“Quid pro quo” is a Latin phrase meaning “something for something” or “this for that,” signifying an exchange where one thing is given or promised in return for another.
In Illinois there appears to be a good example of “quid pro quo.”
First the “quid:
From BlazeMedia News:
A new bill that will soon be passed along for a full vote in the Illinois state House which takes aim at religious schools and parents who homeschool their children.
On 3/19 lawmakers on the House Education Policy Committee gathered to consider HB 2827, better known as the Homeschool Act.
The bill not only requires all private and religious elementary and secondary schools to register with the state annually, but it also requires these schools to share sensitive information about their students, like names and home addresses. It also requires these private schools to make plain their policies and specifically promise not to restrict hairstyles ‘historically associated with race’ or ‘ethnicity.’
“Furthermore, the bill requires all homeschooling parents and guardians — who must have a high school diploma or the equivalent — to fill out a homeschool declaration form about their homeschooled children and submit the form to the public school or school district the children would otherwise attend. The form must be resubmitted every year that the children are homeschooled, or the child may be considered truant.
“Homeschooling parents and guardians who fail to comply with the measure could face misdemeanor charges, WTTW reported.
The bill was introduced by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn) and enjoys more than a dozen cosponsors, all of whom are Democrat, many of whom are women, and at least one of whom has blue hair.”
Rep. Terra Costa Howard says, “… children who are being homeschooled are at greater risk of abuse and neglect.”
However, this is not supported by the two peer-reviewed studies that have been produced,” countered Will Estrada, senior counsel at the Home School Legal Defense Association.
“This bill targets homeschool parents and treats us as criminals, guilty until proven innocent,” said Aziza Butler, a former public school teacher who now homeschools her children.
“We believe [this] is religious persecution,” added homeschool parent Latasha Fields. “That’s what we believe. We believe it really is because this bill invades our privacy, is unconstitutional, and it does. It threatens, and it overreach[es], and it interferes with parental rights.”
The “pro quo?”
From BlazeMedia News Media:
Three of the Democrat cosponsors of the Homeschool Act are among the top recipients of political donations from the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT). Since 2010, the campaigns for state Reps. Costa Howard, Katie Stuart, and Janet Yang Rohr have received more than $630,000 in donations total from the IFT, according to watchdog group Illinois Policy.
Hmmm! There you have it. An illustrative example of “quid pro quo” in real life!
3/25/25