Illinois lawmakers attack parents’ constitutional rights

House Bill 2827 would require all Illinois private schools to report personal information about students to local and state authorities – a prime example of Illinois government overreach and an infringement of parents’ constitutional rights.

The parental right “to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control” was recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court 100 years ago.

But Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill attacking that right. If passed, the bill would require private schools to report the personal information of all enrolled students and their parents to state and local authorities.

House Bill 2827 was filed by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Lombard, and has been co-sponsored by 15 other Democratic members of the House as of March 5. Teachers unions – ardent opponents of parents’ ability to choose alternatives to public school – have invested over $3 million in the 16 sponsors’ campaign committees, according to records with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Restricting parents’ rights and limiting educational choice is nothing new in Illinois. Despite voter support for Illinois’ private school choice program, Illinois lawmakers listened to teachers unions and ended the Invest in Kids tax-credit scholarship program in 2023, taking away scholarships from more than 15,000 low-income students benefiting from the privately-funded program.  Lawmakers let the program expire after teachers unions dropped nearly $1.5 million into their campaign coffers in the months ahead of the decision.

Now Illinois parents are seeing their rights attacked once again, with HB 2827 aimed at regulating every single family and school that is not a government public school.

What does HB 2827 mean for private school students and parents?

House Bill 2827 is framed as a regulation of homeschool parents, and to that end it is already an attack on parental rights. But it goes farther, regulating private schools and requiring them to hand over personal information about their enrolled students.

Currently, private schools do not have to register with the state. HB 2827 changes that, making registration an annual requirement for all elementary and secondary private schools beginning in August 2026. It also requires private schools to report the following on all enrolled students:

• Student name
• Student date of birth
• Student grade
• Student address
• Parent or guardian name
• Parent or guardian address.

That information must be reported to both the Illinois State Board of Education as well as to either Chicago Public Schools, for children residing in Chicago, or the regional office of education for non-Chicago children.

There is no provision allowing parents to opt out of having their children tracked by state and local authorities. It’s a prime example of government overreach and an infringement of parents’ privacy rights. And it’s a direct affront to parents’ U.S. Supreme Court-affirmed right to direct the educational upbringing of their own children.

Notably, the bill begins by surreptitiously saying “Nothing in this Act applies to non-home-based, nonpublic schools.” However, that initial disclaimer only applies to the new homeschool potions of the bill. Then 23 pages in, the bill amends the Illinois School Code to require the annual registration and reporting of personal information of private school students.

It’s not a good look for Illinois. The national trend is to support parental rights by implementing or augmenting school choice for students. Illinois already bucked that trend by stripping 15,000 students of the ability to attend private schools. Now lawmakers are going after the personal information of those students who still attend private schools, making them the tracked subjects of the education system their parents rejected.

Tell your lawmaker to protect the rights of private school families

Illinois should empower parents to be in charge of their child’s education rather than empower bureaucrats to track parents’ schooling decisions.

Use our Take Action tool to contact your lawmaker and tell them to vote “no” on HB 2827.