SECTION 2
The parental right to direct education includes the right to choose, as an alternative to public education, private, religious, or home schools, and the right to make reasonable choices within public schools for one's child.
SUMMARY: Parents have a right to make reasonable choices for their child in public schools, such as opting their child out of classes the parents find objectionable. It does not give parents any power to dictate curriculum or other choices by the school for the student body at large.
In 2005 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that a parent's fundamental right to direct their child's education ends at the threshold of the school door (Fields v. Palmdale,427 F3d 1197, 2005). This section will return to parents the right to make reasonable decisions for their child, even in the public schools. It does not include any right to make decisions for others' children or the school as a whole. However, it sets a low standard that parents need to reach to make decisions for their own student. To override this right, it would not be enough to show that, for instance, the request is not the best for the student or the school. The government would have to show that a parent's request was unreasonable.
The "reasonableness standard" is the lowest standard in constitutional law, and therefore the easiest test for parents to meet."
The parental right to direct education includes the right to choose, as an alternative to public education, private, religious, or home schools, and the right to make reasonable choices within public schools for one's child.
SUMMARY: Parents have a right to make reasonable choices for their child in public schools, such as opting their child out of classes the parents find objectionable. It does not give parents any power to dictate curriculum or other choices by the school for the student body at large.
The "reasonableness standard" is the lowest standard in constitutional law, and therefore the easiest test for parents to meet."
