chapter 6

1. CHAPTER 6 SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

3. States exercise the prerogative: Admission requirements Residence requirements Age requirements Universal access Health, safety, and welfare of all children

4. Admission and access Plyler v. Doe: This was a landmark 1982 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the children of undocumented alien citizens to attend public schools, citing that these children were special members of an underclass who could �affect neither their parents� conduct, nor their own status� (Alexander & Alexander, p. 252).

5. Admission and access In Plyler v. Doe dicta, the Court stated: �Illiteracy is an enduring disability. The inability to read and write will handicap the individual deprived of a basic education each and every day of his life. The inestimable toll of that deprivation on the social, economic, intellectual, and psychological well-being of the individual, and the obstacle it poses to individual achievement makes it most difficult to reconcile the cost or the principle of a status-based denial��(ibid)

6. Question On what Constitutional grounds did the Supreme Court base its decision in Plyler v. Doe? How might the dicta about illiteracy being an enduring handicap be applied to other cases?

7. Residence requirements In Martinez v. Bynum, a child who was born in the U.S., but whose parents� legal residence was in Mexico, was denied the right to attend public school in Texas while living with his sister (not his legal guardian) on the grounds that the state had the right to establish a bona fide residency requirement.

8. Residence In Martinez, on what grounds did the Supreme Court suggest that the state had the right to apply a residence requirement? (Hint, hint, look on p. 255) What is the difference between a residence and a domicile?

9. Other residency points: A change in parental custody of a child primarily to change school attendance location may be disallowed. The same applies to participation in athletics. Parents living in one district may pay tuition for their children to attend school in another district, if both districts agree.

10. Compulsory school attendance Massachusetts was the first state with a compulsory attendance law (1853). The law was promoted in an attempt not only to educate children, but to prevent exploitation. It wasn�t until the early 1900s that all states had adopted similar legislation.

11. Compelling state interest Under the concept of parens patriae, the state is considered the parent to all persons, and as such it has the obligation to provide for the commonwealth and individual welfare. This is applied to public education, saying that the state has a compelling interest in protecting the educational rights of children.

12. State v. parental interest The U.S. legal system bases its handling of this conflict in English common law precepts which held that the state�s prerogative was superior over the parent�s when �the parent�s natural right is improperly exercised�. This was intended to safeguard the ��health, patriotism, morality, efficiency, industry, and integrity��of citizens. (Alexander & Alexander, p. 259)

13. Dual precedents In the U.S. there is currently a dual set of precedents regarding parens patriae. One, based on Wisconsin v. Yoder, gives parents authority over their own children�s school attendance. The other, based on Ford v. Ford, gives the state authority (that was a custody case).

14. Dual precedents This idea of dual precedents means that states handle issues regarding child welfare on a case-by-case basis, but it can never recuse itself or abdicate the responsibility for protecting the best interests of all children.

15. Regulation of private schools Some early twentieth century higher court cases, notably Pierce v. the Society of Sisters, Meyer v. Nebraska, and Farrington v. Tokushige, dealt with the idea of the state�s right to regulate private education.

16. Pierce v. Society of Sisters In this case, the Supreme Court found that a state could not require all children to attend public schools. What was its Constitutional rationale for this decision? Who was it protecting? What other important dicta from the case supported parental control of education?

17. Wisconsin v. Yoder Although its decision was narrowly applied to people of Amish faith, this was a groundbreaking Supreme Court case in that it reversed a tradition in which the courts supported state control over the religious wishes of parents in the interest of universal public education. It opened the door for subsequent home schooling decisions.

18. Johnson v. Charles City This case followed Yoder, but disallowed the �Amish exception� from compulsory attendance for Baptist children.

19. Home schooling In 1982, only two states had statutes specifically allowing home schooling. By 1993 this had increased to 32, and at present, all 50 states have language speaking to the permissibility of home education.

20. Home schooling Parents have no constitutional right to home school; their free exercise of religion right doesn�t allow them to be free of compulsory attendance laws. Rather, they have the liberty to �direct the upbringing and education� of their children and the state cannot unreasonably interfere with this right. Still, the state must protect all children.

21. Burden of proof If a state has a statute allowing home education, the burden falls on the state to proved that the parent is not providing adequate instruction. The state must provide evidence documenting the parent�s failure to furnish adequate instruction. The parent must respond to the evidence.

22. Regulation of home education The state has a great deal of latitude in determining how it will regulate home instruction. It can require the education to be supervised by a certified teacher; it can require parents to attend courses, it can require equivalent curriculum and standardized testing of students.

23. IDEA and Home schooling The courts are split on this one. A New Jersey court determined that home schooled children have a right to IEDA services regardless of the language in the law; a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, on the other hand, said that unless the state�s home school law specifically allowed IDEA services, the child was not entitled.

24. Part-time attendance/Athletics States may allow home schooled students to participate in band and athletics, but they cannot be forced to. In Swanson v. Guthrie, the courts supported a school district�s ban on part-time attendance, saying it did not discriminate against Christian home schoolers.

25. Neglect and home education Parents who opt to home school their children and fail to properly do so may be charged with neglect. In In re Interest of Rebekah T., the parents were found not to have provided their daughter with adequate education and failed to oversee her studies.

26. Nonattendance issues Schools may establish rules for: Excessive absences Travel Illness

27. Marriage Marriage emancipates minors from the control of both the state and their parents, making school attendance the choice of the married minor.

28. Vaccination State laws differ with respect to requiring vaccinations, however when a child is not vaccinated, the state can exclude the unimmunized child from school during periods of epidemic or outbreak of illness. The state can require legitimate medical or religious documentation if that is used as grounds against immunization.