posted
The Illinois 'moment of silence' law has officially been gutted.
Which is probably an unfair way of saying it. It's been changed so that it properly respects the constitution, anyway. The way it reads now, it's an act even this atheist would have no problem enacting.
posted
Turn down the volume a bit. The House tromped it. The Senate hasn't voted yet - and they are expected to uphold.
Besides, all that the new bill on the table does is returns us to the previous "may observe" rather than the current "must observe" and removes the reference to prayer (which, I'll agree, really should never have been there).
The law mandating a moment of silence was badly written. It didn't define a "moment", nor did it provide for penalties for violation. Dozens of schools have requested exemptions from the law, citing an excessive loss of classroom time, and in fact my own district has elected to define a "moment" as being approximately ten seconds during morning announcements. And my daughter reports that period of time is pretty much a free-for-all anyway.
What surprises me is that Blago vetoed it over the summer and the General Assembly over-ruled him. I actually agree with Blago on something?
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