Bill Text: IL HR0028 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Urges the State Board of Education to promote the same educational standards for students of all races so that they receive equal access to and rights in education, without any distinction being made regarding the testing capabilities of any one race.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-04-17 - Resolution Adopted as Amended [HR0028 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HR0028-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Illinois State Board of Education has been
granted a waiver to No Child Left Behind that mandates that
each race will have a separate standard to meet over the time
frame from 2011 to 2017 to raise reading and math scores for
grades 3 through 8; the standards amongst Caucasians,
African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asian-Americans are not
equal, with African-Americans and Hispanics being held to a
lesser standard than Caucasians and Asian-Americans; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois State Board of Education has
determined certain races are not as smart or as capable of
learning as others in its use of race-based standards, the end
result being that basing standards on race across the State of
Illinois eliminates the ability of students to transfer to
better schools since all schools have the same standards, which
traps the students in poor performing schools where they will
receive a substandard education based solely on their race; and
WHEREAS, Instituting race-based education is a violation
of the United States and Illinois Constitutions, which
guarantee equal protection and forbid discrimination; and
WHEREAS, In the cases of home-schooled African-American
children, the racial achievement gap is virtually eliminated

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with African-American students scoring almost twice what their
public school counterparts are scoring; and
WHEREAS, When African-American children are given high
expectations for learning and are shown respect from their
teachers, the racial achievement gap is virtually eliminated;
and
WHEREAS, The United States is continuing to drop in
international education rankings, ranking about 35 when it used
to be ranked number one, in part due to race-based standards;
and
WHEREAS, The more the United States federalizes education,
spends money, and increases education bureaucracy while
reducing local parental control, the more the State of Illinois
lowers its expectations of certain races and the more the
rankings fall; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
urge the State Board of Education to promote the same
educational standards for students of all races so that they
receive equal access to, and rights in, education, without any
distinction being made regarding the testing capabilities of
any one race; and be it further

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RESOLVED, That the members of this body pledge to review
State policies and support current State programs that address
the distinction made among the races when it comes to equal
access to and rights in education; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we urge the State Board of Education to
allow closed school facilities throughout the State to be used
for charter or private schools; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we urge the ending of the public school
monopoly and allow true competition via Education Savings
Accounts and parental choice; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we urge the State Board of Education to
abolish any race-based standards in its policies and
procedures; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
delivered to the State Board of Education.