* Homeschooling advocates were already at the Statehouse at 6:30 this morning…
ABATE and others are also in town today, so that crowd wasn’t completely homeschoolers.
* Some folks have pointed to problems in public schools with teachers being regularly busted for child sexual abuse as a reason why the state should get its own house in order before sticking its nose into homeschooling. But the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn), had this response…
A comment that was made earlier about educator misconduct in our schools I found kind of interesting because those rules that we have in our schools for somebody who’s been convicted of a prohibitive offense, like a sex offense - those don’t apply to homeschool families.
So you guys are all okay that anybody who has that conviction, that’s okay for them to be homeschool parents. Talk about a level of protection that is missing on children. Again, that is a huge level of protection that is not on a child, none of those things that would prohibit an individual from being even in our school around kids, that doesn’t apply to homeschool families and homeschoolers, because there are zero protections here in the state of Illinois.
The bill passed committee with one Democrat, Rep. Fred Crespo, voting “Present” and all Republicans voting against it. It now goes to the floor, but has an uncertain future.
…Adding… House Republicans…
Illinois House Republican Leader Tony McCombie strongly opposed HB2827, a bill that adds unnecessary regulations on homeschooling families in Illinois. The legislation was presented today in the House Education Policy Committee and advanced to the House Floor for further consideration. Following the committee hearing, Leader McCombie issued the following statement:
“Today, the Democrat majority silenced over 35,000 advocates who oppose this misguided legislation—a blatant disservice to Illinois families that must not be ignored.”
“With the serious challenges facing our state, lawmakers should be addressing real problems, not creating solutions for issues that don’t exist. HB2827 is nothing more than a strategic push for more government control, doing nothing to tackle the true root issues plaguing public education.”
…Adding… ILGOP…
Today, ILGOP Chair Kathy Salvi released the following statement following the House Education Policy Committee’s passing of HB2827.
“Let’s be clear about what The Homeschool Act really is – a disgusting attempt by Illinois Democrats to take away parents’ rights to homeschool their children and insert the government into our day-to-day lives. Politicians in Springfield have no right to tell parents how to teach our children and the ILGOP and 40,000 families who filed witness slips will continue to fight tooth and nail to stop these draconian policies and attempts to diminish parental rights.”
* Related…
* What is HB2827? The bill that could change homeschooling rules across Illinois: The Homeschool Act, also known as HB2827, would create a set of requirements for homeschooled students and educators. It includes things like informing a child’s designated public school or district that they are being homeschooled, requiring any child taking part in school activities on or off school ground provide proof of immunizations and health examinations and setting requirements for the topics and content homeschool children learn.
* AFP-IL Launches Campaign Opposing Regulations on Homeschooling: Americans for Prosperity-Illinois (AFP-Illinois) is launching a statewide video campaign urging Illinoisans to contact their lawmakers and demand they reject HB2827, the Homeschool Act.
* Illinois parents, lawmakers sound alarm over proposed homeschooling bill: ‘Direct assault on families’: Some left-leaning politicians have also voiced concerns about HB2827. Illinois state representative La Shawn Ford, a Democrat, told local outlet The Center Square that he’s “not for it.” “From the constituents that I’ve gotten calls from, I’m understanding why they don’t like it,” Ford is quoted as saying. “The loss of their autonomy, that’s a major concern that they lose the autonomy over their children, which is why they choose homeschooling. They want to have control over their children’s education, including the curriculum, how they teach and the philosophy.”
- JB13 - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:26 pm:
One of the most endearing qualities of Illinois progressives:
The sneering derision and contempt for parents who pay tens of thousands of dollars every year in taxes and just want to be left alone to make sure for themselves that their kids can actually read and write at grade level.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:30 pm:
===Illinois progressives===
TCH ain’t no progressive Dem. She left that caucus and now chairs the moderate caucus.
- Back to the Future - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:31 pm:
Wonderful to see parents and children down in Springfield.
Going to be tough going, but this bill is unnecessary and harmful to parents and children.
We should be providing tax credits or direct funding for the homeschool folks.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:34 pm:
What do the homeschooler’s have to hide? If they are providing good instruction (however they are providing it) then they shouldn’t have any problems. I’m not a big fan of just leaving people alone to “school” their kids without them having to provide some sort of proof that what they are doing is adeaquate.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:39 pm:
==and harmful==
Exactly how does accountability cause “harm?”
