Vaccination Law Just One Reason for More Homeschoolers

Nearly 5 years after a strict vaccination law was passed in California, the number of unvaccinated homeschoolers has risen nearly 28% in the Golden State.

“In the school year that ended in June, there were 6,741 home-schooled kindergartners without their shots in California, compared with 1,880 in the 2016-17 school year,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Overall, 1.2% of the state’s kindergartners were home-schooled and unvaccinated in the last school year.”

California’s vaccination law was passed in 2015 following a measles outbreak centered around Disneyland. Since the law has been implemented, the vaccination rate in California has climbed above 95%. Not surprisingly, those who oppose the law are choosing homeschooling over vaccinating. However, homeschooling rates are on the rise for many additional reasons.

“The majority of people who we homeschool with did not come into it because of SB 277 at all,” said Monique Labarre, who homeschools her two sons and runs a homeschool Facebook group in San Diego.

Still, with an additional bill to tighten California’s school immunization requirements on the table, it’s just one more reason why parents in our country’s most populous state are taking their children’s education into their own hands.

“The vaccination piece is more a symptom than a cause,” Leah Russin, the executive director of Vaccinate California, told the Los Angeles Times. “People who distrust [the government], they don’t want their kids having a standardized education, they’re also not going to want standardized medication, and they’re not going to listen to authorities about either.”