Illinois bill aims to place homeschooling under government oversight
Legislation introduced in the Illinois General Assembly would give the state strict oversight over home education.
Under the Homeschool Act, parents who do not notify the state that their child is homeschooled would be guilty of truancy. This would contradict an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that homeschools are considered private education and thus exempt from truancy laws or having to register with the state.
If education authorities are concerned about a child’s home education, they can conduct a thorough investigation and demand to see the teaching materials and the child’s work.
The bill would also require homeschooling parents or other “administrators” to have obtained a high school diploma or equivalent. They also cannot have been convicted of certain crimes like sexual assault. If a homeschooled child wants to join any public school activity, whether on or off campus, the bill requires them to receive the vaccinations required by public schools.
Homeschooling is gaining popularity
Homeschooling remains the fastest-growing form of education. In 2023, at least 3.7 million children were home educated, a major increase from 1.5 million in 2019.
An analysis from the Washington Post looked at 60% of the school-aged population in 7,000 school districts across 32 states and Washington, D.C., and found that homeschooling defies political, geographical, and economic borders.
For example, while Republican Florida has the largest homeschool population with 154,000 homeschooled children, Democratic New York is showing the fastest growth with nearly 52,000 children homeschooled, more than double since 2017. New York City boroughs Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx saw the highest growth rates with the homeschool population in some districts surging over 300% in the last six years.
Home education is gaining popularity even in areas with high academic achievement. In 2022, over 60,000 children were homeschooled in districts that ranked in the country’s top fifth for scholastic aptitude.
Homeschoolers see improved academic performance
Studies show homeschoolers outperform their state-educated counterparts in nearly all areas. Standardized tests reveal that homeschoolers on average score over 30 percentage points higher than public schoolers in core studies such as reading, language and math. SAT results show that homeschooled children score higher than state-educated children by as many as 70 points in critical reading and 48 points in writing. They are also more likely to achieve higher GPAs in college.
Minority children who homeschool also show higher results than their counterparts in government schools. Black homeschooled students, for example, have been shown to outscore black public schooled students by 23–42 percentage points. According to government figures, 41% of homeschoolers are Black, Asian, Hispanic, and other minorities.
Most homeschoolers also report being excited about life and satisfied with their work, compared to a minority of public schoolers.
