Illinois Laws

Question:
I'm hoping someone can help me out. A friend has chosen to home school their teen who is in high school. The teen wishes to continue taking part in cheer leading. The high school principal has agreed contingent upon many things such as turning in homework to the school every Friday, taking tests at the school, keeping all homework to give to the school, etc.

My first question is: Is this legal for him to do? He said something about Illinois sports program requirements or something like that. I would really appreciate some help on this one.

My second question is: Where can I get information that clearly spells out the home schooling guidelines for the state of Illinois? What are the rights of the parents and what can the school legally require a home schooler to do?

My wife and I are planning on home schooling but our daughters are still young, 6 months and 2.5 years old. This is a subject we feel very strongly about and would like to help our friend out.

Answer:
-You can probably get a copy of the state laws from most of the Illinois Home education groups. I know that HSLDA will send you a copy of the relevant laws if you contact them (i think that they have a www site: www.hslda.org).

Basically, Illinois is a very low regulation state. Home schools have the same status as private schools. Most of us have named our school, created a letter head, and keep our own records. You are not required to be tested or have your curriculum approved by anyone. You are basically required to teach the subjects of English, science, math, social sciences, etc. in the English Language. That's it. You can construct your own curriculum or buy a ready made set, it is all up to you. Just remember it must be in the English language.

In the state of Illinois, the political and legal battles are waged around attempts of public educators to distinguish Home Schools from Private Schools so that the Home Schools can be regulated by the public education system.

This is a key point related to your first question. If the public education system can seperate Home Schools from Private Schools then they would have made a major step in their campaign to eventually regulate Home Schools in Illinois.

There is a form (that we've all been warned about) that a local principal will give an unsuspecting set of parents to sign that essentially "gives" the parents permission to home school under the supervision of the principal. But signing this form essentially seperates that "home school" from the status of a private school since it is being run under the public education system. That principal can legally close down that "home school" and force them to send their children to a public school anytime he wants. Rule of thumb, don't sign anything.

Ask yourself, if your school had a student body of 300 (rather than one, two, or three) would your school willing submit to having a public school examine and accept or reject your students' work. Of course not. Once you've submitted your students' work to the approval of a public educator, you've essentially clouded your status as a private school.

I suspect that the principal is unwilling to waive local board requirements in order to force the home schooling parents to work under his supervision, which essentially clouds their status as a private school. I recommend that your friends find a private school that has a cheerleading program or enroll in a professional program so they will not sacrifice their legal status.

-You do not need to contact HSLDA. We have a state organization that is perfectly adequate for informing people in our state about our own state laws. If you want to receive our handouts on Illinois state law, send me your snail mail adress and I will mail them to you free of charge. Ill is a great place to homeschool.

BTW, our organization is called HOUSE (Home Oriented Unique Schooling Experience). We are a network of non-sectarian, all-inclusive homeschooling support groups all around the state. If you email me with your snail mail address, I can also refer you to a group near you so you can be in touch with our organization in person.