Posted on 02/07/2011 5:43:08 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
SPRINGFIELD — Parents of home-schooled children would have to register their kids with the state under a proposal that could be debated in the Illinois Senate in coming weeks.
State Sen. Ed Maloney, D-Chicago, says his proposal could be a way to track how many students in Illinois are schooled at home.
“I was surprised to learn that in Illinois, there are virtually no rules or regulations relative to the concept of home schooling,” Maloney said.
“This is just the first step toward establishing, I think, some accountability.
I think people do a good job at this, but how do we know that everybody does?”
Home schooling advocacy groups such as the national Home School Legal Defense Association and Illinois Christian Home Educators were quick to oppose the idea, saying existing mandates are enough.
Home-schooled students must receive an education equivalent to public schooling, according to current Illinois state law.
The pending legislation contains no provisions for measuring home-schooled students’ academic progress or otherwise expanding the state education mandates.
Christine Martin lives near Neoga and teaches her fifth-grader at home. Martin has home-schooled some of her five children and put some of them through public schools, she said.
Martin is part of the East Central Illinois Home Educator Network, a Christian-based group that organizes field trips, testing and social connections for home-schooled students. She said she has access to the same resources public schools use.
She said she didn’t think registering home-schooled students would solve the problem of parents who might try to avoid educating their children by using home schooling as a cover.
“I personally don’t think more legislation is going to solve that problem,” Martin said.
“I don’t think registering as a home-schooler is going to fix that.”
Home-schoolers aren’t required to register their children with any government entity, but parents can choose to notify their regional office of education or the state board of their intention to teach their children at home.
Mary Fergus, a spokeswoman for the state Board of Education, said the state doesn’t track home-schooled students.
“They really are considered to be another form of private education,” she said. “We’re not out there monitoring children in their homes.”
There also are no state testing requirements for home-schooled students.
The legislation is Senate Bill 136.
Maloney, rhymes with....
Has Illinois been known for being hostile to homeschoolers?
Here in WA they want to include HS kids because it raises the test score averages. Without them the averages are basically in the toilet.
Illinois Fascists. Is there anything they won’t do?
sounds like they should leave it like it is
Why does the state need to know how many and who is being home schooled?
registration come before banning
“I don’t know that there is any problem whatsoever. But let’s destroy the liberty of all just in case, okay?”
Where did you hear that?
Hey, Mr. Baloney, when you have epidemic truancy, drop outs and gang violence among home school kids, let us know. Right now, you're just a solution in search of a problem.
Why don't you fix the public schools instead of harassing the people using one of the few escapes from your dreary, failed institutions.
In AZ we have to register them as being home schooled .. one quick notarized form and their birth certs (YES their REAL long form ones) ... that’s it. No testing, no contact, no blather-by-bureaucrat. They send back the BCs even. In some states the requirements are very complicated, I hear. I say good for the Home School organizations in Il for keeping a close watch on this. Anyone who home schools in that state should read any proposed bill and scream if there is any sign of intrusion. I don’t know what would prevent some parents in AZ from claiming to home school their kids while actually sitting them in front of Oprah type programming for 7 hours a day; except perhaps self shame. All I can tell you is what my kids are learning, and that it is far superior to what they’d have learned so far in public schools.
A while back. Read it on www.SoundPolitics.com. They (Olympia) were trying to integrate home schooled kids into the mix because the home schooled kids always scored higher on tests but were separated out. Don’t know where it went though.
Here in MN we have to submit forms to the local district,which then sends them to the state, each year. Also, if neither parent has at least a bachelor’s degree grades must be submitted quarterly.
SCREW THEM!!!
I home schooled in the state of Washington, a notorius blue state, where every year I had to register my home student. No biggy for either of us.
It appears Washington just keeps track of homeschoolers. I was supposed to keep records and did for the first 18 months. As they never contacted me, and he was tested annually for progress by a public school teacher who operated an independent testing business (his own daughter was home schooled), I slacked off on the record keeping. My student was excelling across the board on all subjects.
He was capable of taking the GED during the summer of his 16th year, but slacked off until his 17th birthday, and took the test a couple days afterwards. He passed with better than average scores.
That the state of Illinois has decided to keep better track of who is being home schooled shouldn’t panic anyone.
See!...By going to government school, the children even learn how to be compliant government informants.
Uh oh! Someone is sure to say that I am a troll for stating the truth about the government kiddie prisons ( oops!**public** “schools”)
I see a huge migration to Texas at the rate things are going in the blue & purple states.
Homeschoolers should be held to the **exact** same standards as government imprisoned kids (oops! public schools). If complete illiteracy and innumeracy is passing for government held kids, then that should be the standard for homeschoolers.
In other words if government has no standards for the kids imprisoned in its collectivist "schools", then homeschoolers don't need standards either
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