- Scooter - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:41 pm:
It’s a weekday … shouldn’t all those kids at the Capital be, you know, at home, getting an education?
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:43 pm:
===at home, getting an education? ===
More sneering.
Most Illinois school kids take field trips to the Statehouse. It’s considered educational. When their field trip includes advocacy, that would be even more educational.
This holier than thou stuff needs to stop.
- Back to the Futere - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:48 pm:
Really think it is a very positive thing to have these children go to Springfield.
- That Guy - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:49 pm:
=The sneering derision and contempt for parents who pay tens of thousands of dollars every year in taxes and just want to be left alone to make sure for themselves that their kids can actually read and write at grade level.=
Every homeschooled kid I’ve interacted with has been woefully under socialized and, at best, near where there current grade level.
One person I distinctly remember interacting with said they were in 10th grade at their homeschool. When asked to sign in, they used their phone as a highlight to trace their name onto the piece of paper.
These kids do not “read at grade level.”
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:55 pm:
- I’m not a big fan of just leaving people alone to “school” their kids without them having to provide some sort of proof that what they are doing is adeaquate. -
I’m a public school supporter and my daughters will be attending them. That said, why is it you or anyone else’s business how someone else wants to educate their child?
I’d like to see notification so these kids don’t end up completely off grid, and I most certainly believe they should meet the same health requirements as public students if they want to participate in public programs. Beyond that it’s the parents’ business how they provide an education.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 12:59 pm:
- Every homeschooled kid I’ve interacted with has been woefully under socialized and, at best, near where there current grade level. -
Not sure you should be looking down on other people’s grammar skills.
- Firefighter Chris - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:10 pm:
There is a reason we require out teachers to be educated and certified, and I will leave it at that.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:12 pm:
Blithely thinking you can do something better than professionals who have years of education and experience is going to lead this nation down a dangerous path from which we may not recover.
- Retired School Board Member - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:14 pm:
-That said, why is it you or anyone else’s business how someone else wants to educate their child?-
1. Is it not the job of a civilized society to at least attempt to insure the well being of its most vulnerable members?
2. Its pretty hard to recoup learning time lost to well meaning but ill prepared home schoolers. That CAN have a chilling effect on the long term occupational outcomes for homeschooled kids.
3. Pedagogy is real. And contrary to what many homeschoolers believe, teaching is a high level skill that is learned, not usually innate.
4. Once the material becomes more advanced, especially in science and math, how is a homeschooler supposed to teach something they do not have a firm grasp of?
Homeschooled children become adults that have to live in society long after their parents are gone. There should be some sort of accountability.
- G'Kar - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:15 pm:
I’m retired now, but I used to teach at small rural community college. Some of my best students were home schooled. Some of my worst students were home schooled. One constant, though, was most were under socialized. Personally, I would like to see standards set for home schooling to make sure the parents are up for the responsibility of educating their children.
- TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:21 pm:
“Having the kids be a part of the farm and our business allows them to have a better education”
At least some of them are honest this is about child labor for them. Education is just the buzzword used to justify it.
The reality is every single homeschool parent thinks they are a good teacher. Since that can’t possibly be true, the solution is to have at least some external verification that an education is actually happening somewhere in that process, and not just being used an excuse to keep the kid isolated.
There are a whole bunch of laws I don’t like, but I understand why they exist because the world consists of more people than just me. The opposition to any regulation at all and justifying it with abuse in public schools as the reason homeschooling is better makes no sense unless you are the one doing the abusing. Why would any parent not want to participate in a framework which is designed to prevent abuse of children. Especially since these same parents are using that supposed concern as a justification for their opposition.
For all the talk of community within this group, they sure seem to be falling quite short of that concept when the idea of abuse happening to their neighbors children by a hand other than their own isn’t something to be concerned about.
- H-W - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:23 pm:
The “dialectical” approach to this post is telling.
The fact is, we what educators to be certified as competent to teach. We want schools to document that education is occurring, and is occurring across multiple fields of knowledge and skills. We want all of this because we know that a broadly educated citizenry is essential for our workforce, and our ability to lead and serve.
Asking that home school parents document the nature and quality of the education they wish to provide their children is not an onerous burden. Indeed, it is a moral responsibility of the state to ensure that some of its children are not systematically being ignored and potentially denied access to a quality education.
We expect the same of public schools. This is not rocket science. It is a form to be completed.
