This article was created for Propublica’s local reporting network in collaboration with Capitol News Illinois. Sign up for Dispatch to get stories like this as soon as it is published.
The new Illinois bill aims to add supervision for families homeschooling children. This aims to address concerns that the state has little to do to ensure these students are educated and protected from harm.
The measure, known as the Homeschool Act, comes after an investigation by Illinois Capitol News and Propovica last year. It turns out that Illinois is one of a handful of states that virtually do not have rules for parents releasing their children. Parents are not required to register with state agencies or school districts, and authorities cannot track attendance, show teaching methods, or force students to show progress.
Under the new bill, families must tell the district when they decide to homeschool their children, and parents and guardians must have a high school diploma or equivalent. If education authorities are concerned that their children are under-schooled, they can request that parents share teaching materials and evidence of student work.
Illinois Rep. Terra Costa Howard, a suburban Chicago Democrat who sponsors the law, said he has begun meetings with education and child welfare officials in response to a news organization’s investigation.
The investigation documented the case of a nine-year-old LJ, whose parents decided to homeschool after missing out on so many schools that he faced the prospect of repeating third grade. He told child welfare officials that he was beaten and rejected for several years while out of public schools, and that he had little education. In December 2022, on LJ’s 11th birthday, the state took him and his young brother into custody. Soon after that, he was enrolled in public schools.
“We need to know that children exist,” said Costa Howard, vice-chairman of the Illinois House’s Child Welfare Committee. She said the law is even more urgent as the number of homeschooled children has increased since the pandemic began. “Illinois has zero homeschooling regulations. We’re not the norm at all.”
The most recent figures available at the press investigation showed that nearly 4,500 children were recorded in 2022 for withdrawing from public schools for homeschooling. However, there is no way to determine the exact number of students homeschooled in Illinois, as the state does not require parents to register.
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The bill requires states to collect data on homeschooling families. The Regional Education Office will gather information and the State Commission will compile an annual report detailing the number, grade and gender of homeschooled students within each region.
Homeschool families and supporters said they would fight the measures, but they argue that they violate the rights of parents. Past suggestions for increasing surveillance have also been met with rapid resistance. Sponsors of the 2011 bill, which had been demanding homeschool registration, retracted it after hundreds of people protested at the Illinois State Capitol. In 2019, another lawmaker waived the bill after similar opposition to rules requiring curriculum review and testing by child welfare officials.
The Homeschool Legal Defense Association, which describes itself as a Christian organization defending homeschool freedom, said it plans to hold a virtual meeting to educate families on the bill and how they can lobby against it.
Kathy Wentz of the Illinois Homeschool Association, which opposes homeschool regulations, said she is concerned about a provision that allows the state to review educational material called the “portfolio review” of the law. She said visits from educators could destroy education.
“The bill doesn’t protect family time, so they can actually homeschool without interruption,” Wentz said. She pointed to the 1950 Illinois Supreme Court ruling, establishing that homeschooling is a form of private education and that schools do not require students to register with the state.
The bill requires all private schools to register with the state.
A survey by Capitol News Illinois and Propublica found that it is almost impossible for education staff to intervene when parents claim to be homeschooling. The state’s Department of Children and Families Services, the child welfare agency, has not investigated schooling issues.
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Under the proposed law, if the department is concerned about families who say they are homeschooled, the agency can request that education staff conduct a more thorough investigation into the schooling of their children. The new law then allows education staff to inform the district of their homeschool decisions and see if they are forced to hand over homeschool materials for review.
The increased surveillance also aims to protect homeschooled students who lose daily contact with teachers and others who are required to report abuse or neglect, Costa Howard said. Some truant staff said under existing law there was no request to force attendees or make sure students are learning from home when families say they are homeschooling.
Jonah Stewart, research director for the Responsible Home Education Coalition, a national organization of homeschool graduates that advocate for homeschooling regulations, said Illinois’ lack of oversight puts children at risk. “This bill is a common sense measure and is important not only to address neglecting education and child safety,” Stewart said.
