House Bill 2789 (see fact sheet here) seeks to codify, during a gubernatorial declared public health emergency, a new complaint process against public and nonpublic schools that can apparently be submitted by anyone for any perceived violation of mitigation efforts. This complaint process does not involve the IDPH or local departments of public health, but rather Regional Offices of Education (ROEs). ROEs have no public health knowledge or expertise. Catholic schools have provided excellent in-person education over the past year and any issues have been successfully addressed with local departments of public health. This process worked great! This bill adds an unnecessary bureaucratic layer that will slow the response time to any real issues that occur.
Also, the bill provides for serious punishments of offending schools, administrators and teachers without adequate due process. The state should not be able to order a nonpublic school to remote learning or revoke state recognition or certification of staff without clear reason and a real opportunity for defense.
Please contact your state representative and state senator and request that they vote “No” on House Bill 2789.
You can find contact information for your state representative and senator here.
You can also go here and send a pre-written email to your state senator and state representative.