State Senator sponsoring a bill to outlaw school dress codes which pertain to hair

The committee told State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago) to work on the enforcement mechanism before bringing his bill back. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Almost sixty years after music’s British Invasion inspired teenagers to test the boundaries with their hairstyles, schoolchildren are still finding the rules oppressive.

A state senator who wears his hair in “free form dreads” is sponsoring a bill to outlaw school dress codes which pertain to hair. While members of the Senate Education Committee said they liked the idea, they didn’t like State Sen. Mike Simmons’ (D-Chicago) preferred method of enforcement: rolling state funding back to the previous year’s level.

The state board of education says the standard penalty for districts which defy the school code is lack of recognition, and one senator said the financial penalty would hurt the schools which can least afford it.

But “to eliminate systemic racism, you need a systemic response,” said Simmons. And children, says Black LGBTQ advocate Aisha Davis, need to be able to appear in class as “their most authentic selves.”

The committee told Simmons to work on the enforcement mechanism before bringing his bill back.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…