The court’s decision meant that homeschooling served as a valid and legal form of private education, provided that adequate instruction was being taught. Parents and families in Illinois who have chosen to homeschool their children have done so freely for the 75 years since the court’s decision, but now Democrats once again want to ‘save the day’ by adding costly regulations, red tape, and intrusive data collection to the equation.
HB 2827 would allow public schools to mandate homeschool families to produce an educational portfolio which would then have to be approved. New regulations would also mandate homeschool families to surrender private information and sensitive data to the State Board of Education. In addition, families with special needs children or IEPs could be the most negatively impacted with this legislation.
In the post-pandemic world, homeschooling is on the rise across the country. Families are choosing to keep and educate their children at home for a variety of reasons, whether they be educational, social/emotional, or safety/security concerns. In any event, each family has a right to choose their child’s educational path.
Opposition to bills of this nature has been fierce in the past and spurred legislation to be withdrawn. That opposition will be needed once again, or Illinois families face more costly and burdensome government intrusion and oversight.