October 8, 2009
School Asks for Curriculum, Parent Education, Hours of Instruction
Eric and Cathy Marek (name changed to protect their privacy) withdrew their three kids from public school in order to educate them at home, and sent an appropriate courtesy letter to the children’s schools. That should have been the end of their transition out of the public school system. It wasn’t.
Two weeks later the superintendent at the Lee/Ogle Regional Office of Education in Dixon sent them two forms asking for information about their curriculum, level of the parents’ education, the time of day of instruction, total hours of instruction, who the instructors would be, and other information. The form asked the parents to sign “assurances.” No explanation was offered as to why the superintendent needed this information.
HSLDA Senior Counsel Scott Woodruff called the superintendent. The superintendent’s representative promptly acknowledged that the family was free to disregard both forms.
When school systems ask homeschool families to “voluntarily” fill out forms, the best way to protect liberty is for parents to stand unified and reject the request. Acquiescing and filling out forms that are “voluntary” may encourage encroachment on homeschool freedom.
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