But that is what HB 2827, the Illinois Homeschool Act, would allow as it awaits a full vote on on the floor of the Democrat-led House. It passed out of the Education Policy Committee last week. If it passes the House, it would still need to pass the Senate before heading to the desk of Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker.
Prior to the introduction of this bill, the state had very basic regulations for homeschooling, David E. Smith, director of the Illinois Family Institute, said on Washington Watch Friday.
The bill would require homeschool families to register with local public school officials and to also provide a “portfolio" of their children’s work to the satisfaction of these officials.
Noncompliance could lead to jail time for parents.
If parents don’t register “they will be considered truant under state law,” Smith told show host Jody Hice. “Once you’re considered truant there are certain penalties that kick in including up to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.”
Parents could also be subject to investigations by state child welfare officials.
Illinois is not 'zero regulations'
Rep. Terra Costa Howard, a Democrat from a Chicago suburb, is the bill’s sponsor. She says she was motivated in part by a Pro Publica report that said the state’s lax homeschool regulations were leading to cases of child abuse.
“We need to know that children exist,” Costa Howard, vice chair of the Illinois House’s child welfare committee, told Capitol News Illinois.
“The legislation is more urgent because the number of homeschooled children has grown since the pandemic began," she said. “Illinois has zero regulations regarding homeschooling. We are not the norm at all.”
That "zero regulations" is a stretch considering Illinois is labeled a "low regulation" state by the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. That green designation on the U.S. map puts Illinois in the same category as neighboring states Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri.
According to HSLDA, the Illinois Department of Education requires a homeschooling family to learn language arts; math; biology and physical sciences; social sciences; fine arts; and physical health.
Illinois and its neighbors are also a "no notice" state, meaning a family is not required to notify the state or local school district about their plans to homeschool.
The current state law in Illinois does not even allow homeschool families to register as a private school, even though they are treated as one, according to the HSLDA attorneys.
The legislative biography for Howard, a mother of three, states she is a former school board president at Glen Ellyn School District 41. The 2024 statistics from Glen Ellyn show many of its students failed to meet federal learning standards in English language arts (37%), math (43%), and science (22%).
Smith, meanwhile, said the state’s record on education is appalling. Data shows that only 35.4% of the state’s students are proficient in English and Language Arts in the 2023 Illinois School Report Card. Only 27.1% were proficient in math.
Illinois spends an average of $30,228 per student to obtain an 88% graduation rate.
"If most kids can't read and do math, how are they getting an 88% graduation rate?" Smith asked. "But the fact is, with that 88% graduation rate, that means in Illinois, 228,000 students are falling through the cracks of our government schools."
Concerns beyond classrooms
Safety is also a concern, Smith said.
A 2017 report found that estimates by the Department of Education showed that one-in-10 public school children would experience some form of sexual misconduct by school employees before graduation.
“That’s one-in-10 by an adult in the school system, and then there's more who are assaulted by peers. So look, they're failing our kids academically. They're failing to protect them physically,” Smith said.
Then the gender question is an emerging security issue in many public schools as Democrat-run states tend to cater to “gender identity” which leads to biological males in girls’ private spaces and on their sports teams.
President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to pull federal funding from states who allow males to continue to compete on girls’ teams.
Millions of dollars are in play for Maine right now as Gov. Janet Mills continues to defy Trump’s executive order against boys in girls’ sports.
Recently, officials in Deerfield (Illinois) required girls to dress in front of a biological male in a physical education class, one girls’ mother, Nicole Georges, told Fox News.
“We have lots of good reasons to distrust the government bureaucrats here,” Smith said.
Smith said he doesn’t doubt there have been cases of abuse by some parents or guardians who say they are homeschooling kids.
There have been “some horrible stories of abuse and neglect by parents who claim to be homeschooling families. So, therefore, they think they need to expand their government oversight.”
But the response doesn’t fit the reality, Smith said.
“It's like using an eight-pound sledgehammer to get a trimming nail in. It’s way too overbroad. They’re trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. In fact, one (conservative) state lawmaker said homeschooling isn't the problem, it’s the solution. We don't need more government oversight,” Smith said.
Republicans alone can’t stop the bill
The Illinois House committee ignored the pleas of hundreds of homeschooling families who demonstrated at the Capitol last week.
Pritzker has not publicly taken a position on the bill.
Smith said there’s no ways Republicans, the minority party in all branches of state government, can stop the bill without support from Democrats.
“We would need the help of some Democrats that are maybe common sense or moderate Democrats. For example, in the Senate, we would need 11 Democrats to stop the bill,” Smith said.
