen by a local school district or, like the Lamascuses, file paperwork with the state establishing their home as a private school.
Parents have more access to social and educational resources than they did 50 years ago, Mavromati said. Connecting with other home- schooling families is easier now thanks to e-mail and the Internet.
San Jose families have access to groups such as Bay Area Schools in Christ, and Homeschool Fun for Silicon Valley, which organize activities for home-schooled children such as dances, bowling and park days.
Lamascus handpicked Alex's literature-based curriculum from a pool of options she was able to sample at conventions organized by textbook publishers. Twice a week Alex takes classes with other home -schooled students through Pioneer Family Academy, a Christian independent study program, and enjoys such extracurricular activities as sports and chess.
Lamascus, a registered nurse, took a sabbatical from work when she began home schooling Alex in second grade. She and her husband say they wanted to tailor their son's education to his individual learning style, and also keep him in an environment that instilled the values they considered appropriate.
"There's a lot of things public schools do well," Jim Lamascus said, "but we have certain values for the level of respect that a young person should display, and it's not always carried out in public school."
He refers specifically to extreme styles of dress and textbooks that contain profane language or religious values that don't match those of the family.
If the California 2nd District Court of Appeals decision sticks, California will become the only state in the nation that requires parents who home-school their children to earn a teaching credential.
