Education
Let’s work together to protect Illinois students
The following bills are moving through the Illinois General Assembly. Ask your state legislators for their support!
HB2789 The Right to Read (Book Banning)
HB3713 Air Quality in Classrooms
SB0090 Racism-Free Schools
Give it five minutes
Call or email your state representative: “I am contacting you on the League of Women Voters of Illinois Lobby Day to let you know that the League supports SB0090—and as your constituent, I want you to support it too. Help protect Illinois students and teachers from acts of hate! Please support SB0090.”
Call or email your state senator: “I am contacting you on the League of Women Voters of Illinois Lobby Day to let you know that the League supports HB2789, HB3713, and SB0090—and as your constituent, I want you to support these bills too. Help protect Illinois students! Please support HB2789, HB3713, and SB0090.”
Give it more time
Activate your networks
Encourage friends to contact their state legislators by using these graphics for social media, emails, and texts.
Suggested copy:
Protect Illinois students from book bans, bad air quality, and racial harassment! Ask your state senator to support HB2789, HB3713, and SB0090. Learn more: lwvil.org/lobbyday23 #LobbyDayLWVIL
Over 90% of teachers in Illinois have witnessed racial harassment in the classroom. Protect Illinois students and teachers from acts of hate! Ask your state representative and state senator to support SB0090. Learn more: lwvil.org/lobbyday23 #LobbyDayLWVIL
Stop by your state legislator’s HOME Office
Drop in! Without an appointment, you might not be able to see your legislator, but you can drop off fact sheets (find them below) and maybe talk to a staffer.
What’s at stake: Learn about the bills
HB2789 The Right to Read
HB2789 would require school and public libraries to adopt policies against censorship and book banning in order to receive grants from the Illinois State Library, including the School District Library Grant. Ask your state senator to support HB2789.
Background: It is declared to be the policy of the state to encourage and protect the freedom of libraries and library systems to acquire materials without external limitation and to be protected against attempts to ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials.
According to the American Library Association, “Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children—and only their children—to library resources.” Censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or for any other reason, violates the First Amendment.
League Position: The League of Women Voters believes in the individual liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. Individual rights now protected by the Constitution should not be weakened or abridged. Democratic government depends upon informed and active participation in government and requires that governmental bodies protect the citizen’s right to know by giving adequate notice of proposed actions, holding open meetings, and making public records accessible.
HB3713 Air Quality in Classrooms
HB3713 provides that the State Board shall require all school districts to ensure that all active classrooms are equipped with a portable air cleaner that meets specified requirements. Ask your state senator to support HB3713.
Background: Experts affiliated with the Illinois chapter of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) estimate that only 14% of classrooms in Illinois public schools are meeting their minimum ventilation code requirements. ASHRAE notes these current ventilation codes are not sufficient to meet today’s challenges. Leading expert guidance calls for roughly twice this amount of clean air in classroom.
League Position: The League supports a continuum of quality services that fosters healthy growth and development of children.
SB0090 Racism-Free Schools
SB0090 requires each district to adopt and communicate a policy on harassment based on race, color, or national origin, in addition to the existing requirement for sexual harassment policies. Applies this requirement to charter schools as well. Ask your state representative AND state senator to support SB0090.
Background: Teach Plus Illinois discovered that over 90% of teachers in this state have witnessed racial harassment in the classroom. Black students in America today experience as many as five racist incidents per day on average. Although federal law does provide significant legal protections against racial harassment, students often do not know how to access them and school officials too often fail to recognize unlawful racial harassment, instead classifying harassing behaviors as bullying or other lesser offenses. Illinois’ Racism-Free Schools Act will empower students and other school personnel to recognize and report instances of harm in an effort to remedy the harm done and prevent future incidents.
League Position: Secure equal rights and equal opportunity for all. Promote social and economic justice, and the health and safety of all Americans.