JUNE 2025 | VOLUME 3 | NUMBER 6
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
– Colossians 3:1
Welcome to the June edition of the ACCS Legal Update! I pray your summer break is proving to be restful and encouraging.
In this edition we will catch up on a few important cases and developments from around the country.
1) Texas School Choice Bill (Texas S.B. 2)
Early last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 2 into law, establishing an education savings account program for Texas parents who wish to use tax money for private school tuition. The bill was sent to the governor’s desk on April 29th, signed into law on May 3rd, and will take effect on September 1st of this year.
The bill will go into effect with a $1 billion cap the first year, with the cap being removed the following year. NBC affiliate KXAN reported: “Each child accepted into the program will receive 85% of the statewide average of local and state dollars that each student receives in public schools. Right now, that is a little over $10,000 per year. Special education students are able to receive the same amount of money they would receive if they attend public school, with a cap at $30,000. Home-schooled students are eligible to receive up to $2,000 per year.”
The signing of this bill adds Texas to the list of over thirty states which have passed school choice legislation in recent years.
2) Illinois Homeschool Bill (Illinois H.B. 2827)
As of June 1st, with the close of the Illinois legislative session, H.B. 2827 (commonly referred to as “The Homeschool Bill”) remains unpassed.
The bill, first introduced in February by Democratic Rep. Terra Cost Howard and joined by over a dozen co-sponsors, introduced a number of new requirements and restrictions for homeschooling families.
H.B. 2827 would mandate that homeschooling parents fill out annual reports to state authorities with demographic information (including “gender identity”) about the family, impose educational qualifications for homeschool parents, allow public school officials to review the academic work of homeschool students
(“portfolios”), empower the Illinois Board of Education to create additional homeschool restrictions without legislative approval. Additionally, any homeschooling parents found in violation of H.B. 2827 could face fines, jail time, or even have their children removed from the home.
And while opponents of the bill should celebrate its stalling for this legislative session, Rep. Costa Howard and her co-sponsors have already made it clear that they “plan to reintroduce the bill in the next legislative session.”
3) California AB-727
In the March Special Edition of the Legal Update, we introduced California AB-727, which would amend existing education law regarding information printed on the backs of student ID cards. Currently, California law requires that all student IDs contain contact information for domestic violence and suicide prevention. AB-727, however, would require all 7th-12th grade schools (public and private), along with all colleges and universities, to print the contact information for the Trevor Project, an extreme LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
While the bill argues for the addition of this information on the grounds of suicide prevention and anti-bullying counseling, student IDs have included such information since 2019. The addition of the Trevor Project’s contact information appears, at least to some, to be an attempt by progressive lawmakers to expose all California students and schools to LGBTQ+ ideology.
The California Family Council has firmly opposed the bill, citing numerous troubling practices by the Trevor Project.
As of last week, AB-727 has passed the California Assembly and stays alive for further consideration and voting.
Now What?
- Texas S.B. 2 – School choice reforms, which allow for the use of public funds to pay for private education, remains one of the most controversial educational issues of our time, with Christians and political conservatives on both sides of the issue. The issue, however, is not going away any time soon. ACCS headmasters and board members would be wise to discuss their philosophy and strategies regarding the receiving of school choice funds, as the majority of U.S. states begin implementation of these new programs.
- Illinois H.B. 2827 – Illinois homeschoolers and private school allies did a marvelous job mobilizing in opposition to the Homeschool Bill. Tens of thousands protested the bill, contacted their representatives, and submitted witness slips in opposition. They should be proud of their efforts to stop (or at least delay) such an intrusive bill, which if passed, would likely lead to further overreach by the Illinois Education Board into the innerworkings of private schools as well.
- California AB-727 – Directing students to an organization like the Trevor Project, particularly given its troubling practices and aggressively pro-LGBTQ+ agenda, seems to openly violate the religious freedom of Christian schools, endanger students, and violate recently signed Executive Orders prohibiting “Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.” If you live in California, contact your legislators and urge them to vote against AB-727.
Grace & Peace,
Brian Phillips, Ed.D.
If you are in search of legal advice for you or your school, please consider the following resources: Brotherhood Mutual and Alliance Defending Freedom
Brian Phillips is the pastor of Holy Trinity Reformed Church (CREC – Concord, NC), teaches Rhetoric at Oaks Classical Christian Academy (Albemarle, NC), and is Board Vice Chairman for New Aberdeen College. Brian has also served as the Director of Consulting for The Circe Institute, Head of Upper School at Covenant Classical School (Concord, NC), and was an adjunct faculty member of Belmont Abbey College.
Dr. Phillips has an M.A. in Theological Studies, an M.A. in Classical Studies, an Ed.D. in Classical Education, and completed paralegal training at Duke University. He is also the author/editor of several books, including Sunday Mornings: An Introduction to Biblical Worship and the Canon Classics Guides to Dante’s Inferno and the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Brian and his wife, Shannon, live in North Carolina with their four children and their German Shepherd, Ajax the Great.