State Senator Darren Bailey sent a letter to Dr. Ernesto Matias the Chief Education Officer for the Illinois State Board of Education requesting answers for the threats they made to local districts and demanding they cease baseless threats until a clear explanation is given as to their authority to make such demands.
“The Illinois State Board of Education has made threats against one of the school districts I represent due to the decisions made by the locally elected school board, which is charged with making these decisions, and when I read the letter, I took that personally,” said Sen. Bailey. “Having served 17 years on the North Clay School Board and as a state legislator, I know the authority to make this decision is currently at the local level and should remain at the local level.”
“This is one of the biggest problems in Springfield and with the current administration. They keep making threats and trying to tell local people how they must live and conduct business. We have local school boards for a reason, so they make the best decisions for their local kids. These tyrannical policies and threats have no business in this conversation. They are no longer following the science; they are only pushing an agenda to take away control from local elected bodies through more bureaucracy and bigger government and it has to stop.”
“It’s past time to end the mask mandates on our kids. There is no science behind this, only politics. Their mental health, their education, and their future is at risk due to special interests and big government bureaucrats who appear to be focusing more on controlling and indoctrinating kids than educating them. We need more options for parents, students, and teachers, not more mandates and control coming from special interests and unelected bureaucrats. I will continue to stand up for our kids, for options for parents, and in support of local school districts and local control over big government,” Bailey concluded.
You can find ISBE’s letter to Red Hill CUSD 10 by clicking here. You can find Senator Bailey’s letter to ISBE by clicking here.