PITTSBURGH – While many parents are preparing their kids for school, the Newborns are taking their suburban Pittsburgh school district to court.
The Newborns homeschool their kids and object to the legal requirement that the local district superintendent must have final approval of their children's education, which includes religious studies.
"It's not the paperwork we are objecting to ... because there is no religious objection to paperwork. It is the final approval by the superintendent, a secular institution, over our children's religious education," said Maryalice Newborn.
The Newborns believe the education law treats homeschoolers unfairly because Christian or private institutions are exempt from such strict regulations. But Duquesne University (search) Law Professor Robert Barker believes the Newborns have a tough fight ahead.
"In order for a person to invoke that law successfully, that person has to prove the action of the government, in this case the school district, constitutes a substantial burden on those peoples' exercise of religion," Barker said.
With the backing of a national homeschool organization, the Newborns appear ready for a long court battle.
Click on the video box near the top of this story to watch a report by FOX News' Todd Connor.
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