With friends like these

Tomorrow when I have a bit more bandwidth and a bit more time, I'll be writing out our family's experience with homeschooling in Illinois to be submitted as evidence in opposition to HB2837. I'll post it here, too, but I will be calm and balanced. 

Tonight? I'm not feeling terribly calm and balanced. You've been warned. 

Here's the short version. There is an organization who has an agenda to make homeschool more regulated in all 50 states. Illinois is one of the least regulated states, so obviously we were in their sites. They just needed to find a shill to bring forth the legislation, which they did in the form of three Democratic legislators. 

What is most disturbing about this bill is its vagueness which in turn would pretty much give District Boards of Education carte blanche to regulate the homeschoolers in their district however they see fit. For instance, a truant officer would be allowed to come to a family's home and demand to see a portfolio of work to determine if the children are being appropriately educated. There is nothing about how it would be determined a family should receive such a visit, what would constitutes an appropriate portfolio, who determines what is appropriate or what would happen if the portfolio was deemed unacceptable. And this is just a small piece of a larger, vaguely worded bill. 

That alone is enough to make me grind my teeth, but there's more. This is quickly playing out as a partisan issue. If I have to read one more post from more conservative homeschoolers about the evil Democrats taking away our rights, I may throw my phone across the room. It is irritating. And it is even more irritating because in this instance, they're not wrong about the removal of rights. 

The whole thing feels like a giant swipe at a sector of the population deemed extremely MAGA and a misguided effort to rein them in. The trouble is, the homeschooling community is far more diverse than that and I resent heartily being caught up in their power play. Our own representative is a Republican, so I don't even have the option of sitting down and having a chat. 

And if these Dems had asked me, I would have told them that to put forth this bill would actually be playing into HSLDA's hands. (HSLDA being the Homeschool Legal Defence Association, a very conservative for profit organization who likes to create drama so as to drum up yet more business in their "You need us because they're coming for your children and your rights' propaganda movement.) This is NOT going to end well. For anyone. 

What can you do if you're an IL citizen, even you are not a homeschooler? Especially if you are not a homeschooler? Call your representative and urge them to not support it. It is a solution looking for a problem, but huge, huge problems it will definitely make. If you are unsure about homeschooling, I'm happy to chat. You can read through my past posts about our very non-traditional homeschooling experience which would definitely not be looked happily upon by some District hack looking for trouble. At the very least, trust me when I say this is not the way to address whatever personal concerns you have about homeschooling. This is sledge hammer legislation where none is needed. 

Please call. The more people who express displeasure the more likely it is that this bill will die a (not so) quiet death. At the very least, call because you've enjoyed reading my posts over the years, and while you may not understand it all, you can support me and my fellow homeschoolers. Thank you.

Comments

Leslie said…
I don't know if this will fit into your argument, but you might also want to add in a bit about the financial cost of the labor involved...

I live in Vermont. Until recently we were one of the more regulated states. We had to submit a course of study for the coming year and then either test results, portfolio work, or a state licensed teacher's note of review at the end of the year. Everything was gone over with a fine tooth comb. I've been homeschooling for 24 years now (almost done), and I would always get back requests for more detailed information, more samples, etc. It was a bit of a nightmare.

But with the increase in homeschooling after the pandemic, the whole situation became too much for the powers that be. They couldn't afford the manpower to look through all of that information. They changed the law in 2023(ish), so now we only have to submit a Notice of Intent to homeschool every year. Phew.

Good luck!
2/12/2025 5:51 AM
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