We (here in Southern Oregon, AKA Expatriates of California....and it shows), are daily made aware of the influx..... but then that's who/what we are as well as a huge number of our population. Our Valley (maybe 150,000) have already had our measles outbreak and our schools are making more stringent rules about vaccinating our children. Not sure how the private schools are handling the problem, but....I see more and more parents home schooling their kids and I am so impressed by the Home School On line Programs that it would not surprise me that it WOULD take legislation to have all children vaccinated. I know...Big Brother and all that, but.....most of us on the planet are here because we have not been decimated by our previous generations loss of life due to disease that we can now prevent. I remember the polio epidemic.....and the first Salk Vaccine and blindness from measles. I grew up knowing children who died, and and lived where the Health Dept. put signs on the doors of people who had some of those diseases. BIG red signs on doors of polio, measles, scarlet fever and how scary it was to have that kind of fear right next door. Oh Gosh....didn't mean to get on that tangent.... We have a 26 year old Autism victim, (well, he's not a victim), but his life has been compromised greatly by that anomaly, and we are a long way from blaming vaccinations for his disability. Sometimes "Big Brother" has to do what it takes for the greatest protection of the "Whole" population. BTW, I am in favor of not giving those big doses of vaccines....My children got them spread out so their little bodies were not so impacted my the "many things in one stick" that was prevalent at one time.

I don't believe in a nanny state either. But when it comes to public health issues our government has a history of stepping in, even back when we were a much "freer" society as far as individual choice in many other matters. I grew up in the 50s/60s and remember many of those things also Nanny. The anti vaccers of today are didn't have to go through those illnesses, hospitalizations and needless deaths because their parents loved them enough to vaccinate.

As for homeschoolers I know of many. DD is planning to homeschool. The groups she is in touch with and meets ups with are pro vaccine. So although some may chose to homeschool they will still be ostracized by the caring parents who homeschool simply to offer their children a better education, not to raise them off the grid.

I was disappointed the new law doesn't go far enough. I don't understand why unvaccinated children can remain in school from 1st through 6th grade as long as they are already enrolled.

I really do not understand why people do not want to vaccinate their kids. I have not heard one single compelling argument that validates that decision. Vaccinations should be required by law,except in cases where it may ACTUALLY harm the kid. I can't believe the number of people who are drinking the "vaccine causes autism"koolaid,despite the fact that actual scientific evidence disproves it. Maybe it is plain fear of their child becoming autistic that makes parents take the "better safe than sorry" approach, without realizing they are doing the exact opposite. The last straw for me was when the HPV vaccine was first approved,and people were all up in arms because of course if you vaccinate against a STD, that encourages your daughters to be promiscuous. (Granted, i live in the deep south, where anything that is remotely related to the reproductive health of either gender can and will be twisted into an opportunity to preach the evils of the flesh. It's almost amusing,almost.) After I heard that argument over and over, I gave up on this generation of kiddies coming up now. They are being raised by nincompoops. God help us all,especially those poor,unvaccinated children.

I went to a private,Catholic school. They were so strict on vaccines that they PROVIDED them,to alleviate any "inconvenience" excuse. If parents couldn't provide vaccination records,and then did not consent to the ones offered at the school, the kid was banned from classes until the situation was remedied. I can remember at least two occasions when we were called,5 at a time,alphabetically, to a room that contained 2 nurses with syringes. My parents thought that was more convenient than dragging all 6 of us to the docs office anyway. It was just a little unnerving,having to pray before getting the shot. Of course, we had to pray before every class, lunch, gym,etc etc.etc. I guess one could argue that it was the prayers alone that prevented a polio or measles outbreak,if one was of the anti vaccine group.......

believe me as a small child (before measles) I was sick enough to have died, when I got measles and the flu at the same time...and the repercussions of the high temp and later on my adult teeth (the dentist said it robbed me of needed calcium) has been on-going to this day...and as new mother with a child (he had started his shots) with whooping cough it was the worst 6 weeks ever...

Good for California to take this stand. Maybe these parents should visit some of the third world countries and see how the children without access to vaccines are faring?

I think people became concerned when some felt that there was a link between vaccines and autism. When celebrities jumped on the bandwagon, it became even more scary.

This link has since been disproven. It will be interesting to know what is causing such a high rate of autism in this country.

We have Public Health to promote the public good.

Public Education also exists to promote the public good. I don't doubt that parents think they can educate their children at home. I doubt that many are equipped to provide superior academic instruction.

Further, we all lose when adults who are concerned with good education withdraw their attention from public schools. Every child deserves the opportunity to pursue a good education. That's not just lip service; it's selfish. Our nation *requires* an Educated Public to succeed as framed by our Constitution.

