Illinois Senate Bill Would Require Homeschoolers Register With State

Illinois Senator Ed Maloney

Illinois State Senator Ed Maloney (D-Chicago) has introduced SB 136 which would

Amends the School Code. Requires the parents or legal guardians of children attending non-public schools, a defined term, or private or parochial schools to annually register their children with the State Board of Education, in conformance with procedures prescribed by the State Board of Education.

The legal definition of "non-public schools" in Illinois includes home schools.

Let's be clear: the presumption that the education of children belongs to the state, and not to the parents -- that is that parents are accountable to government, and not government accountable to parents -- is at the root of much of what is wrong in American society today.

The Home School Legal Defense Association comments:

Right now, Illinois homeschools are not required to register because they are classified as "non-public" schools. Many other states likewise do not require homeschoolers to register, including New Jersey, Indiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Michigan, Texas, etc.

There is a common myth that Illinois homeschools are unregulated. While Illinois homeschools don't waste time processing bureaucratic red tape, they must comply with significant substantive mandates, including the requirement that they teach the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public schools, that they teach in the English language, and, if challenged, meet the burden of showing that they have in good faith provided an adequate course of instruction in the prescribed branches of learning. This sensible combination of no red tape plus meaningful mandates has protected freedom in Illinois and produced outstanding academic results.

SB 136 would give the Illinois Department of Education literally unlimited power to dictate what information homeschoolers must submit. Since the Department is composed exclusively of staff who are appointed or hired, rather than elected, they have little or no incentive to respond to the voice of citizens. In other states, when education departments have been given power to act against citizens' wishes, they have sometimes brushed aside overwhelming opposition and done as they pleased to homeschoolers.

SB 136 is the greatest threat to Illinois homeschoolers in more than a decade. HSLDA and Illinois Christian Home Educators are united in opposing the bill and are committed to protect your freedom. This fight belongs to every Illinois homeschool family.

This bill has not yet been assigned to a committee.

The Regular Guy and the Extraordinary Wife
with Illinois Senator Suzi Schmidt,
campaigning in 2009.

My own newly-elected state senator, Suzi Schmidt (R-Lake Villa), is a member of the Education Committee. When I was a candidate for state representative last year, I had the pleasure to become acquainted with her. An email to her office this morning elicited the following response from her legislative aide, Lauren Fleming:

Paul,

Glad to hear from you! Suzi asked me to respond to you as she has meetings today but wanted to get back to you right away.

As for this bill, Suzi's exact words were: "I want more details, but this seems too much like Big Brother to me. I don't like it." As you may know, Sen. Schmidt has been assigned to the Education committee, but this bill has not been sent to committee yet. We're in the process of communicating with some of the Senate staff to get details about some of the repercussions of this legislation, the costs associated with this mandate, the number of families potentially affected, etc., etc. When we get those numbers and that information, I will make sure you are included on that. As it stands, she opposes this bill. [Emphasis added.]

I would encourage my local friends in the homeschooling community to contact Senator Schmidt's office and cheerfully commend and encourage her on her opposition to this bad bill.

This post would not be complete without a shout-out to my friend Fran Eaton at Illinois Review, whose coverage and advocacy brought this matter to my attention, most recently in this post.