Frustrated with tenacious opposition to HB 2827, “The Homeschool (Registration) Act,” State Representative Terra Costa Howard (D-Lombard) took approximately three minutes on Friday morning to gripe about why she isn’t going to relent on pushing her bill. Listen to her “point of personal privilege”:

She began her comments reasonably enough, explaining that the purpose and intent of this bill “was to create new protections for children and families.” She continues to explain that it is “a simple form” that must filled out by homeschool families. What she doesn’t say is that this form must be filed annually with local school bureaucrats, who may or may not initiate investigations and require detailed homeschool portfolios.

Then, in the very next sentence, Rep. Costa Howard says the most important thing about HB 2827 is that “it provides a tool to make sure children do not go dark and missing. We want to know they’re okay.”

Wait… WHAT?!?

There are hundreds if not thousands of students within the public school system that are not okay! In addition to the 20 percent chronic absenteeism rate across all grades in the 2022-2023 school year (360,000 students), how about those 469 complaints from last year in which adults in the Chicago Public Schools sexually assaulted students?

This problem isn’t contained to Chicago. Just consider recent sexual misconduct allegations against suburban teachers in Naperville and Downers Grove. The problem is widespread and growing.

As we pointed out in a previous post, we know that 1 in 10 children will be a victim of sexual misconduct by an adult in the government school system. That is approximately 5 million children nationwide, or 180,000 children in Illinois.

What is being done about these horrific trends?!

Moreover, it is incumbent on the sponsors of HB 2827 to explain to us how a “simple form” will protect homeschooling children when they aren’t even remotely able to protect the students within their own systems.

Frustration on display

Halfway through her short rant, Rep. Costa Howard gets louder and angrier, emphatically stating, as she has done on multiple occasions:

Remember, Illinois is an outlier in this area. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

What Rep. Costa Howard doesn’t understand is that for proponents of homeschooling, this list means there are twelve good, free states in the nation that are an example for the rest. Christian conservatives and freedom-loving Americans, in general, understand that the government regulations on homeschooling families are not the solution to the problems identified by the sponsor.

Rep. Costa Howard closes her rant with an emotional appeal, saying:

To the victims who are out there, we see you, we hear you, and we will keep fighting for you.

If you are like me, it is very difficult to take her seriously when we consider the systemic problems of truancy and sexual misconduct against students in public schools in Illinois. If Rep. Costa Howard and the other co-sponsors of HB 2827 were serious about seeing, hearing, and fighting for victims, they would lead a charge and champion legislation to clean up the huge problems within public education.

As it has been said before and is certainly true here, actions speak louder than words.

As for the rest of us, let us pray, take action, and pray some more.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state representative to ask him/her to oppose HB 2827. You may even want to kindly urge your legislator to get failing government schools in order and leave homeschoolers alone, especially since research suggests that homeschooled students actually score higher on average than public school students.

Click HERE to listen to the immediate response given by State Representative Amy Elik (R-Alton) on the House floor.