- IllinoisCitizen - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:23 pm:
Let’s also remember that a number of these parents want their kids to be able to do the school-related, but non-classroom stuff, like joining an athletics team. I have never understood why that should be allowed, and if there is no regulation over homeschooling, then it should be what advocates say they want it to be: entirely divorced from public education.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:24 pm:
- Homeschooled children become adults that have to live in society long after their parents are gone. There should be some sort of accountability. -
Kids that go to public and private schools become a burden on society as adults, too. I believe all parents should strive to make sure their child receives the best and most well rounded education they can get, but I’m not in favor of legislating how parents have to raise their children.
- Flapdoodle - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:25 pm:
Two observations and a caveat based on 35 years teaching in university classrooms. First, although there was considerable variability, students’ basic academic preparation for university work was generally inadequate across the board. Second, based on classroom performance, I couldn’t have told you which of my students were home-schooled and which were from public schools. The caveat is that preparation for college is not the only or perhaps even the best basis for making this comparison, but it’s the one I have the most direct experience with.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:26 pm:
==why is it you or anyone else’s business how someone else wants to educate their child?==
My concern is whether they are providing an education to their child. I don’t particularly care how they go about doing it. But I would like to know they are doing something.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:28 pm:
==but I’m not in favor of legislating how parents have to raise their children.==
Oh for crying out loud. Nobody is doing that here. It’s about accountability What are you so afraid of? Heaven forbit we should hold these people accountable.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:28 pm:
*forbid
- Captain Obvious - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:29 pm:
Demoralized - what business is it of yours or anyone else’s including the government how a parent educates their child? Because it certainly isn’t. If you or the government wants a voice in homeschooling, you should pay homeschoolers a stipend for doing the work that most public schools do poorly.
- H-W - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:33 pm:
As for Leader McCombie’s response, it misses the mark and is unrelated. McCombie writes about the bill as “a strategic push for more government control, doing nothing to tackle the true root issues plaguing public education.”
First, it is in fact her job to tackle the root issues she perceives. That she does not name, much less suggest solutions, only suggests she is playing politics with all of Illinois’ children.
Second, if McCombie has concerns with public schooling that she believes home schoolers are adequately addressing, then she needs to come forward with a bill to amend our current policies on public education.
Third, if her only concerns is that home schoolers should not be required to educate according to state standards, then she is advocating for right of some parents to deny education and opportunities to some children with the blessing of the state, if some parents simply withdraw their children from the system of education.
McCombie’s argument is irrational at best. It is harmful if she has evidence of our education system, systemically harming children’s potential, but refuses to address those unspecified causes.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:42 pm:
There are virtually no regulations now on home schooling, but it’s hard to see how even minimal regulations would be burdensome to parents.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:43 pm:
=== I have never understood why that should be allowed, and if there is no regulation over homeschooling===
If they enroll their kids in extra curriculars, certain regulations apply.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:48 pm:
For crying out loud I don’t want to tell them *how* to educate their child but I do want to know that they *are* educating their child. It shouldn’t be a free for all out there as to whether or not your child receives an education. If you have a problem with a smidge of accountability then it tells me you have something to hide.
- Mason born - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 1:56 pm:
I don’t homeschooling, we went to a Parochial school.
That said if the complaint is that homeschool kids aren’t socialized enough, then it would seem good to have them on a little league team, or soccer, football etc. Sports are a pretty decent way to socialize. Just saying.
- Tequila Mockingbird - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 2:00 pm:
I know some homeschoolers that excel academically and socially, and some that don’t. I know of public educated high school graduates that can’t read or display skills higher than 7th grade taught and promoted by certified teachers.
Point is, there are examples of both extremes both homeschooled and within public education.
Question: are the children the responsibility of the parents or the state?
I have 25 years of experience in Illinois public education and I support the rights of families to choose.
- Mason born - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 2:01 pm:
Sorry my phone autocorrected Honeschool to homeschooling.
- Homeschool Parent - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 2:16 pm:
Failing state. Failing Schools. The exodus will continue.
- Thomas Paine - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 2:18 pm:
I don’t think there is anyone on either side of the aisle who disagrees that high-quality homeschooling is great.
I think there are some people who object to the idea that that government should define what “high quality” means for children that are home schooled.
But as far as I can tell, this legislation does not even try to define what “high-quality” homeschooling is. It just sets up little more than an honor system to confirm that homeschooling is in fact happening. No one is talking about standardized tests or unannounced classroom visits or teacher evaluations, are they?
On a fundamental level, I think if you asked, “Should the state ensure that children who are being homeschooled are actually receiving instruction?” the answer would be overwhelming in support.
