Father John Boyle gives the Catholic case for home education.
"The Church has always maintained that it is the parents who are the primary educators of their children. The following Canon from the Code of Canon Law summarise the position very well:
Can. 793 #1. Parents, and those who take their place, have both the obligation and the right to educate their children. Catholic parents have also the duty and the right to choose those means and institutes which, in their local circumstances, can best promote the catholic education of their children.
#2. Parents have moreover the right to avail themselves of that assistance from civil society which they need to provide a catholic education for their children.
Throughout, it is the parents' responsibility that is stressed, and the state can only adopt an assisting role. Naturally, if a particular parent was failing in his/her duty to ensure the education of their child, the state would have a duty to 'assist' more forcefully, coercing the negligent parent."
He has the situation exactly - his information and links are right up to the minute. Worth reading the whole thing for a clear, concise summary of the where we're at.
1 comment:
Thanks for linking to my post. The position stated is simply elementary catholic social teaching on the principle of subsidiarity: what can be done at a lower level (e.g. family) should not be done by a higher level (e.g. state). Glad you found it interesting.
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