Crites v. Smith

This appeal raises important issues concerning Tennessee’s home school statute. A group of parents, seeking to represent the growing number of parents who wish to educate their children at home instead of in the public schools, filed an action in the Chancery Court for Davidson County alleging that the Commissioner of Education was violating their constitutional rights by administering the home school statute in a manner inconsistent with the General Assembly’s intent. The trial court, sitting without a jury, denied the parents’ request for class certification and dismissed their complaint on…