Illinois bill aims to add more oversight of homeschooling, not all want it

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- A new Illinois bill aims to add some oversight of families who homeschool their children, a response to concerns that the state does little to ensure these students receive an education and are protected from harm.

The measure, known as the Homeschool Act, or House Bill 2827, comes after an investigation by Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica last year found that Illinois is among a small number of states that place virtually no rules on parents who homeschool their children. Parents don't have to register with any state agency or school district, and authorities cannot compel them to track attendance, demonstrate their teaching methods or show student progress.

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Under the new bill, families would be required to tell their school districts when they decide to homeschool their children, and the parents or guardians would need to have a high school diploma or equivalent. If education authorities have concerns that children are receiving inadequate schooling, they could require parents to share evidence of teaching materials and student work.

Illinois Rep. Terra Costa Howard, a Democrat from Glen Ellyn who is sponsoring the legislation, said she began meeting with education and child welfare officials in response to the news organizations' investigation, which detailed how some parents claimed to be removing their children from school to homeschool but then failed to educate them.

"Education is a fundamental right for every child, but we have a duty to make sure children actually receive an education. This is not something we want to be an outlier on," Costa Howard said.

The bill passed the Education Policy Committee Wednesday.

Hundreds of homeschool families and their supporters packed into the State Capitol Wednesday morning to oppose the bill.

"We chose to homeschool our children for a reason, and it's very important to us. And our freedom to continue to do that is what we will continue to fight for," homeschool parent Lisa Edison said.

Edison homeschools her four children, ranging in ages from 12-17.

She took her daughter to the Capitol building in Springfield in opposition of the Homeschool Act. The trip also served as a hands-on lesson.

"A massive field trip day to the Capitol building, where our kids are learning about, you know, civics, a little bit of U.S. government," Edison said.

An investigation documented the case of L.J., a 9-year-old whose parents decided to homeschool him after he missed so much school that he faced the prospect of repeating third grade. He told child welfare authorities that he was beaten and denied food for several years while out of public school and that he received almost no education. In December 2022, on L.J.'s 11th birthday, the state took custody of him and his younger siblings; soon after, he was enrolled in public school.

The most recent numbers available at the time of the news organizations' investigation showed nearly 4,500 children were recorded as withdrawn from public school for homeschooling in 2022 - a number that had doubled over a decade. But there is no way to determine the precise number of students who are homeschooled in Illinois, because the state doesn't require parents to register.

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The bill would require the state to collect data on homeschooling families. Regional Offices of Education would gather the information, and the state board would compile an annual report with details on the number, grade level and gender of homeschooled students within each region.

Homeschool families and advocates said they will fight the measure, which they argue would infringe on parental rights. Past proposals to increase oversight also have met swift resistance. The sponsor of a 2011 bill that would have required homeschool registration withdrew it after hundreds of people protested at the Illinois State Capitol. In 2019, a different lawmaker abandoned her bill after similar opposition to rules that would have required curriculum reviews and inspections by child welfare officials.

The Home School Legal Defense Association, which describes itself as a Christian organization that advocates for homeschool freedom, said it plans to host virtual meetings to educate families on the bill and ways they can lobby against it.

Kathy Wentz of the Illinois Homeschool Association, which is against homeschool regulations, said she is concerned about the provision that would allow the state to review education materials, called a "portfolio review" in the legislation. She said visits from education officials could be disruptive to teaching.

The bill would require all private schools to register with the state.

"We believe is religious persecution. That's what we believe. We believe it really is because this bill invades our privacy, is unconstitutional and it does. It threatens and it overreach, and it interferes with parental rights," homeschool parent Latasha Fields said.

Fields graduated two of her children from homeschool, and is currently teaching her two youngest. She also runs a micro-school in her home, where the class size fluctuates. She said they teach everything from financial literacy and Spanish to engineering and fine arts.

"That's the beauty of it. It's individualization, not just with the kids, but the whole dynamic of the family," Fields said.

Wednesday is homeschool co-op day. They were practicing a song as a part of their music lesson. They're preparing to play the song in front of 200 people at the Chicago Home Educators Summit.

The Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica investigation found that it's all but impossible for education officials to intervene when parents claim they are homeschooling. The state's child welfare agency, the Department of Children and Family Services, doesn't investigate schooling matters.

Under the proposed law, if the department has concerns about a family that says it is homeschooling, the agency could request that education officials conduct a more thorough investigation of the child's schooling. The new law would then allow education officials to check whether the family notified its district about its decision to homeschool and compel parents to turn over homeschool materials for review.

The increased oversight also aims to help reduce truancy and protect homeschooled students who lose daily contact with teachers and others who are mandated to report abuse and neglect, Costa Howard said. Some truancy officials said that under existing law they have no recourse to compel attendance or review what students are learning at home when a family says they are homeschooling.

Jonah Stewart, research director for the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a national organization of homeschool alumni that advocates for homeschooling regulation, said the lack of oversight in Illinois puts children at risk. "This bill is a commonsense measure and is critical not only to address educational neglect but also child safety," Stewart said.

The measure includes the threat of a misdemeanor charge for homeschool families who do not comply.

Right now, Illinois does not require families to register their homeschool students. So, it's hard to know how many families this affects.

ABC7 Chicago's Rob Hughes contributed to this report.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.