Parents can are free to augment the education their children receive in public schools. 'Dropping out' won't fix problems in public schools. Failing schools results in bigger problems for all of us.

(Excuse the digression. The problem felt compelling on this national holiday.)

I doubt those kids are coming to Texas. The schools are really strict with vaccinations here. I had to take my oldest for a second round of chicken pox vaccination before I could enroll him. He was up to date in our previous state so I'm not sure what happened. Little brother and sister already had the required shots.

I am a wait and see on the HPV vaccine because I like to check out the guinea pigs first. I have no problems with the others because so may children died before we had vaccinations. My dad's little 13 month old sister died of a childhood disease before vaccinations became available.

I remember in elementary school, 1950's, all the kids lining up into the nurse's office to get vaccine as well as the sugar cube polio. (I could hardly sleep the night before because I dreaded the injection.)

Both my kids had chicken pox before the vaccine was available. Luckily, they weren't very sick but of course looked awful. I remember letting them run in the sprinklers to cool off.

Anyone here with kids going off to college, be sure they get the meningitis vaccine.

nanny, I personally stop short of praising the home schooling "movement" and instead scratch my head about it. Many home schoolers I know and have met are active members of what I consider to be extremist religious groups. They home school so that their children can be "protected" from exposure to the general public and outrageous unproven concepts like evolution. Yes, really. No, it's not all home schoolers but it's a large segment.

The most interesting thing I learned in the article is that California has become only the third state to have such a law. The others are West Virginia and Mississippi, two states not particularly known for forward-looking political action or high-ranking public health stats.

chisue said "We have Public Health to promote the public good." and I think that says it all. Those moving out of California to avoid doing the right thing for their children won't be missed. For them and the home schoolers with the same motivation, one can only feel sorry for the children who have well-intentioned but wrong-headed parents.

In Ontario, perhaps all of Canada, I'm not sure, but if the kids can't show proof of vaccinations, they can't come to school.

There are parents who don't want to vaccinate their kids, but they are putting other kids at risk for their bull-headedness. Remember when Jenny McCarthy was all over the place tying vaccinations and autism, I believe that has now been proven false.

Just yesterday we got together with hubby's brothers and sisters. He's the youngest of 7 and his oldest surviving sibling is 18 years older than he. One of his sisters said that she remembers having measles and once she got better, she went to school and immediately came home with chicken pox. Her mother was fit to be tied.

I had chicken pox at the age of 18 (had brothers 6 and 12 years of age). I was very sick with scary side issues. Vaccination not available then. Sometimes the disease can cause other issues so I would certainly not have deprived my child of the vaccinations available.

California has had some laws that made me glad to be from elsewhere but this is a law with which I totally agree. This thing of blaming a "link" is reminiscent of politics. Some people are so radical and unwilling to even consider a different viewpoint that they look for ANY excuse to dislike and bash. If these people wanted to crawl into their holes with their 50 year supply of toilet paper and can goods that'd be fine but they still have an impact on society. I don't like the "big brother" thing, don't like being forced to do things with MY property, but I'm also not so self-lobotomized to not understand that there IS a public good to a lot of things. So many of these anti-vac people want to credit their deity when something goes right, but when something goes wrong it's who can I SUE?

I remember the polio shots and I remember the sugary sludge. I also remember how parents would all send their kids to be with whichever kid had the current childhood disease they wanted their kids to contract! Get it out of the way. I suppose today that's considered child abuse.

I haven't been around the school system for a long time but my understanding is the "school nurse" is also a thing of the past. I suppose it's the sue-happy folk that have scared the schools into eliminating the position.

And I can't help but notice and wonder if many those who are doing the "home schooling" are some of the least qualified to actually teach something.

"And I can't help but notice and wonder if many those who are doing the
"home schooling" are some of the least qualified to actually teach
something."

No need to wonder, cynic, I think we all know the answer to your query. That's perhaps the most ironic thing of all concerning the whole home schooling fad and the rash decisions these parents make to pursue this avenue. We know a young couple who made a church-inspired decision to home school their kids. 'Round about when their two were 9 and 6, these parents were talking about how the educational efforts were progressing and they started wondering whether the mother's failure to complete high school (!) and the father's education that stopped before college might limit their ability to provide good instruction and insights to their kids. DUH! The kids were enrolled in public school the next year. I know this is an extreme example but it's a true one.

