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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Pope Francis, in his address to Congress, called
3upon the American people to come together in aiding those
4"trapped in a cycle of poverty"; in his address, Pope Francis
5asserted that "[t]he Golden Rule . . . reminds us of our
6responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage
7of its development"; and
 
8    WHEREAS, It is the responsibility of this State to ensure
9that every child has access to the high quality education he or
10she deserves, whether in the childcare context, early childhood
11education classrooms, elementary school, middle school, high
12school, or college; and
 
13    WHEREAS, House Resolution 56 of the 96th General Assembly
14urged the State Board of Education to establish a comprehensive
15plan to close the student achievement gap by the 2010-2011
16school year; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Time and time again, schools in low-income
18communities are strapped for resources and are labeled
19underperforming; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The ongoing inequality of education resources is a
21potential human rights violation that needs to be investigated

 

 

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1immediately; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Low-income neighborhoods have a clear
3disadvantage in our State's education system and this body
4seeks to be responsive to the needs of these communities; and
 
5    WHEREAS, A closer look at systemic income-related
6discrimination in our schools is needed to develop a clear
7understanding of the challenges we face and what we can do to
8overcome them; therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11the Task Force on Equality in Education be created to conduct
12an investigation on education services provided to low-income
13families; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That the task force shall consist of the
15following members: 3 task force members appointed by the
16Speaker of the House; 3 task force members appointed by the
17Minority Leader of the House; one task force member from the
18Department of Human Rights, appointed by the Governor; one task
19force member from the State Board of Education, appointed by
20the Governor; and one task force member who is a member of the
21Illinois Federation of Teachers, appointed by the governing
22board of that entity; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That the task force be appointed and hold its
2first meeting by March 1, 2016; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That the task force shall take voluntary
4assistance and testimony from individuals and professional
5organizations and institutions; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That the members of the task force shall serve
7without compensation; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That the Department of Human Rights shall provide
9staffing and administrative support services to the task force
10upon request; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That the task force shall submit its final report
12to the General Assembly and the Governor no later than December
1331, 2016.