Hundreds protested House Bill 2827, known as the "Homeschool Act." at the Illinois State Capitol. (Fox News)
California parents opposed a similar bill that failed to make it out of committee in the state legislature in 2018, AB 2756, only after hearing three hours of testimony from parents and homeschoolers. Opponents say the Democrat-led bill would have mandated all homeschooling families in the state to adhere to involuntary home inspections, after the Turpin-family child abuse case.
"This is calculated. This is how they do it. They do it in increments, slowly taking control away while people sit back thinking that their kids are safe and it doesn't affect them," said Shaw, who is a school board member in Chino and running for state superintendent of public instruction. "Every parent needs to be in this fight. If we don't stand up now together, there will be nothing left to fight for our kids in their future. Please get involved. Please speak up. Please show up, because our children are worth this fight."
Conservatives at the Illinois General Assembly, seen here, have voiced opposition to the bill. (iStock)
But opponents of the bill pushed back, saying in the hearing that there's no correlation between homeschooled students being more at risk of abuse than those in the public school system.
"I believe this bill will help protect abused and neglected children and leave in place the freedom of parents to decide how to best meet the educational needs of their children," Tanner Lovett, an opponent of the bill, said Wednesday.
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The Illinois homeschool bill will now head to the state House of Representatives for a floor vote. If passed by the House and Senate, it would land on the desk of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat considered a potential 2028 presidential hopeful.
The bill passed out of the committee as President Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday dismantling the federal Department of Education.
Jamie Joseph is a U.S. Politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering transgender and culture issues, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and stateside legislative developments.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/school-choice-activists-warn-parents-about-blue-states-homeschool-bill-jail-time-provision