Carbondale Reporter

More than 2,000 homeschool students and their families gathered in Springfield for the annual Homeschool Lobby Day. The event is designed to inform legislators about the importance of maintaining homeschooling freedoms. Traditionally, the day includes students delivering homemade cherry pies to members of the General Assembly as a gesture of appreciation.

This year, however, attendees rallied against HB 2827, a proposed bill sponsored by Illinois Democrat legislators that seeks to introduce new regulations on homeschooling. Several legislators voiced opposition at a rally outside the Capitol, arguing that such regulations threaten family freedom and values. State Representative Dave Severin (R-Benton) was among those addressing the crowd.

“Your freedom to choose to homeschool your children is under attack by Democrats who do not share your values and who wish to indoctrinate your children,” Severin stated. “I am here to stand with homeschool families and to express my strong opposition to HB 2827.”

Severin had launched a petition against HB 2827 on his official website after it was filed in February. Since then, it has garnered over 3,700 signatures from across Illinois.

“I was amazed at the level of organization and activism shown by the homeschool families and those who support them after I launched my petition opposing HB 2827,” Severin commented. “The Facebook post I put up has been viewed more than 84,000 times and the petition continues to gather signatures."

The website hosting the petition is state-sponsored and funded, prohibiting campaign-related posts due to ethics regulations.