Court Opinion

ID: 9473545
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:32:38.941997+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:35.540222
License: Public Domain

FAIRCHILD, Senior Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
With all respect, I would affirm.
Perhaps the statutory standard, “instruction equivalent to that given in the public schools,” is not vague. It is, however, open to a considerable range of interpretation. How exact must be the comparison of the following elements: days of instruction per year, training of teachers, elements of curriculum, regularity of testing? Or is equivalency to be determined overall by a trier of fact after hearing expert opinion evidence?
Plaintiffs were confronted with differing views on their compliance. They were prosecuted, but told by a state attendance officer that they were in compliance in that person’s opinion. They cite instances of home instruction to which they say different standards were applied.
There are no Indiana decisions (with one exception) bearing on the problem, and arguable reason why the standard should be refined by an Indiana court. The problem likely has substantial significance beyond the present case.
The parties cite a venerable Indiana Appellate Court decision holding that the fact that instruction is given in the home and not in an establishment holding itself out as a school does not prevent compliance with the statute of that time requiring attendance at a “public, private or parochial school.” State v. Peterman, 32 Ind.App. 665, 70 N.E. 550 (1904). The Attorney General tells us, “The factual setting of Peterman which relies upon the presence of a formally licensed or certified teacher is undoubtedly no longer good law since Indiana does not require certified teachers in parochial or formal private schools.” In Peterman, the court also recited evidence that curriculum and time spent were the same as in public school.
There are a number of factors bearing on the question of abstention, including the delay involved. The various factors do not all lead in the same direction, and leave the matter a judgment call. I do not find an abuse of discretion in the district court’s decision to abstain.