Illinois bill aims to add more oversight of home schooling

A new Illinois bill aims to add some oversight of families who home-school their children, a response to concerns that the state does little to ensure these students receive an education and are protected from harm.

The measure, known as the Homeschool Act, comes after an investigation by Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica last year found that Illinois is among a small number of states that place virtually no rules on parents who home-school their children. Parents don’t have to register with any state agency or school district, and authorities cannot compel them to track attendance, demonstrate their teaching methods or show student progress.

Under the new bill, families would be required to tell their school districts when they decide to home-school their children, and the parents or guardians would need to have a high school diploma or equivalent. If education authorities have concerns that children are receiving inadequate schooling, they could require parents to share evidence of teaching materials and student work.

Illinois Rep. Terra Costa Howard, a Lombard Democrat sponsoring the legislation, said she began meeting with education and child welfare officials in response to the news organizations’ investigation, which detailed how some parents claimed to be removing their children from school to home-school but then failed to educate them.

https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/no-schoolers-how-illinois-hands-off-approach-to-homeschooling-leaves-children-at-risk/

The investigation documented the case of L.J., a 9-year-old whose parents decided to home-school him after he missed so much school that he faced the prospect of repeating third grade. He told child welfare authorities that he was beaten and denied food for several years while out of public school and that he received almost no education. In December 2022, on L.J.’s 11th birthday, the state took custody of him and his younger siblings; soon after, he was enrolled in public school.

“We need to know that children exist,” said Costa Howard, vice chair of the Illinois House’s child welfare committee.

The legislation is more urgent because the number of home-schooled children has grown since the pandemic began, she said. “Illinois has zero regulations regarding home schooling — we are not the norm at all.”

The most recent numbers available at the time of the news organizations’ investigation showed nearly 4,500 children were recorded as withdrawn from public school for home schooling in 2022 — a number that had doubled over a decade. But there is no way to determine the precise number of students who are home-schooled in Illinois, because the state doesn’t require parents to register.

The bill would require the state to collect data on home schooling families. Regional Offices of Education would gather the information, and the state board would compile an annual report with details on the number, grade level and gender of home-schooled students within each region.

Home-school families and advocates said they will fight the measure, which they argue would infringe on parental rights. Past proposals to increase oversight also have met swift resistance. The sponsor of a 2011 bill that would have required home-school registration withdrew it after hundreds of people protested at the Illinois State Capitol. In 2019, a different lawmaker abandoned her bill after similar opposition to rules that would have required curriculum reviews and inspections by child welfare officials.

The Home School Legal Defense Association, which describes itself as a Christian organization that advocates for home-school freedom, said it plans to host virtual meetings to educate families on the bill and ways they can lobby against it.

Kathy Wentz of the Illinois Homeschool Association, which is against home-school regulations, said she is concerned about the provision that would allow the state to review education materials, called a “portfolio review” in the legislation. She said visits from education officials could be disruptive to teaching.

“There is nothing in this bill to protect a family’s time so they can actually home-school without interruptions,” Wentz said. She pointed to a 1950 Illinois Supreme Court ruling establishing that home schooling qualified as a form of private education and that the schools were not required to register students with the state.

The bill would require all private schools to register with the state.

The Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica investigation found that it’s all but impossible for education officials to intervene when parents claim they are home schooling. The state’s child welfare agency, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, doesn’t investigate schooling matters.

Under the proposed law, if the department has concerns about a family that says it is home schooling, the agency could request that education officials conduct a more thorough investigation of the child’s schooling. The new law would then allow education officials to check whether the family notified its district about its decision to home-school and compel parents to turn over home-school materials for review.

The increased oversight also aims to help reduce truancy and protect home-schooled students who lose daily contact with teachers and others who are mandated to report abuse and neglect, Costa Howard said. Some truancy officials said under existing law they have no recourse to compel attendance or review what students are learning at home when a family says they are home schooling.

Jonah Stewart, research director for the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a national organization of home-school alumni that advocates for home schooling regulation, said the lack of oversight in Illinois puts children at risk.

“This bill is a common sense measure and is critical not only to address educational neglect but also child safety,” Stewart said.