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President Donald Trump talked about closing the federal agency
during the campaign. Last week, it was reported half of the
department’s staff were being let go.
On the Illinois House Floor Tuesday, House Minority Leader Tony
McCombie, R-Savanna, told majority statehouse Democrats who’ve
complained about Trump’s actions that it may actually be good
for Illinois.
“We could actually have greater local control and flexibility,”
McCombie said. “We could have reduced government and
administrative costs meaning that we could reduce red tape,
streamlining the processes.”
State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, responded that she would need
some guarantees that special education, rural teacher grants and
other programs don’t go away.
“But until you can guarantee me that, I could not support an end
to the Department of Education,” Scherer said.
Scherer said there better not be any diversion of tax dollars if
Trump closes the federal education agency.
“That there will be no vouchers to run away from funding public
schools,” she said.
State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, stood up to discuss
homeschooling, anticipating thousands of homeschool families
taking to the capitol Wednesday morning for a hearing about a
bill regulating homeschooling. He said Democrats need to clean
their own house.
“Why would any responsible parent turn the educational process
over to you rascals over there on the other side of the aisle,”
Miller said. “Look at what you've done, you know, by your own
statistics, about 70% of your kids can’t read or write or do
math.”
The proposed Homeschool Act is scheduled for a public hearing at
8 a.m. Wednesday at the capitol in Springfield.
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