Illinois House Bill 2827: Expanded Government Oversight, Severe Penalties

H.B. 2827 was moved to third reading on April 11 and then was sent back to the House Rules Committee.

However, the Illinois House will not be in session until Monday, April 21 in honor of Holy Week and Easter.

For the sake of your representatives, we encourage you to limit political activity this week and respectfully allow them to catch their breath over the course of this break. Instead, we encourage you to take this week to pray over H.B. 2827 and spend time with your family. Thank you for standing strong in this fight!

Click here for a brief video update.

Thank you for filling out witness slips against Amendment 002. Close to 37,000 opposing slips were filed prior to the hearing!

Amendment 002 of H.B. 2827 was passed by the House Policy Committee by a vote of 9–4. H.B. 2827 will move to the House floor for consideration. Click here to watch a recording of the hearing.

Call your Illinois state representative and your state senator and respectfully but firmly ask him or her to vote no on H.B. 2827. Then, you can follow it up with a one-click email through our Legislation Action Center.

H.B. 2827 sponsor Terra Costa Howard just released a massive amendment to her bill. You can read it here.

Amendment 002 is currently still pending in the House Rules Committee, but we anticipate it will be heard by the House Policy Committee on Wednesday, April 9 at 8 am. 

How you can help:

• If you are in Illinois, fill out a witness slip as soon as possible. For directions, see here.
• Call your Illinois state representative and your state senator and respectfully but firmly ask him or her to vote no on Amendment 002 to H.B. 2827. Then, you can follow it up with a one-click email through our Legislation Action Center.

Thank you for standing with us!

We believe the sponsors of H.B. 2827 will attempt to force a vote on the Illinois House floor sometime this week. We encourage you to watch this video update from Will Estrada for more background.

Please call your Illinois state representative and your state senator today and respectfully but firmly ask him or her to vote no on H.B. 2827. Even if you have already called, please call again to ensure legislators hear loud and clear that Illinois families oppose this bill.

You may also send an email to your representative here. 

For your convenience, you can read our memo about the reasons to oppose H.B. 2827. And if you haven't already, sign up for email alerts at hslda.org/alerts to stay in the loop.

Dozens of homeschool families gathered in Daley Plaza in Chicago in opposition to H.B. 2827. Illinois State Rep. La Shawn Ford spoke out against the bill.

Read FOX 32 Chicago's summary here.

Although H.B. 2827 passed out of committee on March 19, it has been stalled on the House floor since then. And with the Illinois House in recess until April 7, we have an action window for personal visits to our legislators’ districts.

We encourage you to contact your state representative and your state senator and schedule an in-person visit at their district offices. It doesn’t need to be long: drop by, bring some cookies or treats, introduce yourself as a homeschooling family, and respectfully ask them to oppose H.B. 2827.

H.B. 2827 passed the House Education Policy Committee by a vote of 8 to 4, with 1 voting present. The bill will move to the floor of the House of Representatives. 

Thanks to your dedication and passion for home education freedom, over 34,000 witness slips were filed in opposition to H.B. 2827 as originally introduced.

Because of Amendment 001 to the bill, new witness slips need be filled out before the hearing meeting on March 19. Witness slips can be filed until the House Education Policy Committee adjourns, which will be sometime before noon on March 19.

Any Illinois residents (age 13 or older) may fill out a slip following these steps:

The House Education Policy Committee will be holding a hearing in Room 122B of the Illinois Capitol Building on March 19. Home educators have already made a significant impact by filing witness slips against H.B. 2827, and Will Estrada encourages supporters to continue filing witness slips in opposition to the bill. He will spread the word as soon as witness slips can be filed against Amendment 001.

Estrada also shared this written testimony against Amendment 001, which provides an in-depth review of our opposition to H.B. 2827.

Amendment 001 to H.B. 2827 was proposed, however, it fails to address concerns of both homeschool families and private schools. Will Estrada gives a full report on social media.

HSLDA Senior Counsel Will Estrada alerted members and allies that the scheduled committee hearing might be delayed until March 19.

He shared this video urging homeschool advocates to continue to file witness slips in opposition to the bill.

H.B. 2827 is scheduled to be heard on March 12 at 8 a.m.

This same day, more than 2,000 parents and students gathered at the Capitol for Cherry Pie Day, the annual homeschool rally organized by Illinois Christian Home Educators. This year their message to legislators was simple: “Please protect homeschool freedom by opposing House Bill 2827.”

Will Estrada was there and provided this report.

As of Feb. 28, H.B. 2827 still had not been scheduled for a hearing in the House Rules Committee.

Estrada reached out to members and allies again to urge them to attend the March 6 rally at the state Capitol organized by Illinois Christian Home Educators.

Estrada contacted HSLDA members and allies to let them know their calls and emails to Illinois legislators were having an effect. Though assigned to the House Rules Committee, by week’s end H.B. 2827 had not been scheduled for a hearing.

In another aid to advocacy efforts, HSLDA posted a video featuring Estrada’s three-minute summary of why H.B. 2827 poses such a grave threat to homeschool freedom in Illinois.

Illinois State Rep. Terra Costa Howard introduced House Bill 2827, a 45-page measure that would create new requirements for homeschooling families to report their educational activities to authorities.

Aside from seeking to make parents supply information about their children’s identities and educations—which current state law does not demand—H.B. 2827 represents a troubling trend inspired by critics of homeschooling.

H.B. 2827 reflects concepts from model legislation released in 2024 by the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE). The organization’s “Make Homeschool Safe Act” is based on a worldview that mistrusts parents and asserts that more laws and government oversight are required to keep children safe.

CRHE is in contact with Illinois legislators regarding H.B. 2827 and is promoting the bill to its constituents and the media.

The text of the bill itself alleges that, as currently written, “the laws of this state do not adequately protect homeschooled children.” It adds that the copious regulations it advances “are in the best interests of children to receive a safe and sufficient education.”

Within days of the bill being introduced, HSLDA worked in tandem with Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE) to rally members and allies in opposition of the measure.