Homeschool parents should not get money given to them out of tax payer dollars. They should apply for grants. They should also have to have their child in some extracurricular (whether that be sports, home school groups, church groups, etc) and have to document it yearly. CPS should ensure homeschooled children are being kept safe and this is one way to do that. If the child is being seen by other regularly, there’s a bigger chance it can be reported if something is wrong. CPS should also be involved in homeschool portfolio checks for this reason. Everyone has a right to homeschool, but there should also be more laws in place to do it so that everyone is doing it for the right reasons.
The department of education chairs should have to be mandated to do 10 hours worth of teaching in a classroom or tutoring for the school systems every two years in order to keep their position. This way they stay updated on education themselves and get field work. Teachers already are expected in most places to have so many hours showing that they are still learning new practices to keep their degrees (unless they went the other way and got a masters degree).
Schools need to put emphasize on life skills rather than only on test scores. Teachers already try to do this but administrators do not back them. Elementary students should be allowed to be kids again and have fun in school, teachers should be allowed to show kids that learning is fun.
Teachers go to college to learn to teach. They usually then continue to take courses to keep their certificates and learn even more things about the art of teaching. Administration should allow teachers the freedom to practice how they are being taught to teach. Not everything should be mandated from a manual/ textbook. School should provide a well rounded education to all in a variety of ways.