California families petition Supreme Court over denial of faith-based homeschool materials
A group of California parents asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower-court ruling that barred their religious homeschooling curriculum, arguing it violates their First Amendment rights.
California parents enrolled in the state’s independent-study homeschooling program have asked the Supreme Court to consider their challenge to a Ninth Circuit ruling that refused to approve their religious curriculum. The families selected materials that met state standards but included religious themes, such as works by William Penn and Jonathan Edwards, and a grammar sentence referencing God. A charter school overseeing the program rejected these items, prompting First Liberty Institute to file a petition arguing that the decision improperly classifies the homeschool as a public school and infringes on First Amendment free-exercise rights.
The petition contends that state funding cannot be conditioned on the exclusion of religious content. The high court will decide in the coming months whether to take the case, known as Woolard v. Thurmond, which could affect thousands of California homeschoolers and set precedent for the Ninth Circuit. Oral arguments for other religious-education cases are scheduled for later in the term.
Why it matters
The case could reshape how public funds are applied to faith-based homeschooling across California and the Ninth Circuit.
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