For such a time as this! Will we be willing to make the sacrifice to maintain our rights and freedoms!

For such a time as this!
 Will we be willing to make the sacrifice to maintain our rights and freedoms?

This is the fight of this generation of homeschoolers. HB2827 has not yet been assigned to a committee. This means that next week or the week following is when the assigned committee will discuss HB2827 for the first time. We need a MASSIVE turnout on that day. In 2011 over 4,000 homeschoolers responded to the call to oppose an anti-homeschooling law. That response not only killed the bill that day, it stopped any adverse legislation from being introduced for over a decade. Is a one day sacrifice worth ten years of freedom?

If you think this is too much to do, think about filling out annual reports with truancy charges potentially being filed against you if you don’t do it or do it wrong. Think about if a public school official shows up at your house, demanding to see your “education portfolio” for each of your children. What if he didn’t like what he saw, and this triggered a DCFS investigation that put an agent in your home to interview your five year old child privately? Think of the questions they would ask your innocent child. Think of the fear that would cause any child. Think if your children had to have the same immunization and vaccines that the public school students have to take. Think about the increased taxes you will have to pay to fund this government overreach. The legislators  who introduced and co-sponsored this bill would quickly say, “That is not the intent.” The fact is, however, the language of the bill allows for all the above to take place. In lieu of these possibilities, what does one day out of your schedule mean? Yes, it will cost time. Yes, it is inconvenient. Yes, it will cost you gas money. But the alternative will cost you, your adult children, and your grandchildren so much more.

What can I do right now?

1. Pray 

• Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. –Psalms 20:7
• The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. –Proverbs 21:31
• The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. –Proverbs 21:1

2. Call or email your representative and senator, asking them to oppose HB2827. If they ask why, here are four bullet points.

• Homeschoolers score in the 70%. Colleges are actively recruiting homeschoolers. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
• It adds an extra level of governmental red tape that adds extra work to already busy homeschooling parents.
• Homeschoolers would have to open up their homes to a school official and possibly D.C.F.S. with no reason stated. They would have to present “educational portfolios” with no explanation of what they should or should not include.
• Homeschoolers would have to have  the same vaccination as the public school children if they participated in public school activities. The wording is such that vaccination requirement could potentially be applied to all homeschoolers.

3. Come to Cherry Pie Day on March 6th.

4. Help spread the word to all homeschoolers and private brick and mortar schools as this bill will affect them as well.

When the bill goes to committee

1. Show up at the Capitol with thousands of other homeschoolers to show our opposition against our homeschooling and parental rights. Watch ICHE’s social media outlets and sign up for ICHE’s newsletter to find out what day.

2. Call all the members of the assigned committee. (Their names and contact information will be on the ICHE website.)

3. Visit your representative and senator and ask them to oppose HB2827.

4. Fill out witness slips. This will be explained in social media posts and on the ICHE website when they become available.

5. Keep praying.

6. Keep glued to the ICHE Facebook and Instagram accounts and make sure you click the green button on our website landing page to receive the latest newsletter and updates. Esther was willing to lay her life down for the sake of her people. The good news is, we won’t lose our lives, but if we lose our rights and our freedom, we may never get them back for three generations.