No need to register home-schoolers

The home-schoolers who rallied at the Capitol recently, including myself and my daughter, numbered not merely in the hundreds, as reported in the Daily Herald, but in the thousands. The estimate by the security people was over 4,000. We waited in line over 45 minutes just to get into the building.

The issue of registering home-schoolers is so important to so many because it affects our freedom to direct the education of our children. If there is a registry, what will it be used for and how will the collection of information be funded? Will a new tax be placed on those who chose to home school? What would be the consequence of not registering?

The proposal to require registration adds a burden to a segment of the Illinois population that has shown a remarkable ability to educate, and educate very well. Why mess with a good thing? Surely there are other areas of education that could use the help and attention of Sen. Maloney, the bill’s sponsor.

As a home schooling mom for 22 years, I have on occasion wanted to enroll my children in a local school for one or more classes. But with the district, it’s either all or nothing, and we chose nothing. Four children, 12 years each. How much in education costs have we saved the state? Multiply that by the thousands of home-schoolers and you’ll see that they are not a burden to the state, but a financial blessing.

Why should a system that is having such a hard time improving the education of so many children in the state oversee a system that is succeeding by every measure? Our tax dollars could be spent on much more important issues in education than requiring home-schoolers to register.

Linda Brunet

Schaumburg