(The Lion) — An Illinois bill hostile to homeschooling families passed out of committee and will be scheduled for a full floor vote in the state House.

The bill passed out of committee on an 8-4 vote on Wednesday, even as hundreds protested at the Capitol.

House Bill 2827, known as the Homeschool Act, would require homeschoolers to report the credentials of teachers to public school districts. It would also allow public school districts that suspect students aren’t learning to demand from parents educational materials produced by the student.

In one of the more chilling provisions, enforcement of truancy laws is not conducted by regular courts, but by kangaroo courts set up by state education bureaucrats.

“A regional office of education or intermediate service center is empowered to conduct truancy hearings and proceedings under Section 26-8 of the School Code for any homeschool administrator who fails to complete and submit the Homeschool Declaration Form,” reads the text of the bill.

That means a regional office with the Illinois Department of Education for the public school district where the child lives would conduct the hearing.

These ad-hoc courts would be allowed to impose penalties on parents. Those who failed to comply with the bill’s “new mandates could face truancy charges, potentially resulting in jail time or having their children forcibly removed from home,” said the Home School Legal Defense Association.

The proposed law would also require the Department of Children and Family Services to provide “child’s name, home address, and contact information to the regional office of education, intermediate service center, or school district” for every homeschooled child it contacts.

Homeschool advocates are calling the bill an attack on homeschooling by public school bureaucrats and politicians with a vested interest in killing the homeschool movement.

Mailee Smith, an attorney at the Illinois Policy Institute who specializes in labor and education, testified against the bill in committee.

“Nothing in HB 2827 is about what’s best for kids or somehow improves education for those students who are struggling,” Smith told the committee. “Instead, it’s about tracking and regulating every single family and school that is not a government public school.”

One X user who is opposed to the bill said thousands filed witness slips to testify against the bill.

“More than 41,000 witness slips filed opposing this radical attack on homeschool and education freedom in IL!” said the user.

Since that post, the numbers who have filed to testify against the bill has grown to over 42,000, with just 1,000 in favor, according to the bill’s website at the Illinois General Assembly.

Passage of the bill in the General Assembly, while not assured, looks probable.

The bill brought 16 sponsors to the legislation in a House that has 78 Democrat members, while  Democrats control both chambers of the assembly by large majorities.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, would likely sign the bill if it reaches his desk.