After our live webinar with HSLDA’s Will Estrada last fall concerning bad homeschooling legislative trajectories across the country, people have been recently asking if any bad homeschooling bills, as discussed in that webinar, have been introduced yet? The good news is that no such bills have been submitted into the Illinois General Assembly as of this writing. The not-so-good news is the organization that we discussed at that webinar is presently trying to find people in Illinois to be sympathetic to their cause in order to gain legislative traction.
The bad news is our friends in Virginia have not been as fortunate. HSLDA sent out a newsletter this week stating that this same organization was able to get a bill introduced into Virginia’s legislature that “… is the biggest threat to homeschool freedoms in Virginia ever. That is not an exaggeration.” It is interesting to note that Virginia is where the headquarters for HSLDA is located. We need to keep our brothers and sisters in much prayer.
This is no time to wring our hands in panic as we have been here before. It was back in 2011 when a similar threat was introduced in Illinois. The result? Around 5,000 homeschoolers showed up, and the bill died a quick and embarrassing death in committee. Hopefully, it will not come to that again, but if it does, Illinois homeschoolers need to reply with 8,000 people next time to squelch any such future attempt. The ICHE Legislative Task Force continues to monitor things in Springfield through our lobbyists who have their ear to the ground. What else can we be doing?
- Pray – for wisdom and favor, asking God to send confusion to any who would seek to limit our parental freedoms.
- I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. –Exodus 23:27 (ESV)
- Participate in ICHE’s Cherry Pie Day on March 6th.
- This is our proactive effort to maintain positive relationships in Springfield. While attendance at this event is always important, it is especially important this year, considering legislative efforts across the nation. We want our legislators to know we are serious about keeping our rights to homeschool as is.
- Numbers mean a lot in Springfield, the more people and the more pies the better. For more information on Cherry Pie Day.
- ICHE is a part of the AdHoc Committee for Illinois Home Education Legal and Legislative Matters. This organization is asking homeschool graduates to write a one-page letter, addressed to “To Whom It May Concern”, sharing their love and appreciation for homeschooling. Please make sure it is well written regarding grammar, spelling, and punctuation. These can be emailed to ksmith@iche.org or info@iche.org. It would be wonderful to have several thousand letters to show legislators how well homeschooling works. These letters could include any college experience or present vocations or unique opportunities homeschooling provided.
- You could visit your legislators in their home offices, taking a plate of cookies and/or having younger children draw pictures and older ones writing a letter of thanksgiving (takes care of art and writing class for the day). You can look on-line how to structure a letter for a legislator. This is not a time to be controversial on other matters but a time to make a good impression of homeschooling. This could be done as individual families or as groups.
- You can donate to either ICHE or AdHoc. These sister organizations help provide much-needed lobbyists in Springfield who watch over legislative affairs. If every homeschooling household in Illinois donated $10 we would have enough money to pay our lobbyists for years.
- If the time comes for phone calls, witness slips, or a convergence on the Capitol, will you make the necessary sacrifices? A two-minute phone call or even a one-day trip to Springfield would be a small price to pay compared to filling out annual reports, submitting and receiving approval for curriculum, or opening your house to home inspections from a government official. Please understand, we try to never cry “Wolf!” It is only when our quiet, behind the scenes efforts fail that we have to resort to these overt efforts. In my ten-plus years with ICHE, we have only requested this a few times.
- Stay informed as individuals and as groups. The best way to do this is to receive ICHE’s weekly newsletter by going to our website and follow our social media outlets of Facebook and Instagram.
I have said for years that Christians have great responses … a month or year later after the damage is done. This is a time for us to get ahead of the curve ball by preparing today for any legislative challenges tomorrow. If we put the work in now, we could possibly avoid so much more time and energy drains down the road. Please, take these suggestions seriously. Some of these take mere minutes to do. If we are not willing to sacrifice and fight for our rights, we don’t deserve them.
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