Over the years, we have loved being able to tell people that Illinois was among the best states with homeschool freedoms. That is thanks, in part, to a 1950 case (People v. Levisen) in which the Illinois Supreme Court considered the case of parents who were convicted of violating a law requiring children between the ages of 7 and 16 to attend a public school. The parents in this case were Seventh Day Adventists who believed that educating their child at home was the best option.
The court determined that the term “private school” included instruction given to a child at home, as long as the instruction was adequate. The court stated that the law was not intended to punish parents who provide their children with instruction equal or superior to that available in public schools, but rather for parents who fail or refuse to properly educate their children.
The Levisen case established that homeschooling is a valid form of private education in Illinois, as long as the instruction provided is equivalent to that of public schools. This decision has been influential in the development of homeschooling laws in Illinois and other states.
But now Illinois State Representatives Terra Costa Howard (D-Lombard), Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg) and Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) want to change that. According to our friends at Illinois Christian Home Educators, the legislation they are sponsoring (HB 2827):
- Mandates that parents file a “Homeschool Declaration Form” which demands private information and gives the Illinois State Board of Education authorization to add more data collection to the annual form without legislative approval.
- Empowers a public-school district to demand—without any reason given—that a family produce an “educational portfolio” which would be approved by a local school official.
- If homeschool children participate in any public-school activities, they will have to comply with all medical and immunization requirements of the public school, unless they have a religious exemption. But this is worded in such a way that it could be a segway to require all homeschooling children to comply.
They also are concerned that this bill “will have a significant, negative impact on special needs children who have IEPs or other assistance programs.”
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.
Please pray that this big government bill to regulate home educators in Illinois doesn’t make it to a hearing.
More ACTION: Plan to attend or support Homeschool Lobby Day on March 6th at the Capitol.
Every good citizen should oppose this inexcusable and needless expansion of governmental authority.
