2021 Education magazine

2021 Education Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS February 18, 2021 Page 23 politically charged topics including race, gender identity and the role of power, privilege and student activism is not the proper focus for our public school systems in the face of the continuing decline of academic performance in areas such as English studies and mathematics. These Part 24 changes are currently before the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), an Illinois legislative committee composed of six democrats and six republicans. Unless 8 of the 12 members of JCAR vote to suspend these new rule additions at its upcoming meeting, these standards will immediately apply to all Illinois professional educators licensed in the state of Illinois. Curriculum to support these Part 24 changes is currently being prepared and is expected to be ready for inclusion in Illinois classrooms sometime in 2023. The second proposed change to public school education in Illinois comes from the Illinois legislature in Senate Bill SB2762, called the REACH Act, resubmitted by Senator Ram Villivalim (D-IL) and backed by Planned Parenthood of Illinois and the LGBTQ community. This bill mandates that age- appropriate sex education and gender identity education be taught in all grade levels from kindergarten through 12th grade. According to an article in The Center Square (the centersquare.com) , a similar bill was filed in 2019 but was tabled because the Covid-19 crisis kept the political measure from going forward. According to SB2762 kindergartners would be taught lessons on personal safety and respecting others. Grades three through five would cover anatomy and function, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Grades six through 12 would continue with such subjects as the benefits of abstinence, birth control and the prevention of AIDS and STDs. Thirty other states have required curriculum in their public schools regarding personal health and safety education, but Illinois has never adopted these standards. This Senate Bill includes gender education standards not included in these thirty other states. Critics of this bill state that the teaching of gender identity and gender expression is a liberal hot-box topic not appropriate to our public school education system and this educational area does not aid in the development of the healthy psyche of young children. This bill is currently making its way through the legislative process. [Jim Youngquist]