My older son was kicked out of preschool because of issues we now know are related to his Aspergers and ADHD. We briefly considered home schooling and felt we could cover the main subjects given our educational backgrounds. I have a BA in history and religion plus a MLS in Library Science. My husband has a BA in engineering, a BS in math and a minor in physics. He also has MS in engineering. We decided not to though because we felt that we didn't have the necessary teaching experience. I'm now glad we chose to find him a therapeutic school instead.

You would also have had to have the time for it as well.

Most teachers today are nowhere near specialists in the subjects they teach. If they were were they would be making big bucks in the private sector instead of teaching. Of course there are some that go into teaching because they love to teach. Subject matter knowledge is especially scarce in elementary schools. Teachers teach content that they are not even close to being experts in.

In secondary school you may find the occasional teacher who truly loves and knows his/her subject. DS was in a technology magnet school. He quickly became bored and disenchanted with the lack of ability of those who were supposed to be teaching him. He honed his skilled by working with computer engineers, and "home brew" type techies outside the school system. Just the way a home schooler would.

Time? A dedicated parent can take one hour and teach an elementary school aged child more in that hour than a teacher can teach in five hours to a classroom of thirty. Especially when much of that classroom time is being taken up with all the social work teachers are expected to perform. Special needs children, children who barely speak English, children who are only there for a month and move on etc.

It was actually more of a pondering than a question. :) A good friend while growing up swore he'd NEVER send his kids to Catholic school after his experiences there. The final straw was when a teacher in 7th grade asked what USSR stood for and he gave the answer the Catholic school taught him. "United States Soviet Republic". After the roar of laughter and some of the red left his face, he said no way. And that was just one example of the "education" he received. So it taught me that as bad as certain things are in public schools, as Marty Feldman quipped "Could be worse...".

I understand the fear of Big Brother, I really do. It is a fine line to walk. On one hand, I really don't want the government dictating every facet of my life but on the other hand, this is a matter of public safety and health.

I will say I have always found it amusing that some of the people most against vaccinations are also the first ones pushing for more government involvement in big business and social welfare.

Good job California, I hope more states follow suit.

I saw that ruling and didn't think about the exodus. Ugh. I'm glad my son is fully vaccinated... so he can't get what they'll be carrying around. As to homeschooling, I only hope those who do, find ways to socialize the child(ren). A big part of school is the social aspect. My son comes in contact with all kinds of people he might not otherwise see. I think about kids who are even less well off and how much access might be blocked for them. Public school is a great equalizer. We're lucky that he attends one that is so well above in curriculum, I never thought about that which he was missing. His school has no football team, but the kids can play at other schools, or if you are in band, march at other schools. So my son marches where I attended-back before magnet schools. My son's current magent school is much more like my high school was. What is my school is like now? Oy. It's a much wilder ride, and I'm glad we are only there after hours and on weekends. A taste is enough. I'm glad he meets all walks of society there, but he'd never have seen what else there is if he hadn't stepped outside of his circle. Kids need to meet and know all kinds of people so they're well adjusted adults. If one homeschools to "protect" them from anything (which is what I hear!), what are they going to do when the child grows up and moves out on their own? I dread to think the possibilities.

I don't think there's much of an exodus to expect. People like those interviewed are in the minority of a very minority position to begin with. Newspaper reporters have always seemed to have a knack of finding outliers for any issue. It adds spice to a piece but also can give the wrong impression.

TG, in my view the whole notion of "Big Brother", as held by those who often use the term, is too often used as a generic red herring to describe a government's positions or programs when a more relevant complaint can't be found. Government is needed. For those who dislike what actions are taken, the solution is to replace the elected officials - a rare happening in incumbent entrenched America.

I caught whooping cough (pertussis) when I was a young child in the 60's. It is a very, very nasty, uncomfortable illness and I don't understand why any parent would want to risk putting their child(ren) through it if it can be avoided via vaccination. I also lost a classmate to complications from scarlet fever. Over-vaccination is never a good idea, but surely there can be a reasonable balance between enough vaccinations to protect from illness vs. no vaccinations at all.

I'm not sure there is such a thing as over-vaccination but as with all things medical, I think one can do no better than to obtain and follow the advice of a competent physician.

Government conspiracy theories....sigh.

Most colleges and universities require incoming students to be vaccinated. Some or many of those anti-vaxx parents might in for a rude awakening in another 10 yrs or so.

I'd forgotten that jakkom. You're right. I was in the group whose German measles vaccinations in childhood had something wrong with them (I cannot remember for the life of me what!) and we all had to get revaccinated. I was pregnant at the time (I was in my late twenties because I'd gone back to school), and I had to wait to get my report card because I couldn't get vaccinated. Ugh. Held it hostage. Good for them. I would've done it anyway, but good for them.