(SGT NEWS BITE) - A state appeals court lifted the cloud it had cast on the homeschooling of 166,000 California children and ruled Friday that parents have a right to educate their children at home even if they lack a teaching credential.

After an outpouring of protest from homeschooling advocates and politicians, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles reversed its Feb. 28 ruling that could have reclassified most homeschooled children as truants.

In its earlier ruling, the court said California's compulsory education law requires parents to send their children ages 6 to 18 to a full-time public or private school or have them taught by credentialed tutors at home. After agreeing to reconsider the case in March, the same three-judge panel ruled Friday that parents - with or without teaching credentials - can comply with the law by declaring their home to be a private school.

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