Illinois SB 136: Compare And Contrast

Last week, four thousand home-school family types descended upon the Illinois State Capitol for the hearing concerning SB136--that lovely little bit of poison that would require all home-school families to bend over for the State Bored of Edukashun.

OK, let's spell it correctly, and define it correctly: The Illinois State Board of Education, which produces only dreadful outcomes for its students: 30% of the 8th graders test 'proficient' in reading, and 26% of 8th graders test 'proficient' in math.

And, the good Senator Maloney wants to impose the control of the state over the families who decide to keep their kids away from this mess. Sweet.

The four thousand folks did not take up residence in the rotunda, bang drums, scream, curse, cut work, get phony physician sickness slips, hold up signs comparing Senator Maloney to Hitler. It was so quiet, the staff opened the door to the hall, so more people could hear the testimony.

Now, according to the Left (and the Obama White House), these people are monsters, and the union members and missing senators in Madison are heroes.

OS scratches his head....

In any case, sunlight being the best disinfectant, Sen. Maloney thought better of his bill, since it could not be passed in dark of night, and withdrew it. Until next time.

So, for now, Illinois homeschool parents are spared having the sheriff at the door, arresting the parents, with the implied threat of removal of children, for not registering with The State, as happened in New York last year.




Sunlight doing what it does, and sheriffs being elected, it appears the locals were, well, pissed about this, and the sheriff felt obligated to aggressively backpedal, once his role was revealed.

In the meantime, for all who are interested, the Illinois Homeschoolers have founded a PAC.

Wonder if someone might be running against Maloney? It's the only solution, ultimately...vote the bastards out of office, by humiliatingly large margins, so they don't come slinking back.

Illinois SB 136: Home Schoolers Push Back Against A Venal State Government

Lessee, now, ya'll. The Great State of Illinois is facing a $15 billion (that's with a 'b') budget deficit this year.

(And ya got'cher $80 billion in unfunded pension obligations on top of that, by the way.)

The bond rating is worse than Mexico. Taxes have been raised, and businesses are fleeing.

The public schools are a shambles.

(If you view this link, scroll about half-way down the page to see how students in 4th and 8th grade fare on national reading and math assessments. Gow'-won! Double-dog dare you to see for yerself.)

So, what do the Dems who run the Illinois legislature want to do?

Easy! Require every home-school family in the state to register and submit to the State Bored of Edukashun, the people who brung yew the stellar results listed above.

As one might imagine, the families are not amused, and descended (peacefully) upon the state capitol to register their feelings. They, unlike the public school teachers of Wisconsin, did not stage a 'sick-out' of their taxpayer-funded jobs in order to rally and curse the legislature.

If you 'do' Facebook, the group is named 'STOPSB136'.

If there is one 'snapshot' example needed of why Illinois is in such shambles, this should do.

The home-school families pay every tax levied for the support of the state's failed school system, and undertake the expense, hard work, and often reduced earnings that home-schooling imposes upon the parents. In turn, their kids generally do much better academically, are probably not much worse off socially, and are physically much safer than their peers in publik educashun. To be sure, there are some true LooneyTunes amongst the home-schoolers, and OS has met his share. There are also some lazy parents who do not truly get the job done, and again, OS has met a few of those as well. But, on the whole, in the aggregate, the home-schoolers far outperform the state-run sector; and since they do not consume the resources of the state while paying taxes to it, they are actually net contributors to the fiscal bottom line.

Makes the Left apoplectic, the thought that someone out there is succeeding.

Without them.

Here's an idea for the Illinois legislature: Leave them the hell alone. You've got other, more pressing matters to attend to. Like a $15 billion deficit, a bond rating worse than Mexico, and $80 billion in pensions you can't pay.

And a GOP Congress that will not bail your sorry selves out.

Good luck, boyz.