Even as suicide, drug abuse, sexual depravity, gender confusion, illiteracy, and violence reach record levels among children in Illinois government schools, leftist lawmakers and far-left media propagandists are painting a giant target on the backs of homeschool families in the state.

Homeschoolers, who on average perform better than their government-educated peers on every metric, are preparing to fight back. But in a deep blue state like Illinois, concerns are growing as policymakers consider a bill to impose more government control over homeschooling families after about 75 years of relative freedom in the state.

The latest assault on the homeschool community in Illinois began with an error-riddled hit piece last summer in the far-left online outlet Pro Publica expressing concerns about a “historic exodus from public schools.”

Writers for the non-profit group, funded by extremist billionaires such as George Soros and even con-artists like crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, sounded appalled that children were being removed from government control without enough government “oversight.”

“The number of students from preschool to 12th grade enrolled in the state’s public schools has dropped by about 127,000 since the pandemic began,” Pro Publica and another outlet in Illinois wrote in a joint propaganda piece ignoring the screaming public-school elephant in the room.

“Enrollment losses have outpaced declines in population,” the story continued. “And, despite conventional wisdom, the drop was also not the result of wealthier families moving their children to private schools.”

In short, families are leaving the system in droves, and totalitarians want to make sure they can keep tabs on them all.

“No oversight,” the attack on homeschoolers continues, “means children schooled at home lose the protections schools provide, including teachers, counselors, coaches and bus drivers — school personnel legally bound to report suspected child abuse and neglect.”

This “hands-off” approach allowing parents to educate and raise their children leaves the little ones “at risk,” the article claimed.

Lawmakers Get Involved

And so, Pro Publica’s writers, touting their own propaganda campaign’s role, rejoiced when far-left Chicago-area State Representative Terra Costa Howard (D) filed a bill that would “add some oversight of families who homeschool their children.”

The legislation, known as “the Homeschool Act” or HB2827, would order parents to register like sex-offenders when they decide to educate their children at home.

In addition to mandatory registration, the measure also introduces new conditions including educational criteria for parents and reporting requirements for parents who seek to homeschool.

Perhaps most troublingly for homeschool families, it allows government to launch investigations into families and their home education on a whim.

The bill would also force private schools to register with the state and hand over data on students.

Victims of Government

Critics were perplexed by the efforts. If Pro Publica, its funders, and lawmakers are really concerned about the well-being of children, there is far more to be concerned about within the government’s own schools.

Consider, for instance, that even two decades ago, U.S. Department of Education data showed more than one in ten children in government schools suffered from sexual abuse or misconduct from a staff member. The number is likely far higher today, experts say, meaning there are likely tens of millions of victims across the United States.

Illinois is especially notorious for this sort of horror. As this writer documented for the Illinois Family Institute in 2022, sex abuse is rampant in the state’s public schools. According to a 2018 Chicago Tribune investigation, police investigated more than 520 juvenile sexual assault and abuse cases just in Chicago’s government schools over a 10-year period.

Hundreds of students were victimized and even raped by teachers and school employees, the probe found. The stories are heart-wrenching.

It is not just Illinois, either.

Just last month this writer documented how government schools in Texas were legally protecting thousands of accused child rapists and molesters from prosecution, even allowing them back into the classroom without being reported to police.

Apparently, for Pro Publica, such widespread abuse of children is not worthy of coverage when there are a handful of anecdotal stories about homeschoolers outside government control.

Another alleged “concern” cited by Pro Publica propagandists is that home-educated children might not receive an adequate education. And yet, less than one in three victims of public schools in Illinois are considered “proficient” in either reading or math on the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Indeed, there are dozens of government schools across the state that have not produced one single child proficient in any core subject. In hundreds of schools across the state, less than 10 percent of students meet basic proficiency in the core subjects.

The Facts Speak

In response to the bill and the concerns raised by Pro Publica, the Illinois Family Institute reached out to National Home Education Research Institute President Dr. Brian Ray, widely recognized as the top homeschool researcher in the world.

Pointing to decades of research, data, and studies, Dr. Ray noted that there is no evidence that more government control would lead to better educational outcomes or increased safety for homeschooled children. And there are already plenty of laws in place to protect children.

“Everyone wants children to be safe and in a free nation we assume that parents love their children and have their best interests at heart,” Dr. Ray told the Illinois Family Institute in an email. “It is a relatively small portion of parents and public school personnel who physically or sexually harm children. Many laws are in place to punish these parents and school workers.”

Ironically, though, research shows homeschooled students are generally safer than institutional school children in terms of abuse, neglect, and child fatalities, he explained.

Meanwhile, there is no empirical evidence that children in schools are at less risk of any hard than children educated at home.

