Illinois House Republicans held a press conference Monday morning to discuss their opposition to the new standards for educators, adopted by the Illinois Board of Education (ISBE) that deal with culturally responsive teaching.
State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) took part in the press conference.
The controversial standards are a set of teaching requirements for K-12 educators that outline how they should approach diversity in the classroom and make it part of the curriculum.
Teachers will be evaluated on these standards during their certification process and in-school job evaluations.
Asked about how the proposed rules would effect the teacher shortage in Illinois, Neimerg said…
ISBE officials said the standards aim to foster classroom and school environments in which every student feels that they belong, which is critical to improving academic and behavioral outcomes for Illinois’ diverse students. Opponents of the requirements said they prevent teachers and students from holding diverse points of view and will force everyone to follow one perspective.
The new rules could cause parents to look to other states to provide an education for their children said Neimerg…
The proposal now goes to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules in the General Assembly in their February 16th meeting. JCAR is made up of 6 senators and 6 representatives, equally split between the two parties, Republicans and Democrats. JCAR does not vote yes or no on the proposed rules, instead the only function JCAR has is to not approve the rule but to block it from being implemented. In order to do that, 8 of the 12 members would have to oppose the proposal in order for it to be blocked.
