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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Governor JB Pritzker issued Executive Order | ||||||
| 3 | 2021-18 on August 4, 2021, requiring that all persons over the | ||||||
| 4 | age of two who can medically tolerate a face mask to wear a | ||||||
| 5 | face covering when inside any public or nonpublic school | ||||||
| 6 | serving students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor | ||||||
| 8 | Pritzker and his State agencies have governed over the people | ||||||
| 9 | of Illinois through executive order, seeking very little input | ||||||
| 10 | from the General Assembly, a co-equal branch of government; | ||||||
| 11 | and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Once again, under E.O. 2021-18, Governor Pritzker | ||||||
| 13 | and the Illinois State Board of Education have taken it upon | ||||||
| 14 | themselves to exert their control over local school boards and | ||||||
| 15 | private schools; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, Since Governor Pritzker issued E.O. 2021-18, | ||||||
| 17 | State Superintendent Dr. Carmen Ayala and the Illinois State | ||||||
| 18 | Board of Education have pushed the boundaries of their | ||||||
| 19 | authority by placing public school districts "on probation" | ||||||
| 20 | and removing private school's recognition status for failing | ||||||
| 21 | to comply with the executive orders that have been issued; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, As of August 27, 2021, the Illinois State Board | ||||||
| 2 | of Education has placed 47 public school districts on | ||||||
| 3 | probation and removed the recognition status of 12 private | ||||||
| 4 | schools for making local decisions; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, In Illinois, school board members are | ||||||
| 6 | duly-elected public servants and shall be given the | ||||||
| 7 | opportunity to govern over their school districts as they see | ||||||
| 8 | fit; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, In addition to school board members and school | ||||||
| 10 | administrators making decisions for their local schools, | ||||||
| 11 | parents should have the right to make decisions in the best | ||||||
| 12 | interests of their children and not be given orders by the | ||||||
| 13 | government; therefore, be it
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| 14 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 15 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 16 | we urge the Illinois State Board of Education to stop | ||||||
| 17 | punishing school districts for making decisions that they | ||||||
| 18 | believe support the best interests of the students in the | ||||||
| 19 | districts they serve; and be it further
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| 20 | RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois State Board of | ||||||
| 21 | Education to realize that their decisions may have a negative | ||||||
| 22 | impact on the students in the districts that they are trying to | ||||||
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| 1 | protect, so there should not be a one-size-fits-all approach | ||||||
| 2 | to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois schools; and | ||||||
| 3 | be it further
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| 4 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 5 | delivered to State Superintendent Dr. Carmen Ayala and the | ||||||
| 6 | State Board of Education.
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