This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Government schools, teachers' unions, and others with financial interests in high taxes for public schools long have opposed homeschooling.
When parents school their children at home, schools, and therefore teachers, have fewer students and get less tax money.
When homeschooling surges, as it has since the catastrophic public school response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the move of students out of public institutions actually could threaten their future.
So in Illinois, state lawmakers are reviewing a scheme from Democrats that would threaten homeschooling parents with jail sentences if they don't perform exactly as the public schools demand.
A report in the Federalist outlines the scheme.
The Democrats are demanding homeschool parents report themselves to local public school "officials," or face fines, charges, and jail.
"Parents also would be required to provide public school officials with a 'portfolio' of their children's work at any time, at any interval and frequency, until that portfolio meets the public school's satisfaction. The bill dubbed the 'Homeschool Act,' requires parents to report themselves in writing to local school officials starting in 2026. Parents who do not will be considered truant. They face Class C misdemeanor charges, which are punishable by up to 30 days in jail. They also face fines and lengthy hearings forcing them to comply with the Act. Under this proposal, parents also face investigations by state child welfare officials," the report said.
The sponsor, Chicago Democrat Terra Howard, tried to make the attack on parents sound positive.
"I would argue that it is actually a really good thing for the good homeschool parents," Howard said, in the report.
The Federalist pointed out, "The thinking from bill sponsors, of course, is that parents are inadequate to teach their own offspring how to read, write, and prepare them for adulthood. It is time to bring in the professionals, aka the government, to 'protect' these children from mom and dad."
However, the report noted that at least two-thirds of Illinois eighth-graders are not proficient in reading or math. Only 16% of black eighth-graders in the state are proficient at reading, and "only 8% of black Illinois eighth-graders do math at grade level," the report said.
That's the result of public school dominance.
Further, the state disallows education savings accounts, school vouchers, and tax credit scholarships for those who want to pursue educational opportunities.
The state's extremism is evident, because, until 2021, public schools there used "face-down restraints" to punish students. Parents, the report said, were "kept in the dark."
And there have been more than 400 investigations into sexual assault involving district teachers and staff … every school year since 2018, the Federalist documented.
