(LifeSiteNews) — Illinois homeschool advocates and supporters of private education are warning about a bill in the Illinois House that could involve the invasion of personal privacy and lead to government intrusion into the rights of parents to educate their children.
It is based on model legislation supported by a Massachusetts-based group that also warns about “parental rights extremism” and “Christian fundamentalists.”
Illinois House Bill 2827 would “would create new requirements for homeschooling families to report their educational activities to authorities,” according to the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HLSDA).
The group, along with Illinois Christian Home Educators, recently had more than 2,000 people come out to the state capitol to rally in support of educational freedom. More than 20,000 people have also filled out witness slips against the pending bill and only around 500 have voiced support.
The legislation is being pushed by Democratic Rep. Terra Costa-Howard under the guise of protecting kids in homeschool from abuse and ensuring they are aware of opportunities for medical care and activities through their local school district.
Her office did not respond to an email in the past several days that asked for comment on concerns about the bill.
The bill could give “state education officials (the power to) … require homeschooling families to follow public school health and immunization regulations and produce records to prove their compliance,” according to the HLSDA.
Local education officials could also summon parents into their office and demand a review of their curriculum.
According to the HLSDA:
The bill would permit local public school officials to demand to review samples of work by homeschooled students at any time and for any reason. This could entail parents and children being called into the school superintendent’s office for in-person interviews. Portfolios would be assessed for evidence that the children’s homeschool program “is at least commensurate with the standards prescribed for public schools.”
It is based off model legislation from the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a Massachusetts based group that is led by former homeschoolers.
The group nearly quadrupled its budget in the past year, with a budget of less than $60,000, according to its 2023 tax filing. This latest year, it raised more than $217,000, thanks to a two-year, $60,000 grant from the left-wing Ben and Jerry’s Foundation.
Board chair Carmen Longoria-Green is a former counsel to the left-wing Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Half of the group’s six employees use transgender “they” pronouns, according to a LifeSiteNews review of public biographies.
The group declined to comment on concerns about the bill. LifeSiteNews also asked about a quote from a talking points memo that claimed: “Christian fundamentalists in the United States have worked to enact their regressive ideas about gender and race by using homeschooling to isolate and abuse their own children.”
Another part of the guide argues, “the parental-rights movement exists to uphold the supremacy of white, fundamentalist Christianity. It doesn’t respect the values of any other religion or culture, and it actively harms children and destroys the ability of families of other backgrounds to live freely.”
The group deferred to its news release. The group said the immunizations mandate would maintain exemptions.
The coalition says in its “Parental-Rights Extremism Messaging Guide” that there is an “increasingly hostile climate in the United States for children with marginalized identities.”
“Attacks on LGBTQ+ children, young people, and the spaces and resources designed to serve their needs have accelerated in the 2020s,” the group claims.
“Library book bans, policies barring transgender children from participating in youth sports, and policies preventing the discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom are just a few examples of the regressive tactics that have gripped the headlines and rattled communities across the country,” the left-wing group says.
As the group explains, “parental rights extremism” has existed “for decades” among homeschoolers.
This “extremism” is why the group is pushing for regulation of homeschooling. “We must,” the group declares, “refuse to let parental-rights extremists have the last word.”
Catholic conference, homeschool association say law would infringe on parental rights
The Illinois Catholic Conference, however, points out the bill intrudes on the rights of parents. It opposes the bill because it would also force Catholic schools to turn over personal information to the local public schools, including “gender identity.”
Such a mandate “not only violates a basic trust between the school and the family but also codifies an overreaching State policy that creates an intrusive relationship between the State and private institutions,” the group wrote in its call to action.
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children,” the group wrote further in opposition to homeschooling regulation.
These concerns were echoed by Kirk Smith, a former pastor who now serves as executive director of Illinois Christian Home Educators. He anticipates thousands of homeschool advocates will be at the state capitol in Springfield next week for a hearing.
Smith told LifeSiteNews on a phone interview that he used to preach against homeschooling when he was a young schoolteacher. However, he and his wife ended up homeschooling all 11 of their kids. All of his kids are successful and hold a range of jobs, including as chemical engineers and as veterinarian technicians. Some are married and at home with kids as well.
He criticized the bill and its supporters for claiming it will help with the abuse of children.
“We need to deal with the 470 kids from the Chicago Public Schools who were sexually assaulted by teachers and different staff in 2022,” Smith told LifeSiteNews, referencing an inspector general report.
He said “no education model” can completely eliminate abuse; however, he referenced a study that found homeschool students are not likely to be abused. In fact, a 2015 study by Coalition for Responsible Home Education reached the same conclusion.
Homeschooling has been unfairly maligned because of public school parents who were accused of abuse and then removed their kids from the school. “They were not really homeschooling parents,” Smith said.
Smith said that all parents should be concerned about the bill. The forced registration of homeschooling students is “saying we have to get the state’s permission to homeschool our kids.
“That makes them the state’s kids,” which goes against “natural law,” Smith said.
“We have to ask: Whose kids are they really?”
