Victories! Yet Danger Looms

This week has seen parental rights victories in three states. But we’re also watching closely as a battle in Illinois threatens parental rights across the country.

First, the good news.

On Monday, Indiana’s Senate Bill 143 (SB143) passed the House Committee on Judiciary by a vote of 9 to 3. The measure, which will recognize parental rights as fundamental and demand strict scrutiny review of any infringement, has already passed the Senate and now moves on to the floor of the House for a final vote. If that vote succeeds, the bill will move to the governor’s desk for signature, and could make Indiana the twenty-first state to protect fundamental parental rights in legislation.

Also on Monday, Florida’s Senate Bill 1286 (SB1286) passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice by a vote of 9 to 0. This measure, championed by Senator Erin Grall, is one of two “Reasonable Childhood Independence” bills we’re watching this week that is based on the model we drafted with LetGrow. It would clarify that “neglect” as used in Florida law does not refer to choices by a parent to let a child walk, play, or ride a bike to a local park, store, or other nearby public place.

SB1286 has just cleared its second of three Senate committees and has not yet reached the House side, so it is early in its journey. So far, though, it is making good progress.

Then on Tuesday, Florida Senate Bill 1288 (SB1288), also championed by Sen. Erin Grall, passed the Senate Education Pre-K – 12 Committee on a narrow 5 to 4 vote. This legislation, which would allow parents to preview school surveys that are to be given to their children, and which grants parents access to their minor children’s medical records, needs to pass the Judiciary committee by next week to stay alive this session—and it is looking like an uphill climb.

Also on Tuesday, Georgia Senate Bill 110 (SB110) passed the Georgia House on a vote of 110 to 62. This is the second “Reasonable Childhood Independence” bill we’re watching, and it now on its way to Governor Kemp’s desk. With his signature, Georgia will become the ninth state in the country to expressly protect in law the right of parents to give their children more freedom and independence as they mature and grow. And it will make clear that parents like Brittany Patterson, who let her son walk to the nearby store alone, are not “neglecting” their children.

This is a tremendous win for parental rights in Georgia!

But then there’s the bad news.

In Illinois, House Bill 2827 (HB2827) threatens the freedoms of homeschooling and even private schooling families across the country. That’s because, while this bill would not govern parents in other states, it threatens to set a precedent that other states could follow. Championed by Rep. Terra Costa Howard, HB2827 would place Illinois’ public-school systems in charge of overseeing homeschooling in the state. It would require parents who homeschool to register their children with the local school district, and it would require nonpublic schools to register with the State Board of Education. It would also make failing to submit the proper paperwork on time a crime subject to a fine and jail time. It gives the public education system the authority to review a homeschool family’s educational portfolio and homeschool program at any time. And it requires that any “homeschool administrator” (that is, a homeschooling parent) must have a high school degree.

This bill would be the first major step backward in decades for Americans’ freedom to homeschool. And the irony is that it would place homeschooling, which has proven to be incredibly successful and effective across all outcomes, under the authority of the Illinois public education system, which has had dismal outcomes. (Recent NAEP scores tragically showed that only 1/3 of Illinois public education 8th graders are proficient in math and reading.) This irony seems to be lost on the bill’s author and supporters.

It’s like placing the chefs of a fine dining restaurant under the direction of a fast food fry cook. Only it’s not your dinner – your children are the ones who will pay the price.

Parents have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children, and Illinois officials have no business usurping that right just because they don’t like it. Ostensibly, their motive is to protect children from abuse (though the abuse rate in their public schools is much higher than the abuse rate in home schools). But “the statist notion that governmental power should supersede parental authority in all cases because some parents abuse and neglect children is repugnant to American tradition.” Parham v. J.R., 442 US 584 (1979) at 603.

Sadly, even in the face of more than 50,000 witness slips opposed to the measure, HB2827 passed the Illinois House Education Policy Committee on March 19 by a vote of 8 to 4 (1 voting present).

If you live in Illinois, please contact your state representative and senator and urge them to protect parental rights by rejecting HB2827 whenever it comes before them.

On the whole, we are gaining ground for parental rights all across the country. But we cannot afford to lose our prior right to direct the education of our children, or the loss of all parental rights will be just one generation away.

Thank you for standing with us for parents—and for the children we protect together.