"No Schoolers": How Illinois' Hands-Off Approach to Homeschooling Leaves Children at Risk

[Nevilledog]

https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-homeschool-education-regulations

It was on L.J.’s 11th birthday, in December 2022, that child welfare workers finally took him away. They arrived at his central Illinois home to investigate an abuse allegation and decided on the spot to remove the boy along with his baby brother and sister — the “Irish twins,” as their parents called them.

His mother begged to keep the children while her boyfriend told child welfare workers and the police called to the scene that they could take L.J.: “You wanna take someone? Take that little motherfucker down there or wherever the fuck he is at. I’ve been trying to get him out of here for a long time.”

By that time, L.J. told authorities he hadn’t been in a classroom for years, according to police records. First came COVID-19. Then, in August 2021 when he was going to have to repeat the third grade, his mother and her boyfriend decided that L.J. would be homeschooled and that they would be his teachers. In an instant, his world shrank to the confines of a one-bedroom apartment in the small Illinois college town of Charleston — no teachers, counselors or classmates.

In that apartment, L.J. would later tell police, he was beaten and denied food: Getting leftovers from the refrigerator was punishable by a whipping with a belt; sass was met with a slap in the face.

L.J. told police he got no lessons or schoolwork at home. Asked if he had learned much, L.J. replied, “Not really.”

*snip*

[ProfessorGAC]

1. I've Run Into A Few Homeschooled Kids

Most of them were returned to the classroom, and the biggest reason was the kids wanted to go to school like all the other kids.
Out of that group of 20+, one was at par in math & science with the other kids, & another was more advanced in science. Close to half of these kids were WAY behind & lost.
The others needed special attention to catch them up; worse in science than math, but still behind in math.
Nearly 90%.
As a sub, I was never privy as to the reasons parents decided to homeschool. But, I know that for 90% of them, the parents weren't qualified to replace classroom instruction by professional teachers.
And, I'm in Illinois so this situation hits home.

[jimfields33]

3. The entire thing is ridiculous. Illinois has been negligent as well.

No registration for home schoolers? The family lived in a one bedroom apartment with three kids? Aren’t kids supposed to have their own bedroom especially different sexes. Thank God the authorities are on the case with this family and I hope every one of the families breaking the laws.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Agreed

For some reason, state government has chosen to tread ridiculously lightly in this arena.
And, in this case, there was no schooling going on. This kid is going to be behind for years.
Just awful.

[jimfields33]

4. It depends. I was on the admissions board for a relatively prestigious school.

The homeschoolers were definitely higher in SAT scores than their public school counterparts. The graduation rates of homeschool students was 86 percent. Much higher then the other students.. We had to keep stats.

[MineralMan]

2. There are many children who actually learn the rudiments

of an education through homeschooling. Probably the majority. However, there are others who get zero schooling at all. Parents don't send them to school, but claim they are homeschooling. There is very little follow-up in most places to see whether they are getting educated. How many? I don't know. I used to see them, many years ago. Their parents sent them to the local library, where I was a volunteer. Not to learn, but to be somewhere while parents were working or doing something else.

The library staff made some attempt to encourage those children to learn something. Many of them could not actually read, though. So, they sat there, looked at picture books and then got picked up by their parent sometime in the afternoon. There were always a dozen or so on any given day - spending all day in the library with little to no interaction with the staff.

This was all reported to the CPS folks, but they did nothing. The children were safe, and that was where the CPS interest stopped. So, it just went on.

Is it still the same? I don't know. I suspect so, though.

[mopinko]

6. il law is what it is for 2 reasons-

it’s a sop to the downstate fundies. but it’s also a sop to chgo schools who wd end up responsible for holding parents to any standard that the law required.

there r bad homeschooler out there, but there r also entire cps schools where kids dont meet standards. dont have clean facilities, dont have sports or art or music. and hundreds of kids who r abused, but nothing is done.
dcfs is a total mess. kids who r in their care still die. all.the.time.
many, many special needs kids who’s need will never b met in the classroom thrive in hs. that’s a huge part of the cohort. autistic kids, esp hi functioning r another big chunk. those r the kid who they ives recruit.
and no, actual homeschoolers do not isolate their kids. they have friends, family, sports teams, park programs, tutors. i’ve never known a legit homescooler who didnt make sure their kids had opportunities for the oh so important s word. and w ppl of all ages, not just their peers.
what they dont get is bullied, pick on, belittled by other kids and sometimes even staff.

the plural of anecdote is not data.