{"id":5256,"date":"2025-03-20T09:07:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio3.com\/news\/?p=5256"},"modified":"2025-03-20T09:07:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:07:59","slug":"illinois-house-panel-advances-bill-to-strengthen-homeschooling-oversight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/5256-illinois-house-panel-advances-bill-to-strengthen-homeschooling-oversight\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois House Panel Advances Bill to Strengthen Homeschooling Oversight"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>By MOLLY PARKER, BETH HUNDSDORFER,<\/p>\n<p>And JADE AUBREY<\/p>\n<p>Capitol News Illinois<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:News@capitolnewsillinois.com\">News@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>SPRINGFIELD \u2014 After nearly three hours of debate before a packed hearing room, a House committee on Wednesday voted to advance a bill that would impose new requirements on homeschooling, fueling a heated discussion over parental rights and government oversight in Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>The measure, known as the Homeschool Act, would require families to notify their school districts when they decide to homeschool, and that parents or guardians who teach their kids at home have a high school diploma or equivalent. One of the most-contested pieces of the bill provides that if education officials suspect a child is not receiving proper instruction, they could demand proof of teaching materials and student work.<\/p>\n<p>The House Education Policy Committee voted 8-4 along party lines to move the bill to the House floor for a vote, with one Democrat lawmaker voting present.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Glen Ellyn, introduced the bill following the publication of a Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/category\/investigations\/no-schoolers\/\">investigation, which<\/a>\u00a0revealed little accountability for parents who pull their kids from school and then fail to ensure they receive an education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCurrently, Illinois has zero, I\u2019m going to say it again, zero regulations,\u201d said Costa Howard, the bill\u2019s sponsor. \u201cThirty-eight states have regulations. Illinois is an outlier. This is not something we want to be an outlier on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The news organizations\u2019 reporting documented cases where children endured severe abuse at home, unnoticed because they were not in school.<\/p>\n<p>Read more:<a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/no-schoolers-how-illinois-hands-off-approach-to-homeschooling-leaves-children-at-risk\/\">How Illinois\u2019 hands-off approach to homeschooling leaves children at risk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One such case, referenced in Wednesday\u2019s hearing, was that of Zion Staples, a 9-year-old boy from Rock Island who went missing in December 2022. His mother, who had a long history of abuse and neglect allegations, was able to homeschool him despite previously losing two children to foster care. Police later determined Zion had accidentally shot himself while playing with a gun. His mother hid his body in a trash can for months before authorities found him. She pleaded guilty to felony endangering the health of a child and was sentenced to two years in prison in April.<\/p>\n<p>Opponents, including homeschool advocates and religious groups, called the bill an unnecessary government intrusion. Thousands of homeschool families filled the Capitol \u2014 packing the committee room and spilling into hallways and the Capitol Rotunda where they sang hymns and patriotic songs.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to showing up in person, they submitted over 40,000 witness slips opposing the bill \u2014 a mechanism state lawmakers use to gather testimony and gauge support on bills. Nearly 1,000 people filed in support, including the Illinois State Board of Education, whose representative appeared to answer questions.<\/p>\n<p>Critics argued the bill would disproportionately burden low-income and minority families.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis bill targets homeschool parents and treats us as criminals, guilty until proven innocent,\u201d said Aziza Butler, a former public school teacher who now homeschools her children in Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters pointed to cases of abuse, arguing that some parents use homeschooling as a shield for abuse and neglect.<\/p>\n<p>The Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a national child advocacy group, said some families pull their children from school to avoid scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have tracked over 500 cases of extreme abuse and neglect in homeschool settings where the abuse escalated because of the isolation afforded through homeschooling,\u201d said Jonah Stewart, the group\u2019s research director.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe this bill will help protect abused and neglected children and leave in place the freedom of parents to decide how to best meet the educational needs of their children,\u201d said Tanner Lovett, a homeschooling advocate who also testified in favor of the measure.<\/p>\n<p>Opponents pushed back, arguing there is no evidence homeschool children are at greater risk of abuse than their public school peers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe proponents claim that children who are being homeschooled are at greater risk of abuse and neglect. This is not supported by the two peer-reviewed studies that have been produced,\u201d said Will Estrada, senior counsel at the Home School Legal Defense Association.<\/p>\n<p>Some also warned the bill could lead to selective enforcement, particularly against marginalized families.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we cannot clearly see how the bill will accomplish its stated goal of preventing abuse, it would certainly have many unintended negative consequences for homeschooling families and for local school districts and communities,\u201d Butler said.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers clashed over how the law would be enforced. Supporters said it would allow regional education offices to track homeschool students and investigate truancy. Opponents argued it could open the door to harassment.<\/p>\n<p>Estrada said the bill would allow regional offices of education to request a homeschooling family&#8217;s educational portfolio at any time, even as often as once a month. Costa Howard rejected that interpretation, saying such an investigation would only come if serious allegations arise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is simply not true, that is not in the bill, that is not what the law says. You are wrong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Another point of contention was the impact on private schools. The bill would require all private elementary and secondary schools to register with the state and submit student information upon request.<\/p>\n<p>The Catholic Conference of Illinois opposed the measure, saying it would force religious schools to hand over confidential data. Bob Gilligan, the organization\u2019s executive director, said he understands the aim of the legislation is to ensure homeschooled children are safe and receive a sufficient education but doesn\u2019t believe the measure would accomplish that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is unclear how this bill will advance either of those goals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Costa Howard defended the measure as a necessary safeguard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis bill is about the thousands of children whose voices are not heard,\u201d she said. \u201cI am the voice of the voiceless here today, and I will continue to fight for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\">Capitol News Illinois<\/a>\u00a0is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By MOLLY PARKER, BETH HUNDSDORFER, And JADE AUBREY Capitol News Illinois News@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD \u2014 After nearly three hours of debate before a packed hearing room, a House committee on Wednesday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Illinois House Panel Advances Bill to Strengthen Homeschooling Oversight - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/5256-illinois-house-panel-advances-bill-to-strengthen-homeschooling-oversight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illinois House Panel Advances Bill to Strengthen Homeschooling Oversight - 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