Democrat State Rep Terra Costa-Howard filed HB2827 which aggressively regulates homeschooling in Illinois and in addition requires private schools to register with the state. The bill can be read in full at this link – HB2827. The parts that are underlined is NEW, added language. Any parts with a strike through is newly deleted language.
The Illinois Homeschool Association has information on the bill at their website and at THIS WEBPAGE.
The Catholic Conference of Illinois also put out a fact sheet on the bill, a copy of which is below.
Rep Costa-Howard has misaligned priorities. She represents parts of Glen Ellyn, Lisle and Lombard. Benet Acdemy, a prestigious private Catholic high school , is located in her district and the AVERAGE ACT score is 30. Meanwhile in her own backyard at her public school high school district, Glenbard D87, only 40% of the students read or do math at grade level.
Homeschooling children have better outcomes overall than public schools as well. From the National Home Education Research Institute:
The home-educated typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests (Ray, 2010, 2015, 2017; Ray & Hoelzle, 2024). (The public school average is roughly the 50th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.)
- A 2015 study found Black homeschool students to be scoring 23 to 42 percentile points above Black public school students (Ray, 2015).
- 78% of peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement show homeschool students perform statistically significantly better than those in institutional schools (Ray, 2017)
- Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income. (Ray, 2013, 2010)
- Whether homeschool parents were ever certified teachers is not notably related to their children’s academic achievement.
- Degree of state control and regulation of homeschooling is not related to academic achievement. (Ray, 2013, 2010)
- Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions. (Read more here.)
- Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges.
In this FEE article, they highlight a Harvard University study showing the positive outcomes for homeschooling children.
https://fee.org/articles/new-harvard-study-homeschoolers-turn-out-happy-well-adjusted-and-engaged
Private school and homeschooling parents must register their opposition to government interference in the education of their children. Contact your legislator now. You can find out who your state senator and state representative are at this link: https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
Read Laurie Higgins related article here: https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2025/02/07/illinois-democrats-target-homeschoolers-freedom