They want to believe that the bureaucrat is a nice guy, maybe misguided, but just trying to do his job. As a result, when a family is victimized by a school district, homeschoolers often blame the victim by asking what the family did to deserve harassment. They don't want to believe that the family under attack was picked out arbitrarily. Actually, families are generally not picked out arbitrarily. The reality is far worse.
State power is wielded where success is perceived as likely.
Most of the families over the years who are investigated are vulnerable ones-single parent households, welfare recipients, families embroiled in custody disputes, people who could be portrayed as religious fanatics. The state perceives them as easy targets and they are. Two other California homeschool cases pending also prove this point. In both, the mothers are single and on welfare. Yet, in all three situations, the families are in complete compliance with the Education Code and the government officials know it.