Among those leading the charge against a dangerous bill in Illinois last year were two Chicago-based Black homeschooling moms, Aziza Butler and Latasha Fields, whose courage and conviction helped defeat House Bill 2827.
The proposed law would have required homeschooling families to register with public schools, allowed state officials unchecked authority to review student portfolios without cause, and even imposed jail time on parents who missed filing deadlines. For many families—especially Black families already navigating educational inequities—the bill felt like a direct attack.
“Too often we do not trust parents to take the lead in their children’s education, especially when those parents are Black and Brown, and especially when those parents are poor,” Aziza testified before legislators last year. “This bill targets homeschool parents and treats us as criminals, guilty until proven innocent.”
A former Chicago public school teacher, homeschooling mom of six, and founder of the homeschool support group WeSchool, Aziza and her husband, Chris, mobilized more than 300 homeschooling families—including 50 Black families—to speak out against the bill.
Aziza’s message was clear in her testimony: Black parents are not asking for permission to homeschool, they are exercising a right. “Black families like my own are choosing to homeschool in larger and larger numbers each year,” she told legislators. “The public schools are failing our children, and homeschools represent a much better alternative.”
Latasha expressed a similar conviction in a televised debate with the state representative who introduced the bill. “We don’t want our children to be property of the state,” she declared. “We as homeschoolers do not need a system that is already broken.”
“We want quality education,” she added. “That’s why we’re homeschooling.”
A JD candidate at Trinity Law School and veteran homeschooling mom of 19 years, Latasha co-founded Christian Home Educators Support System and Empowering Parents Igniting Communities—two organizations that champion homeschooling and parental rights in Chicago.
Beyond her media appearance, Latasha met with nearly 40 members of the Illinois Black Caucus and presented a detailed rebuttal to the bill, demonstrating how it would disproportionately burden Black families. She also organized the Chicago Home Educators’ Summit, providing a platform for hundreds of families to speak out against government overreach.
For the rapidly growing Black homeschooling community, particularly in Chicago, the victory over H.B. 2827 felt personal.