Why try to fix what’s not broken?
OPINION — The classic question of “Why try to fix it, if it ain’t broke?” has to be asked about current contemplations of legislative action with the expressed purpose of protect home schooling in Illinois.

Parental control over education is a basic constitutional principle and a fundamental right. It can be protected by legislation, but it cannot be made to rest upon legislation. If a fundamental right rests upon legislation, it then ceases to be a fundamental right, and it becomes a special “right” granted by the state.

If it is a special grant by the state, then it is also subject to the control of the state whenever the state - legislatively, administratively, or judicially - chooses.

And it will so choose, for it has a compelling interest in ruling over its own creations - ironically, like parents ruling over their own children.

Once a principle is lost, it can be regained only by very costly means. We must not allow the fundamental right of parental control over education to be compromised in the sphere of private education.

Instead, we must press upon other spheres their responsibility to recognize and protect this principle.

We recognize that in other states this fundamental right was already largely crippled — if not lost altogether — in practice. As a means of relief, these other states sought legislation in order to allow homeschooling so that they could begin to move toward re-establishing this fundamental principle.

We do not criticize them for what they had to do.

But Illinois is not so. Private education in Illinois is free of government regulation, and we must not begin to surrender that fundamental freedom through any kind of legislation which permits it to exist - even if that legislation comes in the guise of “no regulations attached.” The mere permission itself is a regulation which transforms a right into a privilege.

In other states, they are fighting to attain what we already have.

Let us not surrender our liberty for the mere appearance of legislative security. To quote Benjamin Franklin, “He who surrenders liberty in the name of security will have neither.”

We oppose any and all legislation which would separate home-based private education from brick-and-mortar-based private education, or which could be construed as granting to us the freedom to homeschool.

The government can acknowledge our freedom, and it can guarantee to protect our freedom, but the moment it grants to us our fundamental rights, those rights then cease to be fundamental as far as they are concerned.

The problems which we have had in Illinois come from public officials who have stepped beyond the boundaries of their own lawful authority. We are not going to fix anything by tearing down the gate and asking those public officials to come in and be our guardians.

What we need to do is to set up more of our own watchdogs to guard the gate and to bark loud and to show their teeth when public officials trespass.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

The Lord has, by many curious means, preserved a rare and precious jewel here in Illinois, and we would do wrong to surrender it into the hands of those who would carve it up while offering to us cheap trinkets of security and a mess of legal pottage in its place.

Instead, may this jewel become a seed which gives birth to liberty trees throughout this land.

Harvey Bluedorn
New Boston, IL
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Harvey Bluedorn is a home schooling father in central Illinois. He and his wife served as Regional Coordinators for Illinois Christian Home Educators and speaks at home schooling conferences throughout the nation.

(5) The rise of private home education has contributed positively to the education of young people in the United States.

It is the sense of Congress that–

(1) private home education, pursuant to State law, is a positive contribution to the United States; and

(2) parents who choose this alternative education should be encouraged within the framework provided by the United States Constitution.