Kane County Reporter

Laurie Parman, a former candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives in the 66th district and a current candidate for a seat on the Community Unit School District 300 school board, is opposing the proposed Illinois Homeschool Act (HB2827), which aims to increase oversight on homeschooling families. 

The bill mandates that homeschooled students must submit a Homeschool Declaration Form to avoid truancy penalties, and if they wish to engage with public schools, certain health documentation must be provided. 

Over 41,000 Illinois residents have filed witness slips opposing the bill, which is currently under consideration by the Illinois House of Representatives Education Policy Committee. 

"The bill infringes on parental rights, particularly by suggesting that parents need state permission to homeschool their children," Parman told the Kane County Reporter. "It says nothing about the education of children because it was understood that it was a parent's responsibility to educate their children on behalf of the state, not the other way around."

Parman believes that homeschooling parents can offer a better education than the state-run system, and that the state could be making it harder for parents "because the state realizes that they would do a much better job than the state has done." 

"So I think they're doing a very mild test case here by seeing if we can get this little, tiny, small request passed. And if we can get this small request passed, it won't be very long before the next and the next and the next. So that's my concern."

One of Parman's key concerns is the growing influence of the state in education, particularly regarding homeschooling. She criticized proposed legislation that would require parents to obtain state permission to homeschool their children. 

She said that the state's involvement in education has been harmful, pointing to the low proficiency levels of students in her district. 

"The district that I reside in, at best, had a 35% reading proficiency. And the thing about that is, for teaching reading for 19 of my 30 years, I taught reading and writing to fifth grade. It's not that hard to teach writing if you're competent and you know how to do it," she said. "And my students were second language learners, all free and reduced lunch students. And they achieved 77% proficiency consistently. So, it's not that hard to do."

She also pointed out the state legislature's decision to eliminate the "Invest in Kids" Scholarship Fund, which benefited over 9,000 disadvantaged students by providing scholarships to private schools. 

Most GOP General Assembly members expressed their commitment to continuing the program before its sunset in 2024, calling it a shared priority for both parties to help underprivileged children.

"The governor said he had to eliminate this after the sunset clause because he didn’t want to do anything that might hurt public education," Parman said. "I was like, 'oh, you are a piece of shit, sir.'"

As a longtime educator, Parman, who said she has been consulting with a new school in Chicago, also shared her perspective on the challenges facing Chicago Public Schools (CPS). She expressed concern over the lack of proficiency in the district and the overall poor state of education. 

A retired teacher with 30 years of experience and a doctorate in educational leadership, Parman, who resides in Sleepy Hollow in Kane County, emphasized her belief in parental rights and her commitment to improving the state's educational system.

"I worked in District 300, and I taught at Lakewood School. I taught at Perry Elementary, then I went to Lakewood School, and I went to a school and I stayed there until they reorganized it, and then I went wherever they sent me," she said. "I finished up my career at Dundee Crown teaching culinary arts and advanced fashion construction."

Critics of HB2827, including Kirk Smith of Illinois Christian Home Educators, argue that it would infringe on parental rights and add bureaucratic barriers for homeschooling. 

Parman, who previously ran for the Illinois House, is contemplating another run in the upcoming elections.

"I am considering heading down on Wednesday. I actually am considering running again for the Illinois House and trying to finish that job," she said. "And I just feel strongly about this because I'm a 30-year retired teacher with a doctorate in educational leadership, and I was a homeschool mom."

Parman reflected on her personal experience with homeschooling. 

"I only (taught homeschool) up to fourth grade because even though I was a teacher I had taken time off to raise my children. There's always this sense of, 'What if I’m not as good at this as I think I am?' You have a lot of self-doubt," she said. "So I put my kids in public school, only to discover that they were light years ahead. Well, I wouldn’t say light years, but they were ahead of their peers."

She also pointed to the success stories of families who continued homeschooling, highlighting the success of a neighbor’s children. 

"One is my next-door neighbor,” she said. “One of her kids owns a pottery business. Her other son is some kind of a computer tech. Her daughter is an editor. So it's inspiring, and not that my kids haven’t grown up to be pretty amazing as well."