Darrell and Kathy Combs' children in Center Township, Indiana County, have spent the last few months learning about the election process.

	V.W.H. Campbell, Post-Gazette
	Darrell, left, and Kathy Combs with their children, T.J., 8, foreground, Daniel, 12, background and Sheriya, 10, center, study with turtles during one of their home schooling sessions. The Combs children's study in a dining room decorated with school material.

There are glossary terms to memorize, electoral-college votes to count and spelling words to learn. Mixed in with those lessons are others their parents feel are important, such as which candidates are pro-life and where they stand on homosexuality.

The Combs children -- Daniel, 12; Sheriya, 10; and T.J., 8 -- get their schooling at home from their parents, who believe they are ultimately answerable to God for their children's education, not to the state or their local school district.

That is why, two weeks ago, the Combses filed a lawsuit in Indiana County asking the court to declare Pennsylvania's home-schooling requirements unconstitutional under the 2002 Religious Freedom Protection Act.

That act says that all state laws must avoid "the imposition of substantial burdens upon the free exercise of religion without compelling justification."

The Combs, one of four Pennsylvania families who have filed similar claims across the state, believe the home-schooling law restricts their religious freedom in a way that violates the law.

One of the home schooling requirements is that parents submit an annual affidavit to their local school district's superintendent outlining their educational goals for their children, and then turn in a log at the end of the year that shows what subjects were taught on what days, what work was done and the time spent on it, as well as an evaluation from a neutral, certified teacher who reviews the work and interviews the child.

The Combs, believing the Bible gives them the responsibility for educating their children, decided this year not to submit those reports.

As a result, Homer-Center School Superintendent Joseph Marcoline has filed truancy charges against them.

The Combs and other parents who are fighting the law say the superintendent's review is the same as having to seek a district's approval of their educational work, and that is what they object to.

"We're taking all of this out of scripture," Darrell Combs said. "The Bible calls us directly to educate our children.

"Nowhere in scripture is authority for education given over to local or state government."

But Sarah Pearce, acting director of the state Education Department's school services office, said it's the department's job to ensure parents are meeting minimum educational standards.

There have been scattered cases of superintendents rejecting the reports submitted by home-schooling parents, but Marcoline has never ultimately rejected such reports.

James Mason, an attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association, said Pennsylvania's home-schooling requirements are the most restrictive in the nation, because they call for a triple review at the end of the year, including the parents' log, the independent evaluation, and standardized tests in third, fifth and eighth grades.

"It's not the burden of the paperwork so much," Mason said. "It's the authority they believe the Bible gives to them to provide and decide what appropriate education is."

Combs said his family uses the Bible as the foundation of all knowledge, and that when his children learn their subjects -- whether science, social studies or even math -- they are taught to relate the information to the Bible.

Marcoline, Homer-Center superintendent for the last 19 years, said the state requirements are "very simple," and it takes only a few minutes to fill out the daily log and summary of subjects taught. Those records are necessary to ensure children are receiving a proper education, he said.

The Combs had complied with the home-schooling law the last two school years, but as part of what Combs called his spiritual maturation process, they decided this year to challenge the law.

"God has put us in charge," said Combs, a minister at First Christian Church in Big Run, Jefferson County. "We're answerable to him."

Among the verses cited by Combs is one from Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, which reads, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Combs also refers to a passage in Ephesians, which instructs parents to raise their children "in the training and instruction of the Lord."

Maryalice and Mark Newborn also believe they have a God-given responsibility to educate their children. The Murrysville couple was the first in the state to file a lawsuit on the issue in February.

"I believe Pennsylvania home-school law steps too far into my home with government regulation," Maryalice Newborn said.

She has been contesting the state's home-schooling law for several years. She's testified before the house Education Committee on the issue and has worked with legislators. Eventually, she filed the lawsuit claiming the home-school law violates the Religious Freedom Protection Act.

Another Westmoreland County couple, Thomas and Timari Prevish of Irwin, also have filed a lawsuit on the matter against the Norwin School District.

"If the state has an interest [in restricting religious freedom], they have to follow least-restrictive means," Newborn said. "The standards imposed are not least restrictive."

The law's language says the state can limit a "person's free exercise of religion if the agency proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the burden is ... in furtherance of a compelling interest ... [and] the least restrictive means of furthering the compelling interest."

In the 2002-03 school year in Pennsylvania, 24,415 children were home-schooled, and the U.S. Department of Education estimates about 1 million are home-schooled across the country.

The Newborns have home-schooled all five of their children, including their oldest, a 17-year-old son, who completed his secondary education at 15 and is now a sophomore in college.

Newborn, who has three master's degrees, believes learning should last a lifetime, and one way to do that is to make education an ongoing process, not one that ends every day when the bell rings.

"I think I'm giving them the best childhood I could possibly give them," she said.

As part of their education, they spend time together as a family, they volunteer in their community and they pursue their religious beliefs throughout the day -- not in one class, as her children might experience it in a private school.

"How do I separate God for 45 minutes out of the day?" she asked.

Newborn doesn't believe the religious education she provides her children should be judged by a public school district.

"It's not their children. It's not their money," she said