January 17, 2007
Illinois School Case Worker Officer Visits Family
The Regional Office of Education in the Illinois counties of Logan, Mason, and Menard has recently seen fit to call for homeschoolers to register. Homeschoolers were asked to complete and submit the “Home School Registration” form that the ROE put together. The form requested the names, physical and email addresses, and telephone numbers of the parents; the curriculum used; the name, grade, gender, and race of each child being homeschooled; and the subjects they will be taught.
During this time, the Squaire family also received a visit from an ROE caseworker. The family did not let him in their home, but later called to find out what he wanted. The caseworker demanded that the family show him their curriculum and then return the homeschool form; he also asserted that the ROE had been involved in a court case that set a precedent that homeschoolers had to list their curriculum.
Home School Legal Defense Association Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka then sent a letter to the Logan-Mason-Menard ROE and explained Illinois law. Klicka told them that Illinois considered homeschoolers private schools, and that the Squaires were teaching the “branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public school” in the English language, as the law requires. The ROE wrote back, acknowledging that the form was optional.
In Illinois, there is no requirement that homeschools register with the ROE or any other government office. If you received these forms, or any like it, please know that you are not obligated to return them.
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