Proposed Illinois homeschooling bill is a ‘direct assault on families’

Parents and conservative lawmakers in Illinois are sounding an alarm about a piece of legislation that could drastically change homeschooling rules.

State Rep. Chris Miller, a Republican, said in a Facebook post, “As a father of 7 homeschooled children, I find this bill to be a direct assault on families across Illinois!”

The Homeschool Act, also known as HB2827, would mandate homeschooling parents to fill out a “homeschool declaration form” that would essentially register them in their nearest public school district, Fox News reported.

You can’t be too vigilant when it comes to protecting the right of parents to homeschool their children. The educational establishment utterly hates the idea of anyone escaping their system of indoctrination.

The children of parents who don’t fill out the form are considered “truant, with penalties applying,” according to the bill’s synopsis.

Grassroots pushback is desperately needed to stop this kind of attack on parental rights. Most people don’t realize how vulnerable homeschooling is to the underhanded tactics deployed by politicians owned by the teacher unions.  

The Homeschool Act, also known as HB 2827, passed out of the House Education Policy Committee with a vote of 8-4 on March 18. All Democrats voted for it and all Republicans voted against it. This past week, the House Rules Committee was considering a proposed amendment.

Opposing lawmakers have encouraged constituents to submit opposition witness slips to halt any further progress on the bill. Illinois state Sen. Neil Anderson said on Facebook that 30,000 witness slips have been submitted, according to Fox News.

The proposed regulations are not tied to money. And some liberal politicians have said they have reservations about how far this goes. The good news is that even some Democrats realize that undermining homeschooling is a losing political position.

On a recent episode of USPIE’s podcast, “Unmasking Government Schools with Sheri Few,” Few sat down with Will Estrada, senior counsel at the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), to discuss the threats to homeschooling in 2025, including Illinois’ House Bill 2827.

Listen to USPIE’s podcast with Will Estrada on YouTube, Facebook, Spotify or X. 

United States Parents Involved in Education is a nonprofit, nationwide coalition that is fighting to return education to its proper local roots and restore parental authority over their children’s education by helping parents and local communities to escape federal and other national influences. It is the vision of USPIE to create a culture where parents, empowered with the authority to choose what and how their children learn, are the undisputed primary educators of their children, where local schools operate in support of families, and where education is unencumbered by federal mandates.

USPIE aspires to create a culture where parents, empowered with the authority to choose what and how their children learn, are the undisputed primary educators of their children; where local schools operate in support of families, and where education is unencumbered by federal mandates. USPIE’s podcast, “Unmasking Government Schools with Sheri Few,” educates Americans on the various forms of indoctrination, harmful policies and affronts to parents’ rights occurring in government schools across the country. Listen to “Unmasking Government Schools with Sheri Few,” on YouTube, Facebook, Spotify and X.