I thought that I could shed some light on the Malia school situation. I teach at a high school where this happens often. As a teacher it’s very frustrating and heartbreaking all at the same time. At our school we get the students who were raised in certain religious cults (too put it vaguely to keep things ambiguous and private), they have literally never been inside of a school or learned to be in what we consider normal circumstances. They take these kids and put them right into the grade of the age that they are. They do this regardless of their learning abilities. Most the time these kids, by no fault of their own, are not ready to be in that grade, and have barely learned how to read let alone who President Lincoln is. They don’t even know how school works, they don’t understand concepts of class time vs. break time, or that you have to be in a certain place at any given time.

I think that this situation is very similar to Malia’s. Her dad, if she is living with him, could choose an option that gives her extra education and none of us know what the school/principal/state/teachers know about her situation or what her story is so much of it is in the air. However it seems fairly likely that Malia is where the school has decided to put her, according to the laws of the state. This is long winded, but I just thought I could help answer some of your questions about why she is in “regular” school. The idea behind this concept is to keep them up to speed with a proper graduation date (before age 19) and get them adjusted as quickly as possible, even if it is a big shock. Hopefully Malia has the ability to recieve additional help while she is learning, both socially and educationally. ©