And the existing research shows no relationship — not even a correlation, much less a causal one — between the degree of state control over home education and the already low rates of abuse and neglect.

“If a policymaker were contemplating this kind of pre-emptive law on homeschool families, then it would have to be placed on all families – public school, private school, and homeschool – to control them during the 3-month summer school vacation and the 2-week winter break, and maybe with random home visits for all families once per month during September through May,” added Dr. Ray. “That would not be America.”

On the academic front, decades of research have shown no association between the level of state control over homeschooling and the academic achievement of students. This is true in college admission SAT scores, too. Again, not only is there no causal relationship between regulation of home education and academic achievement, there is not even a correlation.

“Further, on average, the homeschooled perform above average,” continued Dr. Ray, citing a systematic review of the research in the Journal of School Choice.

Self-proclaimed liberal Richard Wexler, who serves as executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, warned his fellow liberals about the dangers of exactly the kind of proposals being considered in Illinois.

In short, having the state oversee homeschooling families and single them out under the guise of “child protection” should be seen as unacceptable, just like such profiling would be in any other area, he said.

“Why are homeschoolers a special target of 21st century child savers? Because we liberals tend to stereotype them as a bunch of right-wing fundamentalists – and we all know what they are like, right?” Wexler wrote in a piece for Chronicles of Social Change in 2017. “Those kinds of stereotypes have no place in the war against terror – or the war against child abuse.”

Resistance Grows

Homeschoolers, private schools, and advocates of liberty are preparing to fight back against what they see as massive overreach.

The Home School Legal Defense Association, which represents hundreds of thousands of homeschooling families nationwide, is on the ground already. And it is circulating information warning about the many flaws and dangers in the bill.

Among other concerns, the group noted that the bill begins with incorrect and biased “legislative findings.” This is especially problematic considering the scandalous data on children in public schools.

Also concerning is that the bill, as written, opens the door for unelected bureaucrats to require more and more information from families and even add new restrictions on homeschooling families without legislative oversight.

Even more troubling, it paves the way for criminal prosecutions and potentially even the removal of children from the homes of families that fail to comply with the new regime, HSLDA warned.

Despite claims of supporters that Illinois is an outlier in terms of allegedly lax regulation of home education, the legislation being considered would put the state out of step nationally.

“Since the 1980s, every single state has gradually reduced red tape for homeschoolers,” HSLDA said, pointing to Wyoming’s recent move to end registration. “As shown by Wyoming, this trend is continuing. So, Illinois and HB 2827 would be actually going in the opposite direction from the national trend.”

Within the state, Illinois Christian Home Educators is also fighting back, blasting the bill as an “unprecedented and intrusive mandate” on homeschooling families.

“This is an unprecedented overreach into the lives of homeschool families, and religious, and secular nonpublic schools in Illinois,” warned ICHE in a note urging lawmakers to oppose the controversial bill.

Numerous private-school groups are lining up against the bill as well. Illinois Coalition on Nonpublic Schools Chairman Matt Davidson warned it would “unnecessarily increase regulation” and represents “an example of government overreach and the path toward a slippery slope.”

The Catholic Conference of Illinois is sounding the alarm, too, saying the bill would force Catholic schools to violate basic trust between them and families while creating an “unfunded mandate.”

It also would codify “an overreaching State policy that creates an intrusive relationship between the State and private institutions,” the group said.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children,” the Catholic Conference’s action alert said. “This legislation runs counter to that.”

The Association of Christian Schools International also opposes the “deeply concerning legislative development.” In a note to schools, it called the bill “one of the most intrusive recent state efforts to limit parental rights in education.”

ACSI Vice President for Public Policy and Legal Affairs P. George Tryfiates said the “increase in state interference represents a direct threat to the autonomy of our Christian schools” that would limit the ability of parents and educators to make faith-based decisions on education.

Similar efforts to usurp more control over homeschool families have been floated before in Illinois and were shot down due to massive public opposition. What happens next with the latest effort remains to be seen.

What is clear is that homeschoolers are thriving in Illinois and beyond even as victims of government schools face horror on every front.

If they are truly interested in the welfare of children, Pro Publica and lawmakers would be better served working to ensure protection and education of those already in government care before targeting those who are already doing far better.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your state representative. Urge him/her to vote NAY to HB 2827 and to instead focus on improving the proficiency levels at government schools, where only 41 percent of eighth fourth-graders and 31 percent of twelfth-graders can read at grade level.

More ACTION: Call your state representative and ask him/her how they plan to vote on HB 2827. Please let us know once you know by emailing us at countactus@illinoisfamily.org.

You can also send your state lawmakers a copy of this Chicago Tribune editorial in opposition to HB 2827.