LEGISLATIVE attempts to "demandate" driver's education and physical education programs in Illinois have been put on hold for at least another year. Senate bills 6 and 8, introduced by Sen. John W. Maitland (R-44, Bloomington), would have made driver's education and physical education for 11th and 12th grades optional. The bills have been assigned to a special joint "working" subcommittee, which will hold hearings on the mandates this summer and fall.

When the bills came up for a final hearing in the Senate Elementary and Secondary Education Committee in May, it was apparent that there weren't enough votes to get the bills out of committee. In a compromise worked out by Maitland, Senate President Philip J. Rock and committee chairman Arthur Berman (D-2, Chicago), a joint subcommittee of the House and Senate was created to "save" the bills for further consideration. "Concern about demandating persists," Maitland said. "I feel there needs to be more discussion and input before we take action."

The move to demandate the programs came out of an 18-month study by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). As part of a multi-phased study, the board recommended that not only driver's ed and physical ed be made optional, but that requirements for bilingual education be relaxed. The recommendations have generated intense opposition by parents' and teachers' organizations.

That opposition may be overcome by next session, however. "Priorities will have to be set" as school districts face continued financial problems, according to Robert Leininger, legislative liaison for the ISBE. He pointed out, however, that the board did not study how much money school districts would be able to save through demandating. "We never suggested these bills would save money," he said. "The idea is to provide flexibility for local districts in program planning."

This flexibility is what worries teachers' groups. According to Chuck Burdeen of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the concern is that given the "option," local school districts will drop these programs. Burdeen said teachers are opposed to demandating "not just because of jobs, but because of their position in favor of comprehensive education." It is the feeling among teachers, Burdeen said, that if there were adequate levels of funding, the issue of demandating would not have come up.

July 1983 | Illinois Issues | 28