The Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) had reason to rejoice earlier this month when Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon ® signed HB 46, the Homeschool Freedom Act, into law. The bill was introduced in the Wyoming House by Rep. Tomi Strock, a homeschooling mom, and promoted in the state’s upper chamber by fellow homeschooling mom, Sen. Evie Brennan, who is herself a homeschool graduate.

The new law removes requirements for homeschooling families to “submit curriculum to the local school board” or to notify, report to, or obtain approval to homeschool from state or local government officials. Globe Newswire reported that HSLDA’s senior counsel, Will Estrada, advocated for Wyoming families in support of the legislation.

“This is an important moment for homeschool families in Wyoming,” Estrada said. “The ‘Homeschool Freedom Act’ affirms the fundamental right of parents to direct the education of their children without unnecessary government intrusion. We commend Representative Tomi Strock and Senator Evie Brennan for their tireless efforts in championing this vital legislation.”

The Wyoming celebration is bittersweet, as potentially disastrous legislative efforts are underway for homeschooling families in Illinois. In Virginia, Senate Bill 1031 recently died in committee after a successful effort by HSLDA, the Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV), and the state’s homeschooling community. This bill would have removed the religious exemption for homeschooling that had been in place in Virginia since 1976.

Battle in Illinois

Illinois families face an uphill battle against an egregious anti-homeschool bill. H.B. 2827, known as the Homeschool Act, passed out of the state legislature’s Education Policy Committee by a vote of 8-4, and is expected to be voted on by the full house before the end of March. It will then go to the Illinois Senate and finally to the desk of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is likely to sign it, although he has not publicly taken a position for or against the bill.

Opponents say the legislation places an undue burden on homeschooling families, establishing requirements that, if not met, could result in jail for noncompliant parents. A headline in The Federalist summed up the issue in the deep blue state. It read: “Illinois bill would let failing school system send homeschool parents to jail.”

The proposal would require homeschooling parents to prepare a “portfolio” of their children’s work whenever local school district officials might deem necessary, e.g. “at any interval and frequency,” and must meet the officials’ satisfaction. Homeschooling parents will be required to report themselves in writing to their district officials, beginning in 2026.

WorldNetDaily journalist and editor, Bob Unruh, pointed out: “Parents who do not [submit their paperwork] 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.” Additionally, violations of the proposal could subject parents to “investigations by state child welfare officials.”

HSLDA’s Estrada warned that, as written, the bill is “open-ended for unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to be able to write different sections of regulations. If this bill is passed into law, it’s going to be expanded in future years to put even more restrictions on homeschool and private school families.”

An editorial in the Chicago Tribune on March 11 pinpointed what some observers believe is the primary reason for the legislation. The bill’s authors wrote: “Homeschooling is currently the fastest growing form of education in the United States. The true number of homeschooled children is likely to remain unknown without adequate notification and oversight.” The message is clear that the failing Illinois public schools are losing students, as are many others across the nation, which costs the school districts money. Illinois government officials obviously believe corralling and controlling families who have escaped the state’s public-education system is the solution to the problem.

As WorldNetDaily put it: “One state legislature is considering a bill to clamp down on the one group doing the most effective work in educating the next generation: homeschoolers.”

Parents protest

But Illinois parents are fighting back. Fox News reported that on March 19, hundreds of homeschooling families showed up at the state capitol building in Springfield to protest the legislation. Eyewitnesses who were there say that the actual number of protesters was more likely in the thousands.

One homeschool mother told Fox that the bill will put the school districts in charge of determining “where the child’s records go; that the parent no longer has that right.” She described the bill as “a gross overreach of what the state should be allowed to do. And they also say the student should be educated to serve the state. That’s absurd. I don’t align with the state. I don’t want what the state prioritizes to be the priority of my family. We have a different value system....”

Another parent lamented that the bill is “a step back for homeschool freedom.” He said parents are concerned that the state is “cracking that door open” and that more requirements are likely to follow until homeschooled kids are brought back “under the authority and the watchful eye of the public-school system.”

Opposition to the bill goes well beyond the concerned parents, grandparents, and others who showed up to oppose the bill at the Illinois capitol. Phyllis Schlafly Eagles Executive Director, Kurt Prenzler, who attended the event, noted that two organizations that normally avoid commenting on social issues made an exception in this case. “Americans for Prosperity and Illinois Policy Institute have both come out strongly in opposition to H.B. 2827,” Prenzler said. “The fact is that homeschoolers save taxpayers money, and are a net positive for the state.”

Prenzler recalled that a security guard at the capitol building told him: This bill is trying to fix something that isn’t broken.” He then asked rhetorically: “Would Illinois be better off if homeschoolers would just pick up and leave the state?”

A post on the CatholicVote.org website reported that, as of midday on March 20, “more than 90,000 witness slips [in] total have been filed against [the] homeschooling bill and its amended version that the Illinois House of Representatives’ Education Policy Committee passed along party lines March 19.” The article affirmed that the Illinois Catholic Conference opposes the bill, and provided links to forms on the Illinois Policy Institute and Catholic Conference of Illinois websites so that “Illinoisans can oppose the bill by contacting their representatives” using the forms.

Illinois Policy Senior Director of Labor Policy and Staff Attorney, Mailee Smith, said the 90,000 count of witness slips “is a record for the highest number filed against a bill since at least 2011....”

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) has also spoken out against the proposed legislation. The presidents of all three LCMS districts in Illinois shared their concerns with church members, stating in a letter that “the measures proposed in HB 2827 overstep the bounds of decency to achieve [the] goal [of a well-educated citizenry].”

The LCMS website further states:

• The bill begins with a statement that it does not apply to “non-home-based, non-public schools”; however, much later, the bill creates mandatory reporting requirements for all non-public schools. Those schools will be required to register with the Illinois State Board of Education and provide the names and contact information for all enrolled students and their parents to state and local education offices ... Furthermore, this registration requires of the school, among other things, “assurances of compliance ... with federal and State laws regarding health examination and immunization, attendance, length of term, and nondiscrimination.” It also includes a provision for curriculum review of the school by the local education board.

Given such stalwart opposition, the bill may yet fail despite its advancement out of the Illinois House Education Policy Committee. If it passes the Democrat majority in the full house, the governor may decide, as the saying goes, to “read the room” and refuse to sign it, which most believe is a long shot.

The real tragedy is that, in the absence of overregulation, homeschooled students generally outperform their public-school and even private-school peers. Will Estrada summed it up best when he told Fox News: “The record of homeschoolers shows that we do well academically, socially, emotionally, and so why are we messing with them? That’s the question.” Echoing the sentiment of the capitol security guard, he added: “This bill is a solution in search of a problem."

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