Illinois Homeschool Act opponents say bill would 'criminalize' parents
[April 04, 2025]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Parents and community leaders are speaking out
against legislation in the Illinois House that would punish homeschool
families if they don’t comply with new state government reporting
mandates.
House Bill 2827 would require homeschool families to submit information
to local public school administrators. If the homeschooling parents or
guardians fail to submit a declaration form, their students would be
declared truant and penalties would be applied.
The legislation sponsored by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Glen
Ellyn, advanced from the Illinois House Education Committee to the House
floor last month. Costa Howard argued at the time that Illinois needed
to join 38 other states with more regulations on homeschooling.
Pastor Chris Butler proclaimed his opposition at a rally Thursday in
downtown Chicago.
“They say it’s just a form. It’s just a form, they say. It creates a new
pathway to criminalization,” Butler told hundreds of families gathered
in Daley Plaza.
After the demonstration, Butler said there is a massive amount of
opposition to HB 2827.
“While it’s been cast by the supporters and the sponsor of this bill as
something dangerous, the homeschooling movement is the most hopeful
thing that is happening in education, especially in this state of
Illinois, and there’s just no reason to try to get anything in the way
of that,” Butler told The Center Square.
Butler said more than 50,000 additional witness slips have been filed
against the bill since an amendment was added to the measure last month.
The number of proponents, as of Thursday afternoon, was 428. Before the
amendment, more than 42,000 witness slips were filed in opposition to
the legislation.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, joined the rally against HB 2827.
“Right now, I don’t believe the bill is what’s needed in Illinois,” Ford
said to the cheering crowd. “I believe in restorative justice and I
believe in making sure that people don’t have a pathway to the criminal
justice system. This bill is a pipeline to the criminal justice system
for parents, and I can’t stand for that. How can we criminalize parents
for wanting to love their children?”
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Homeschool advocates rally in Chicago on April 3, 2025 - Jim
Talamonti | The Center Square
Parent advocate Eva Villalobos described the bill language as loose
and misleading. She said parents and caretakers would have a
deadline of 10 days to submit information to the state.
“The only clear evidence in the bill is how the parents are going to
be criminalized. They’re gonna have fines. They’re going to go
potentially to jail. How is that going to help our kids?” Villalobos
told The Center Square. “Nowhere in this bill are you clarifying how
you are going to support these parents and families and students.”
Costa Howard’s legislation would also require private schools to
register with the Illinois State Board of Education.
Catholic Conference of Illinois Executive Director Bob Gilligan said
HB 2827 would force nonpublic schools to turn over families’
personal information over to the state.
“If the state of Illinois wants to get that information, they should
get it directly from the parents. They should not be putting us in
between them and our parents,” Gilligan told The Center Square.
“We’re here to educate children. That’s what we’re here to do. We’re
not here to turn over information to the state of Illinois about the
kids in our schools, their personally-identifiable information, as
well as the information about their parents.”
HB 2827 would come with a price tag for taxpayers and school
districts. According to a fiscal note added to the bill this week,
the measure would cost ISBE $1,574.16 for implementation.
“There may also be increased costs to school districts, regional
offices of education, and public schools, but those amounts are
currently unknown,” the note states. ISBE added the recommendation
that the bill sponsors consult with relevant stakeholders to better
understand the potential costs to districts.
Greg Bishop contributed to this
story. |
