Illinois Lawmakers Push Teachers Unions’ Agenda
As many states embrace school choice, Illinois is moving in the opposite direction, showing fealty to teachers unions and stifling parental autonomy.
A significant threat to educational freedom was progressing through the Illinois Statehouse, it recently stalled, but the sponsor claims it’s still alive. If passed, House Bill 2827 would make Illinois the first state to increaserestrictions on families who choose to educate their children at home. Under the bill, homeschooling parents would face new burdens, including filing private information with regional offices of education every year and creating detailed portfolios of their curriculum and coursework for review.
And if parents don't adequately comply? Their children could face a traumatic visit from a truancy officer. The rules are subjective and undefined so whether a child is receiving an "adequate" education could be interpreted differently from region to region.
In a 50-state ranking from the American Legislative Exchange Council, Illinois ranked 38th for educational freedom in 2025. Homeschooling was the only category Illinois scored well in. If the homeschool bill passes, the state will lose its only positive grade for educational freedom.
This bill would send a message to Illinois families that the state is opposed to educational flexibility and parental autonomy.
Aziza Butler is a Chicago homeschool mom and founder of WeSchool Academy, a learning support center for homeschooling families. She testified on March 19th in opposition to the homeschooling regulations proposed in HB 2827.
“What really breaks my heart about this bill is that it’s based on the underlying assumption that education cannot work without legislators, district bureaucrats and school administrators,” Butler said. “But the reality is education cannot work without parents.”
Rather than empowering and encouraging parents to engage more deeply in their children’s education, HB 2827 deters parental involvement through burdensome requirements. An unintended — or, perhaps intended — consequence of the bill is how it might discourage parents from taking their child’s education in their own hands.
On top of regulating homeschoolers, the bill would also impose new restrictions on private schooling. Currently, private schools in Illinois are not required to register with the state. HB 2827 would change that, mandating annual registration for all private schools and requiring them to report enrollment and attendance information on students if a truancy officer requests it.
Under the most recent amendment to the bill, homeschool cooperatives also would have to register with the state as private schools annually and would face the same information mandates as traditional private schools.
What’s worse, there’s no provision in the bill allowing parents to opt out of having their children’s information tracked by state and local authorities. This level of government overreach is a blatant violation of privacy rights and sets a dangerous precedent for monitoring families who choose alternatives to public schools — especially those families choosing schools with religious affiliations.
Instead of supporting educational diversity, HB 2827 attacks parents and private institutions trying to make independent and diverse choices about education. The Illinois General Assembly would be wise to avoid reviving this bill.
Illinois’ anti-choice agenda doesn’t stop there: Two other bills proposed by lawmakers and pushed by teachers unions this session aim to impose stricter regulations on public charter schools and even lay the groundwork for their eventual closure.
These measures are part of a broader effort by teachers unions to weaken charter schools, which serve a high percentage of low-income students. By targeting charter schools, unions and lawmakers further restrict educational options for families who need them most.
Education freedom has been steadily declining in Illinois for years. It was the first state to strip scholarships away from low-income students in 2023 when lawmakers ended the Invest in Kids program. Instead of doing what’s best for the 15,000 impoverished students receiving tax-credit scholarships, lawmakers kowtowed to teachers unions’ influence and shuttered the successful scholarship program.
Parents need an education policy that empowers them to play a larger role in their children’s education. Thankfully, a bill has been introduced at the federal level that would do just that. The Educational Choice for Children Act would establish a federal school choice program to provide scholarships to K-12 students, which they could use for tuition to private schools and other educational expenses such as resources for homeschooling families. An estimated 2 million students nationwide could benefit from this program, including many families in Illinois who previously benefited from Illinois’ Invest in Kids program.
Teachers unions have a history of denying Illinois families their right to choose schools that best fit their children’s needs. Lawmakers should be wary of both teachers unions’ opposition to the federal school choice bill and their support for bills to undermine public charter schools.
It’s time for Illinois to champion educational freedom — for homeschool families, private school families and public school families — and not dismantle it.
