Most legislators thought it was a terrific idea last fall when they required students in Illinois schools to have a moment of silence to pray or reflect, but House lawmakers now think they could have used a few more moments for reflection themselves before they put the law in place.
The House voted Tuesday to reverse the requirement after getting an earful of complaints from school administrators and teacher unions who found the requirement poorly thought out and unenforceable.
A total of 33 lawmakers switched positions on the moment of silence since last fall-18 Democrats and 15 Republicans, including Republi can leader Tom Cross of Oswego.
The move represented a stark contrast from last year’s position of both the House and Senate, which overwhelmingly voted to give students a brief period for “silent prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated activities of the day.”
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Not only did they approve the moment of silence requirement, but in October both chambers delivered a three-fifths supermajority to override Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s veto of the legislation.
The reversal legislation will face a tougher battle in the Senate, but Blagojevich would likely approve of the change because he has said the law threatens the constitutional barrier between church and state.
The bill that passed the House 72-31 on Tuesday would restore things to the way they were in years past, when local school boards had the option of letting students take a moment for silent reflection.
It would also delete the requirement that students use the moment for prayer or reflection on the day’s activities.
“I think a number of my colleagues mistakenly viewed this as referendum on religion last session,” said Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago), chief sponsor of the new bill. “It isn’t… It”s about local control.”
The vote surprised some lawmakers, who noted that proponents had rounded up enough votes to override Blagojevich’s veto last fall. The firestorm that followed thrust Illinois into the national school prayer debate.
Now lawmakers are flipping over.
Cross, for instance, switched his position because he decided it was better to have a “voluntary” moment of silence, spokesman David Dring said.
Rep. Jerry Mitchell (R-Sterling), who voted previously for the moment-of-silence law, changed his mind after hearing from many teachers and superintendents who are unhappy with the law. Mitchell said he didn’t think Fritchey’s bill would interfere with students who want to pray during school hours.
“Most good teachers have at least a couple of minutes of silence already just to establish order,” Mitchell said. “And you and I both know that as long as we have tests in school, we’ll have school prayer. I know I prayed a lot for that reason.”
“I was never passionate about it,” said Rep. Dan Burke (D-Chicago), who also changed his stance. “If you could enforce it, that would be one thing… But what’s the point of it? How in the world would you ever get compliance?”
In fact, the law does not contain any penalties for noncompliance.
But Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. (RMundelein) argued that students who want to continue taking a moment to reflect during class could be punished if school officials don’t continue requiring a period of silence.
Court battles feared
About three dozen states have passed legislation authorizing school districts to set aside up to five minutes of quiet time at the beginning of the school day since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down mandatory school prayer in 1962.
While some experts believe Illinois’ law can survive legal challenges, lawmakers said they don’t want school districts to waste money on court battles that should be spent on education. Activist Rob Sherman sued Township High School District 214 and the state superintendent on behalf of his daughter, a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School, when the school attempted to implement the law last year. He wants to broaden the case to include all school districts.
A federal judge ordered the Illinois State Board of Education not to issue any directives on how the pause should be approached, which meant that roughly half the state’s schools have yet to implement the moment-of-silence law, according to the Michael Johnson, executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards. A hearing is set for March 19.
Chicago Public Schools spokesman Mike Vaughn said the district supports Fritchey’s proposal.
‘We don’t consider a moment of silence a good use of classroom time and don’t plan on implementing one in our district,” he said.
Praise for the law
Sen. Kim Lightford (D-Maywood), who championed the required moment, said she would vigorously oppose Fritchey’s proposal, saying school officials in her district have praised the law because children have a chance to gather their thoughts or pray.
‘No one’s giving them a Bible, no one’s asking them to quote Scripture,” Lightford said. “No one’s coming over the loud system saying, “Bow your heads in prayer,” ” as lawmakers do at the beginning of each legislative day.
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