From State Rep. Dan Ugaste:
The Wall Street Journal slams IL Democrats’ ‘Assault on Home-Schoolers‘
House Republicans continue to fight to protect the rights of parents to choose the best educational experience for their children.
House Bill 2827, the “Homeschool Act,” was heard in committee last week and passed over the objection of tens of thousands of families choosing home or private school for their children.
This bill mandates that non-public elementary and secondary schools register annually with the Illinois State Board of Education and requires homeschools to fill out a Homeschool Declaration Form or risk truancy, which could lead to fines and even imprisonment.
It further requires homeschool administrators to submit personal information about themselves and their students to state and local authorities.
“Illinois should empower parents to place their children in education environments that help them learn and succeed,” said Rep. Amy Elik.
“Bureaucrats in Springfield have bigger problems to solve than tracking parents’ schooling decisions. This bill attempts to solve a problem that does not exist.”
The public has been vocal about their opposition to this state overreach.
Nearly 51,000 motivated residents filed witness slips in opposition to HB 2827. Thousands of Illinoisans went to the State Capitol last week to express their opposition and speak to lawmakers about their positive experience with homeschooling.
HB 2827 was heard in the Education Policy Committee where Elik is the House Republican Spokesperson. Despite all Republicans voting in opposition, it passed committee and was advanced to the House Floor for further action. Residents who agree HB 2827 should be stopped should sign the House Republicans’ petition to Protect Homeschool Freedom.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board slammed ‘The Illinois Assault on Home-Schoolers’ in a scathing editorial published on Friday, March 21. The WSJ editorial stated that “Democrats want to impose new rules and bureaucracy on parents.”
Fewer than one in three students in Chicago Public Schools can read at grade level. That should be a five-alarm fire for the Democrats who run Illinois, but they have other priorities—to wit, regulating those dastardly parents who educate their children at home.
On Wednesday Democrats passed the Homeschool Act out of a House committee on an 8-4 vote. Current state law imposes minimal regulations on home-schoolers, requiring only that they teach certain core subjects. Democrats introduced the Homeschool Act after a 2024 report by Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica claimed Illinois’s limited oversight leaves home-schooled children vulnerable to abuse. […]
Under the bill, home-school families would have to submit annual forms to their local public school that include students’ names, birth dates, grade levels and home addresses. Families who fail to submit the forms would be subject to criminal truancy penalties.
Families must also allow the state to compile annual reports on home-schooled students, and state authorities may demand at any time that a home-school administrator submit for review a log of curricular materials and an assessment of academic progress. The bill also requires private schools to register with the state and submit to requests for personal information on all enrolled students and guardians. […]
The good news is that the home-school putsch has aroused the public. Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, nearly 50,000 voters had filed witness slips against the Homeschool Act, compared with fewer than 1,000 in favor. Perhaps Democrats will listen to the public for a change.
