There are still TWO major issues at stake for us folks in Illinois!

The Illinois House of Representatives are voting on legislation HB2473 that could result in more new nuclear reactors in Illinois – unless YOU stop them!

                             End The Invest In Kids Act (School Vouchers)                            

The Illinois Green Party (ILGP) has joined a coalition to End the Invest in Kids Act (School Vouchers). The Illinois General Assembly passed the Invest in Kids Act in 2017 for it to end in 5 years. $75 million each year goes to private school via the Invest in Kids Act.

                                         WHY DOES PUBLIC EDUCATION MATTER?

As a general matter, consistent with the Illinois Constitution, the ILGP supports the “public” in public education. Free quality public education, available to all children, is a bedrock principle of our education system and of any democratic republic, the vitality of which depends upon an educated citizenry. strongly resist attacks on public education and efforts to promote privatization of our schools. The ILGP opposes vouchers, or other use of public money to support non- public education and divert public money away from education that is accessible to all.

Recognizing the value of a holistic, sustainable approach to public education, the ILGP also supports the following public education policies and reforms:

1. Citizenship/civics classes, including ethics education, must be required in all schools. Students must learn how to assert their power and rights as citizens to control their government and communities, rather than having citizenship defined as learning to “salute the flag” and follow orders.

2. The development of critical thinking skills is imperative to the survival of democracy. Accordingly, students of all ages and at all levels must be encouraged to examine critically all materials presented to them, including science, history and current events, and must be afforded diverse learning materials and the opportunity to develop, express and debate alternative viewpoints, not merely the viewpoints advocated by textbooks, teachers, and school officials.

3. Opposes corporate involvement or influence in our school and educational system, via advertising, advertising-biased curriculum, and promotional materials sneaked into classrooms through “donations” of biased teaching materials.

4. At the national level, the ILGP opposes any impositions on school curricula, such as the “Race to the Top” programs. The federal dollars provided cannot justify sinking our schools under the weight of an education regime that emphasizes testing and “teaching” to the test. The ILGP is also concerned when local, state,or national “standards” are misused as a means to attack underfunded schools on the ground that they are “under performing.” School performance can only be fairly assessed when schools are given the resources needed to succeed, and when the impacts of poverty and a poor home environment on educational achievement are taken into consideration.

5. The ILGP opposes the alarming degree of monopolization of school textbooks by a small handful of for profit corporations with an agenda to present history, social and physical sciences and other subject matter in a biased manner. The ILGP supports alternatives to this corporatist model, including the establishment of non-profit institutions to produce textbooks and the use of open-source, collaborative and cooperative methods to develop educational materials and curricula.

6. The school system must recognize and honor multiple learning styles and varying speed of educational development of different children. The definition of “normal” must be expanded to include these different learning types, and the curriculum must be adapted to provide appropriate educational methods to reach all of these children without labeling them as “abnormal.” This includes active children who currently are not given the resources and opportunities needed for them to learn in a healthy way.

7. Education about the Earth must acknowledge the reality of the interdependence of all existence, and must approach the human relationship with this planet and all life that it supports with reverence and respect, not with the view that the Earth is merely an object to be conquered, exploited or subjugated to the will of humans. We need to move away from an anthropocentric view.

CONTACT YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS TODAY TO VOICE YOUR CONCERN!

The Illinois Green Party is a non-corporate political party.

Illinois Green Party

747 E. Boughton Rd. #227 Bolingbrook, IL 60440

773-809-4547

www.ilgp.org

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