Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon), a member of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, said that the Illinois State Board of Education’s proposed Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards project politics instead of enhancing basic education.
ISBE’s proposal is not helping to attract new and qualified teachers that can help address basic educational concepts such as reading, writing, and mathematics, Demmer says. He also said that this will be a political litmus test for educators.
“You know, across the country and around the world, we've seen politics be injected in more and more parts of our lives,” he said. “And the litmus test of ‘is someone progressive enough or not’ has come up time and time again. Unfortunately, the rule that's being offered by the state board of education today, around culturally responsive teaching standards, is really just an attempt to impose further progressive politics into our education system, instead of focusing on the things that we know teachers, administrators, students and families across Illinois need.”
Demmer stresses that the current education system clamors for more qualified teachers, more student engagement, and enhancing the core educational skills that would help the youth succeed in their college life or future career.
He is encouraging the public to tell ISBE “enough is enough with playing political games but instead focus on the educational mission that we all share in common.”
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