David and Belinda Bender, members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Auburn, Wash., said they will fight a lawsuit initiated by their local school system seeking to require their daughter Alisha to attend public school.
The King County prosecutor’s office brought suit against the couple earlier in the school year after Alisha failed to appear for her special-education class at Evergreen Elementary School.
The prosecutor’s office contends that the couple is in violation of a Washington law that requires children between the ages of 8 and 14 to attend a public or state-approved school.
The Benders, who say they are teaching their daughter at home because they want to give her a Christian education, could face a fine of $25 a day up to $3,000 or be ordered by the judge to send Alisha to school if they are convicted in Aukeen District Court next month.
“We found the curriculum that followed along the school of the prophets,” Mr. Bender said. The couple also teach another, younger daughter at home.--ab
