Homeschooling in California: Legal Paths, Diverse Families, and Why AB 84 Gets It Wrong
Families who educate their children at home are not outside the law, they are participating in legally recognized school options defined in California Eucation Code. Before voting on legislation like AB 84, it’s critical to understand what homeschooling actually looks like in our state.
Legal Overview:
What Legislators Need to Know About Homeschooling in California
In California, homeschooling is not a legal category on its own, it’s a description of how a child is educated at home while enrolled in a legal public or private school option.
Here's what that looks like:
- There Is No Legal Category Called “Homeschooling” in California Law
- California does not define “homeschooling” in the Education Code.
- All children age 6+ must be enrolled in a legal public or private school.
- Families may choose to educate at home using one of four legal pathways, but none fall under a special “homeschool” exemption.
- Families Who Educate at Home Are Still in a Legally Recognized School Option The four legal homeschool pathways are:
- Filing a Private School Affidavit (PSA)
- Enrolling in a Private School Satellite Program (PSP)
- Joining a public school independent study program or non-classroom-based charter (“homeschool charter”)
- Using a credentialed private tutor or a parent with a valid California credential
No matter which path a family chooses, it is a legal school enrollment, not an exemption.
Charter Schools & Oversight:
Why Charter Schools Work for Homeschool Families, and for the State
Non-classroom-based charter schools provide the accountability, access, and oversight that legislators often want to see, without sacrificing flexibility for families. AB 84 would dismantle this partnership.
- Educational Oversight – Credentialed teachers guide learning and verify progress.
- Accountability – Records, assessments, and standards are monitored.
- Student Safety – Mandated reporters and regular contact help protect students.
- Support Without Cost – Access to materials, classes, and enrichment supports equity.
- Flexibility + Accountability – Non-classroom based charters that partner with homeschool families strike the balance that meets both parent and public expectations.
Legislative takeaway: These are public schools, not private enrichment groups. Removing them hurts access and oversight alike.
Homeschool Identity & Diversity:
Many Paths, One Purpose: Recognizing All Homeschool Families in California
- California’s homeschooling families are incredibly diverse, reflecting a wide range of cultural backgrounds, socioeconomic levels, educational philosophies, and life circumstances.
- Families include working parents, single parents, military families, multilingual households, those navigating special needs, and more.
- Many families turn to homeschooling because their children were not safe, supported, or seen in traditional school environments. This includes LGBTQ+ students, particularly transgender and nonbinary youth, who faced bullying, isolation, or a lack of affirmation in their previous schools. It also includes neurodivergent students and those navigating trauma or mental health challenges.
- The homeschool community has become a safe haven for these families, a place where students can learn and grow in a setting that affirms their identity and prioritizes their well-being.
- Some homeschool for a year or two; others have done so for over a decade.
- Families often move between charter, PSP, or PSA options depending on life circumstances and what best supports their child.
- What unites all homeschool families is a shared commitment to parent-guided learning at home through one of California’s legal school options.
- Whether families use a district independent study program, a non-classroom based public charter, a PSP, or file a private affidavit, they are all homeschoolers and deserve to be treated as such.
- All homeschool families, regardless of their chosen legal path, deserve equal recognition, respect, and protection under California law.
- This variety of legal options is what makes education in California unique, strong, and responsive to student needs. Something we as a state should be proud of!
Why This Matters to Legislators:
Protecting All Students Means Understanding All School Options
- Homeschoolers are public and private school students, not a separate category.
- AB 84 harms marginalized, rural, and special-needs families who depend on non-classroom based public charter “homeschool programs” for access and support.
- Legislators must understand the legal structure in order to craft policy that is fair, effective, and constitutional.
How You Can Help:
What Legislators Should Do
- Oppose efforts to eliminate or restrict legal homeschool options, especially through indirect tactics like AB 84.
- Support transparency and safety without criminalizing parent-directed education.
- Protect the ability of families to choose the right legal school path for their children, public or private, at home or in the classroom.
AB 84 Gets It Wrong:
Why This Bill Harms Homeschool Charter Students
AB 84 would dismantle the very programs that have made parent-directed home education accessible, accountable, and equitable for thousands of California families. Here's how:
- Eliminates Parent-Taught Instruction: The bill requires that all instruction be delivered by credentialed employees of the charter school, effectively ending parent-led learning, which is the foundation of homeschooling.
- Destroys Community Partnerships: AB 84 would ban the use of vendors or community-based instructors for enrichment and supplemental instruction, cutting off art, music, language, STEM, and more.
- Strips Flexibility from Public Education: Families that rely on public school independent study programs for financial, cultural, or personal reasons would lose their only flexible option.
- Ignores the Needs of Marginalized Students: Charter homeschooling programs serve LGBTQ+ students, disabled students, neurodivergent learners, and rural families who were failed by traditional systems. AB 84 removes one of the few responsive models available to them.
- Breaks What Works: These programs already include credentialed oversight, required state testing, curriculum planning, and student progress tracking. AB 84 punishes a system that is already providing both freedom and accountability.
Bottom line: AB 84 doesn’t improve education, it eliminates a lifeline for families who need alternatives, while undercutting student-centered innovation in public education.
Families: Make Your Voice Heard!
Tell Your Story - Especially if You Use a Charter Homeschool Program
Legislators need to hear from you. Share your reasons for choosing a charter homeschool, how it has supported your child, and why California must continue offering legal homeschool paths.
Not sure who represents you?
Find your Assemblymember or Senator: https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov
What to Do If Your Assembly or Senate Seat Is Vacant
If your Assemblymember or State Senator seat is currently vacant, you still have a voice and it deserves to be heard. When you don’t have direct representation, it’s important to contact the leadership of each chamber and ask them to represent your region’s concerns.
Step 1: Let them know you don’t currently have a representative due to a vacancy.
Step 2: Ask them to oppose AB 84 on your behalf as a resident and voter in California.
Step 3: Be sure to include your ZIP code and city so your concern is logged for your region.
Speaker of the Assembly – Robert Rivas
- Mailing Address:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0029 - Phone: (916) 319-2029
- Fax: (916) 319-2129
- Website: speaker.asmdc.org
Senate President pro Tempore – Mike McGuire
- Office Address:
1021 O Street, Suite 8518
Sacramento, CA 95814 - Phone: (916) 651-4002
- Website: sd02.senate.ca.gov
