North Cook News

Kathy Myalls, former New Trier Township GOP chair and prior candidate for Illinois House District 17, said the Illinois Homeschool Act is yet another attempt by the state government to limit parental rights and impose unnecessary regulations on homeschooling families. 

Myalls, the current Associate General Counsel at IPG who has extensive experience in law and education, voiced her concerns about the bill’s impact on families seeking to provide alternative educational options for their children.

“This typical power grab from Illinois government is just the latest attempt by the current administration—in bed with the teachers' unions—to limit the choices and options parents have for their children,” Myalls told North Cook News. “The decision to homeschool children should not be subject to the 'conditions' that likely drove the decision to begin with. 'Reporting requirements' is a euphemism for 'we will bury you in paper.'"

Myalls is particularly critical of the bill’s provision requiring homeschool administrators and parents to submit additional paperwork and comply with a series of regulations. 

She argued that these requirements would create unnecessary bureaucracy and make homeschooling more difficult for parents.

“'Requirements for homeschool administrators' is the narrow edge of the wedge that will eventually lead to the imposition of curriculum decisions made by the state and the local union,” she said. “It’s an effort to reduce even further the choices students have for education.”

The bill also mandates that homeschooled students submit proof of immunization, which Myalls views as another overreach by the government. She said this would penalize parents who make different decisions about their children's health based on their own research or religious beliefs.

“'Proof of a child's immunization' means that the state is again going to decide what vaccines our children must have and penalize parents who decide—based on their own research and in conjunction with their own doctors—what is best for their children medically,” Myalls said. “Decisions not to immunize are sometimes based on religion and sometimes based on other factors, as we saw with the 'authorized for emergency use but not really approved' Covid vaccines that likely did more harm than good to our children.”

Myalls emphasized that the bill would create additional challenges for parents who already seek alternatives to public education. According to her, the goal is to force parents back into a system they’ve chosen to leave due to ideological or educational concerns.

“Of course, but that's the point, isn't it?” Myalls said. “To make parents throw in the towel and enroll their children in failing schools or schools that teach values and concepts antithetical to those of the parents seeking to homeschool them. The CTU does not want competition for their public schools, but all you need to know about the CTU priorities you can find by going to their website and reading their full-page mission statement that incredibly does not mention children and does not mention teaching.”

The proposed HB2827 mandates state oversight of homeschooling families, which critics argue could infringe on parental rights and add bureaucratic barriers. 

Under the bill, homeschooled students would need to submit a Homeschool Declaration Form to avoid truancy penalties, and if they wish to engage with public schools, certain health documentation must be provided. 

The bill has already sparked opposition, with over 41,000 Illinois residents filing witness slips against it.

Myalls’ concerns echo the broader criticism of the bill, voiced by many parents and groups like Kirk Smith of Illinois Christian Home Educators, who argue that it infringes on parental control over children’s education and unnecessarily increases state involvement. 

These critics believe the bill is an attempt to exert control over a growing homeschooling movement, particularly in light of a declining trust in the state’s public education system.

“Again, of course it does and again, that's the point,” Myalls said.

She concluded by calling for the bill’s defeat and urging lawmakers to prioritize parental choice in education.

“I would like to see it go away,” Myalls said. “Parents should make their own decisions about their children and their children's education, and their only option to escape failing or ideologically insane public schools should not be to sell their home and move to another district.”