Lake County Gazette

State Rep. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich) thinks the “Culturally Responsive” teaching standards proposal being pushed by the State Board of Education is a solution in search of a problem.

“Once again, it’s a group pushing through something with a progressive agenda that doesn’t address any of the problems we really have,” Bos told the Lake County Gazette. “We’ve got kids in public schools all across the state lagging behind in reading, math and science, and nothing is being done, yet we can push this plan for social engineering. It’s just another thing for teachers and administrators to have to deal [with] that won’t solve any of the real problems we face in the state.”

While supporters of the plan promote it as one that would create a more welcoming overall environment for students, the new rule would lead to such changes as teachers having to assess “how their biases and perceptions affect their teaching practice and how they access tools to mitigate their own behavior (racism, sexism, homophobia, unearned privilege, Eurocentrism, etc.),” The Center Square reported.

“I don’t know where any of this came from or how it came to be,” Bos said. “What I will say is we need to get back to why schools are there in the first place and remember the goal is to educate and not indoctrinate.”

With the issue slated to be debated by the 12-member Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) on Tuesday, Feb. 16, Bos said he is planning to get the word out to as many people as possible about the dangers he thinks the plan poses.

“We need to be reaching out to members in JCAR, making them aware teachers and parents are not in favor of this and consider it [be] to unacceptable in the way it will harm the system,” he said. “You could see a real dwindling of both public school students and teachers if this thing passes.”

At least eight JCAR members would have to support a motion to block the proposal to prevent it from taking effect in October.