The Homeschool Act, also known as HB 2827, is big news in Illinois, especially for pro-family advocates who live there.

David Curtin, lobbyist for Illinois Family Institute, writes: “If enacted, this bill would require homeschooling families to submit a Homeschool Declaration Form to their local school district annually. This form would include basic and personal information of the family members…. Failure to comply with regulations would classify the child as truant and subject to penalties, which include fines, jail time, and even possible DCFS investigations.”

David E. Smith, executive director of IFI and Illinois Family Action, writes that “the sponsor of this bill, State Representative Terra Costa Howard (D-Lombard), claimed that one of the reasons she is pushing this bill is to protect children from homeschooling parents ‘who don’t do it the right way, who don’t have the ability to do it the right way.’”

And, of course, homeschooling makes it far more difficult for the left to indoctrinate children.

Smith points out that “for years now, the Illinois State Board of Election has reported an alarming percentage of public-school students who do not meet basic proficiency levels. Less than 32 percent of high school seniors are proficient in English Language Arts and less than 27 percent are proficient in Math…. It is also alarming to note that 1 in 10 students are sexually exploited and/or assaulted in public schools by an adult in their school – an administrator, a teacher, an aide, a janitor, a security guard, etc.”

David Avignone, executive director of the Illinois-based John Paul II Renewal Center, wrote in a lengthy March 29 email to supporters:

It is our state representative, Terra Costa Howard, who is the chief sponsor of the radical ‘homeschool bill’ (HB 2827). Well, a group of constituents were afforded some time to talk to her via zoom on Tuesday afternoon of this week. Joanna (my wife) planned and organized the large group of constituents to join the meeting. Let's just say, it didn't go well, in many different ways.

First off, she and/or her staff didn't let onto the call the majority of those who were planning to attend (and were even given the link by Terra's staff). They were stuck in the waiting room. One by one, over the course of the 30 minutes, some were let in. But the rest were still left in there when the meeting ended. Apparently, the staff was trying to confirm their names with voter/resident lists of the district. You think they would have done that part in advance of the meeting!

They didn't want to take our word for it that they were actually constituents. Secondly, Terra was over 8 minutes late to the 30 minute meeting. Third, her internet connection was poor and dropped off the call for a couple of minutes. Lastly, she abruptly ended the meeting without even saying goodbye when Joanna insisted they let her dad in to at least close in a prayer since he wasn't allowed in to open in prayer. (He is a constituent and the deacon at our local parish.)

All of this shows how unprofessional she is. Then there was the time we had in ‘conversation,’ which wasn't much. She was condescending and treated us poorly. She then took every opportunity to lecture, eating up the precious time we had to share our feelings and ask pertinent questions. In the end, those of us on the call barely had time to have deep conversations on any specific aspect of the proposed legislation.

There was one of her lectures near the end of the call when she said: ‘We have a third of the parents who are doing a fabulous job. And I'll assume all of you are those people, right? We have a third of the parents that are maybe not quite great, but they're doing the best that they can, and we're not sure. But then we might have a third of kids and families who are not doing that, right? They're not providing any...’

I immediately cut her off and said ‘Come on Terra, a third of us?!’ I was furious! It's proven that homeschooled children read, write, and do math far above the national average of our public schools, particularly in Illinois. This was several minutes after she accused us of not caring about the lives of children for opposing the legislation! Remarkable.

In short, if the bill passes, we will go from a hands-off state for homeschooling to the most restrictive state in the union on homeschooling. Yes, with Illinois failing in so many areas in public education, they are intent on regulating the fast-growing homeschool movement. I surmise the teacher's unions funding Terra have much to say about HB 2827's goal. It's no surprise, though, with the general radical left makeup of the Illinois legislature, this type of legislation is par for the course.

Count yourself fortunate if you live outside of Illinois.