Illinois Homeschool Bill Dropped after Thousands Protest

Where I live, we have to send in a card each year listing the student and the home school they will be attending. In addition, before June 30th of each year, we have to send in our standardized test results with an attendance sheet listing when they attended (at least 180 days). That’s about it for the requirements, and I don’t find them onerous at all. I wonder if the families in Illinois are worried about the “slippery slope” of things that could happen.

Currently, the State Board of Education has no method to enforce the requirement unless local officials have some reason to bring the family to court.

I think that is the way it should be. There is no reason for the state to have any requirements for parents who have opted out of the system. I don’t use other gov’t programs, and they don’t need to have any information about my family, nor to I fill out forms to let them know I’ve opted out of welfare, Medicaid, food stamps… so why should schools districts require anything of parents? I think it is a slippery slope.

Ohio requires notification and testing each year. I wouldn’t call it onerous… although I have to pay for it, so I’d call it mildly annoying. But it’s the principle of the thing- why should I prove my ‘innocence’ every single year to a system from which I’ve opted out? I don’t use their curriculum or scope and sequence- how can tests geared for federal standards really reflect their knowledge base since I don’t teach to the test? (they always test out above average since I use a basic skills test- the CAT- but that’s beside the point)

And furthermore, do schools ever have to ‘prove’ anything to the people who pay taxes in their district, or do they just keep slapping levies on the ballot to raise our taxes for all the buildings and equipment they say they need? Do they test every year for proficiency? When kids don’t test as proficient, aren’t those kids often passed on to the next grade anyway? And are those families receiving any sort of intervention?

[dcbii] I wonder if the families in Illinois are worried about the “slippery slope” of things that could happen.

We are and we don’t believe that bill is simply about registration.

The Education Committee simply decided not to vote on the bill yesterday. Mr. Maloney still has the opportunity to withdraw, modify it and resubmit or simply leave it as is until the Education Committee decides to vote on it. This bill, as it is currently written, will also affect private schools.

I just found an online poll on the issue at the http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2011/02/maloney-anti-h… Illinois Review site. Right now it’s running 98.6% against the bill.
We had a similar scare some years back in NJ, and all rallied on the Statehouse steps. The bill sponsor essentially said, “Whoops! My bad,” and withdrew it quickly.

[JGreen]
We are and we don’t believe that bill is simply about registration.

I figured there might be more to it. I don’t live in Illinois, and I haven’t taken the time to actually find and read the bill text, but the way the article describes it, it sounds rather innocuous. Not too surprising, though, as I figure the press would normally take the side of the state on this issue.

Senator Maloney tabled the legislation today.