The problem is that government oversight of any sort is anethema to the home school movement, so there is no one to negotiate with to improve the bill because they are opposed in principle.
I think that the home schoolers are so anti-government, like the anti-vaxxers, that Democrats have zero to gain by trying to find common ground with their organized lobby. The best they can do is try to address reasonable concerns, looking to what other states have done when possible, and get it over with.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 2:19 pm:
“The exodus will continue.”
That erroneous comment doesn’t really make your case.
- Madigan's Apple - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 2:21 pm:
Ok, my son is home schooled. He has profound special needs and the school district could not educate him appropriately.
There is noting in this bill that addresses his needs. That needs to be fixed. Special needs families are stuck in a system where the public schools want to push them into a room and forget about them. This bill will punish us.
- Nucky Thompson - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 2:23 pm:
Why is it sneering to oppose or question the validity of homeschooling? Shouldn’t there be standards? Schools have their “report cards” why not homeschoolers? If someone wants to educate their children at home, I’m fine with it. However they need to mmet the same standards used to judge schools. Why is that wrong?
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 2:32 pm:
- Schools have their “report cards” why not homeschoolers? -
Schools are funded by tax dollars, homeschool parents aren’t.
- Just Thoughts - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 3:02 pm:
I was homeschooled back in the 90s/00s all the way through high school. I seen some of the extremes of homeschooling successes and failures. Perhaps it’s too much to ask for, but I would love to see less of the sneering and doomsaying from both sides and more about details of the bill. IMHO, there are good, basic measures in here that could help prevent some of the worst abuses that occur under the guise of homeschooling, but there is also some open-ended language in the bill (or lack of language) that, at a minimum, doesn’t help to rebut the slippery slope arguments that opponents sometimes make. For example, requiring a declaration form with some basic info makes a lot of sense, but saying the declaration form “is not limited to” the basic info leaves a door open. I think there also needs to be more clarification about which requirements in the School Code that currently apply to nonpublic schools will extend to homeschool programs. For example, I imagine the intent was not necessarily to have the Section 22-100 prohibition on corporal punishment apply to homeschool programs, but there’s at least a reasonable argument that it would without an amendment.
- Tequila Mockingbird - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 3:03 pm:
When all of the public schools and Illinois teachers union members are exceeding expectations, I’ll listen to the arguments in favor of registering or demanding certain expectations of home schoolers.
- Rivers Gently Flowing - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 3:27 pm:
- Just Thoughts - Good rebuttal. Unfortunately we cannot assume that all parents have the best interest of their children’s future at heart. A small measure of oversight is basic child protection.
- Rudy’s teeth - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 3:54 pm:
There is something to be said about children who build life long friendships with their grammar and high school classmates. Fortunately, my children now adults attended an excellent system for academics, socialization, and athletics.
What was unique was the musical theater production each year where rehearsal began in September for a May production. The musical featured singing, dancing,acting and an orchestra in the pit. The athletes joined in so there was no separation among the students The school ranked in the top ten in the state for over 40 years retains that ranking today.
The friendships that developed during those years remain strong today.It is important that students meet and develop friendships that will follow them through life.
Providing the best education and opportunities for students should be the goal for public and homeschool students
- Perrid - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 4:06 pm:
Having standards about what children learn should not be controversial. Parents should want to give their children a good, comprehensive education.
- Proud Papa Bear - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 4:18 pm:
@Just Thoughts
Thank you for the reasonable and thoughtful analysis. Your story shows that a homeschooled experience can lay the groundwork for the development of critical thinking.
Comments by others, like “the exodus will continue” are silly. First, there is no exodus. Second, many deep red states have homeschool laws that are more intrusive than what we have in Illinois.
When I think of bills like this one, I think they’re intended to address people like my (very) distant cousin. He was a controlling, neglectful parent who used the guise of homeschooling to hide his children from people who could help them.
- Techie - Wednesday, Mar 19, 25 @ 4:18 pm:
“When all of the public schools and Illinois teachers union members are exceeding expectations, I’ll listen to the arguments in favor of registering or demanding certain expectations of home schoolers”
So unless every public school exceeds expectations, only then is it ok to have any expectations of homeschoolers? That’s an absurd argument, and you probably know so.
This bill doesn’t require of homeschool parents/students what is required of public schools/teachers. What it does is ensure some basic standards of health and safety are met, and that’s completely reasonable.