One constant complaint heard from numerous public school communities contends too many parents are not involved in their child’s education. Apathy creates discipline and learning problems within the public schools. It’s a dilemma that is reflected in the dropout rate, as the graduation rate reflects the least success with minorities. There are many public school employees that are trying to resolve those issues within the schools, and it’s often a fearsome challenge. Unfortunately, there are many public school authorities who are stepping outside their governmental responsibility boundaries and they are attempting to control Illinois private schools, as well.
One of our Illinois Homeschool Freedom Watch members checked through the 56 Regional Offices of Education websites to fact-check any information regarding homeschooling rights and responsibilities. Regional Offices of Education are offshoots of the Illinois State Board of Education – a public school organization.
There are many Regional Office sites that had little or no information about homeschooling. Under the circumstances, we don’t mind that. The best place to find good homeschooling or private school information would be from private school resources, not public schools. The Regional Offices of Education in the following counties: Adams-Pike, Alexander-Johnson-Massac-Pulaski-Union, North Cook, West Cook, South Cook, Christian-Montgomery, Whiteside, Vermilion, Tazewell, Rock Island, Brown-Cass-Morgan-Scott, Monroe-Randolph, McHenry, Madison, Calhoun-Greene-Jersey-Macoupin, Lasalle, Knox, Iroquois-Kankakee, Jackson-Perry, Hendersen-Mercer-Warren, Hancock-McDonough, Hamilton-Jefferson, and Grundy-Kendall displayed websites that reflected their public school role. They weren’t requiring homeschoolers to print out a registration form to send to their office and the Illinois State Board of Education Data Analysis & Progress Reporting Department in Springfield. They weren’t requesting that information because it’s not their statutory responsibility to file private school paperwork in that manner. Bond-Effingham-Fayette counties‘ Regional Office of Education Superintendent Mark Drone removed a letter with references to homeschool registration at our request.
The Illinois Homeschool Freedom Watch would like to extend kudos to our government officials who are doing their job. Particular thanks to Mr. Drone, who removed over-compliant requests regarding homeschoolers from his ROE website, despite the Illinois State Board of Education pursuit of homeschool registrations.
Filed under: Grassroots Political Advocacy, Illinois Homeschool Requirements, Illinois Regional Offices of Education | Tagged: Adams-Pike Regional Office of Education, Alexander-Johnson-Massac-Pulaski-Union Regional Office of Education, Brown-Cass-Morgan-Scott Regional Office of Education, Calhoun-Greene-Jersey-Macoupin Regional Office of Education, Christian-Montgomery Regional Office of Education, Grundy-Kendall Regional Office of Education, Hamilton-Jefferson Regional Office of Education, Hancock-McDonough Regional Office of Education, Hendersen-Mercer-Warren Regional Office of Education, Iroquois-Kankakee Regional Office of Education, Jackson-Perry Regional Office of Education, Knox Regional Office of Education, Lasalle Regional Office of Education, Madison Regional Office of Education, McHenry Regional Office of Education, Monroe-Randolph Regional Office of Education, North Cook Regional Office of Education, Rock Island Regional Office of Education, South Cook Regional Office of Education, Tazewell Regional Office of Education, Vermilion Regional Office of Education, West Cook Regional Office of Education, Whiteside Regional Office of Education | Leave a comment »