Illinois State Representative Terra Costa Howard (D-Lombard) is wrong when she claims that there are no regulations in Illinois for homeschoolers, as she did in this Fox News Channel clip:

The Illinois State Board of Education website clearly lays out a robust list of subjects required – by law – to be taught to homeschool students. This includes English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Health, and Physical Education.

In media interviews, Representative Howard has repeatedly claimed state lawmakers “have to do something to make sure that kids are receiving an education…”

Yet, according to an annual report published by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), only 39 percent of all Illinois students are proficient in reading, and only 28 percent are proficient in Math.

What about the 60 to 70 percent of public school students who are falling through the cracks? Shouldn’t they be priority number one?

And what about students’ physical well-being? Representative Howard claims state lawmakers have to make sure kids are safe.

Why then is the focus not on the alarming problem of school employees preying on students in our government school systems? Consider these recent examples from the Chicago suburbs:

–A few weeks ago, 30-year-old Downers Grove South High School teacher Christina Formella was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy during tutoring sessions.

–And more recently, 56-year-old Neuqua Valley High School teacher William Schaub was arrested and charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and grooming.

These are not just anecdotal examples. In 2018, a shocking investigation by the Chicago Tribune revealed over 500 cases of sexual abuse and rape by Chicago Public School staff against students over a decade, exposing grave deficiencies in hiring, training, reporting, and oversight.

This led to the creation of the Sexual Allegations Unit (SAU), which reported 446 complaints of sexual misconduct in 2023 and 469 new complaints of adult-on-student abuse in 2024.

And even before that, a 2004 report by Charol Shakeshaft titled “Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature,” commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, found that 10% of U.S. public school students experience some form of sexual misconduct by a school employee—ranging from inappropriate comments to physical abuse—during their K-12 education.

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.

And yes, parents and taxpayers should be deeply concerned that these same school employees are teaching “comprehensive” sex education to students in K-12 every year. What they are teaching young, impressionable students is not only age-inappropriate and culturally insensitive, but also often pornographic. Moreover, it presents an opportunity for predators to “groom” young victims.

And what are our legislators doing about it?

Representative Howard thinks she needs to go after homeschool families.

Politicians and government bureaucrats are failing in the education and protection of the children in their care.

Representative Howard doesn’t seem to understand that they have proven themselves to be disqualified from doing the job she thinks they can do.

Please contact your state representative to urge them to kill the bill. House Bill 2827 should be tabled if not withdrawn immediately.

HB 2827 would punish families who do not file a declaration form with up to 30 days in prison and a $500 fine. This is alarming. Why would you separate families over a missing document?

This bill is unwarranted, and the sponsors’ priorities are askew.

Decades of homeschooling success demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that HB 2827 is a solution in search of a problem.

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.