To make a long story short you have two options in Illinois:
Note: There is no 'homeschool' option for students aged 15 years - 17 years 3 months old. They must be 17 years 3 months old to fully 'homeschool' driver's ed.1)Have your student take a Driver's Education course through either the public high school or a private driver's training facility OR
2)Wait until your student is 17 years and 3 months old (and not a day before) and go in to the Secretary of State's office where your student can take the driver's permit test and get his/ her permit. After practice driving for 9 months they can go in and take the test to get their license any time after their 18th birthday. No class required.
For full details, we highly recommend you visit and read carefully the Secretary of State's "CyberDriveIllinois" page and all of the rules for the Illinois 'Graduated Driver License' at:
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/programs/gdl.html
The parts of the Illinois School Code that apply to Driver's Education can be found here
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/010500050K27-24.2.htm
In part, this reads:
"Both the classroom instruction part and the practice driving part of such driver education course shall be open to a resident or non-resident student attending a non-public school in the district wherein the course is offered. Each student attending any public or non-public high school in the district must receive a passing grade in at least 8 courses during the previous 2 semesters prior to enrolling in a driver education course, or the student shall not be permitted to enroll in the course; provided that the local superintendent of schools (with respect to a student attending a public high school in the district) or chief school administrator (with respect to a student attending a non-public high school in the district) may waive the requirement if the superintendent or chief school administrator, as the case may be, deems it to be in the best interest of the student. A student may be allowed to commence the classroom instruction part of such driver education course prior to reaching age 15 if such student then will be eligible to complete the entire course within 12 months after being allowed to commence such classroom instruction."
Some suggestions for actually dealing with your local school district when making a request for your homeschooled student to attend their driver's education course are as follows: Try calling your local high school first; ask who is in charge of the driver's ed course as you would like to go about enrolling your non-public school student (or private/homeschooled student) in the course.
In the ideal scenario, you will then be referred to the appropriate individual who will be knowledgeable about the provision for non-public school students. This individual may ask for information such as the name address and phone number of the student as well as a birthdate (in some schools, priority is given to the oldest students first).
If the individual thinks that your student cannot be enrolled, you might try explaining the provision in the Illinois School Code. If that does not seem to help, you might try working your way up the "chain of command." Try the principal, then the local school superintendent, then the regional superintendent until you find someone who is indeed aware of the provisions of the law.
In at least one instance that we are aware of, the first contact said that there wasn't any room for the student. When the local superintendent was phoned, he in turn let the initial person contacted know that if they didn't find room for the student, the local school district would have to pay for the student to attend a course in an adjacent district. Needless to say, room was found.
Yes, you do have to provide the school with some verification that your student has passed at least 8 courses during the last 2 semesters. The school is legally obligated to verify this. Note: A "course completed" does not necessaily mean a credit completed. Courses in high school are often quarter or half credit courses.
Other options:
You may be able to find a private agency qualified to teach students under the age of 18. This usually costs more than the public school, but it has the advantage of being under your control to a greater extent, and you may find their hours to be more convenient than those of the public school. Again, if you wait until the student is 17 years 3 months of age, you will not need to enroll him/her in a specially qualified course. A driver's permit may be obtained at 17 years 3 months of age with a vision test and a written test. For more information on this option, contact your local State of Illinois Driver's Facility.
There are some correspondence courses available from various sources, but in Illinois these do not satisfy the requirement that the student be enrolled in a course certified to teach students under 17 years 3 months. If your student is 17 years 3 months of age or more, and you wish to pursue this option you might try the following sources:
Virtual and FREE Driver's Education course through BluePrint Education
http://www.blueprinteducation.org/de
or
Drive Right: You are the Driver textbook
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Right-You-Are-Driver/dp/067359159X
also, while not a true driver's education program, several HOUSE members have found the Driver's Edge program to be an excellent supplement and available to all:
http://driversedge.org/