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.”
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.
[blockquote]…school administrators and teacher unions who found the requirement poorly thought out and unenforceable[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Chicago Public Schools spokesman Mike Vaughn said …
‘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.[/blockquote]
You can’t miss the humor in those remarks.
Maybe it would work if they played some Simon & Garfunkel during the “moment of silence”. You know…[i]The Sound of Silence[/i]. LOL