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]