Prairie State Wire

Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul Schimpf is sounding the alarm about a bill signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that mandates sex education for sixth through 12th grade and establishes “safety” training for students as early as kindergarten.  

“The first thing is the idea that making our kids’ education the best possible should be something that unites us, not divides us,” Schimpf said. “And that's one of the things that is so tragic about this bill, is it really is dividing the people of Illinois because it goes against the wishes of, you know, common sense Illinois parents who want their schools to concentrate on academics rather than social engineering.”

Also known as the Keeping Youth Safe and Healthy Act, SB 818 seeks to “develop self-advocacy skills for effective communication with parents or guardians, health and social service professionals, other trusted adults, and peers about health and relationships.”

Schimpf fails to see the logic.

“It really takes away the control of local school boards, parents, superintendents, to teach about sex ed in a way that the community wants," Schimpf said. "And that's the huge issue here.”

Pritzker promoted the bill at its signing. 

"Modernizing our sex education standards will help keep our children safe and ensure important lessons like consent and internet safety are taught in classrooms," he said in a statement.