Contact: Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute, 847-948-7889

TINLEY PARK, Ill., Nov. 19 /Christian Newswire/ -- Laurie Higgins, Director of the Division of School Advocacy at the Illinois Family Institute, issued the following statement in response to the Chicago Board of Education's decision to postpone a vote on the proposed homosexual high school:

Late last night, the Chicago Board of Education decided to postpone for a year a vote on the proposed "gay"-affirming high school, recently renamed "Social Justice Solidarity High School," which has been endorsed by Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan.

Many Illinoisans strongly oppose the use of public funds to subsidize a school that affirms ideas they find both fallacious and offensive. The goal of making schools safe for all students is a worthy goal shared by all educators and responsible citizens. But public schools must find ways to ensure student safety without compelling taxpayers to fund unproven theories that they believe hurt teens, hurt society and violate their deeply held beliefs.

In the face of mounting public opposition, the organizers of this proposal dropped "Pride" from the school's name in order to appease those who opposed the original separatist nature of the school. The more significant problem with the school than its violation of the principle of separate but equal, however, is its goal to offer "gay"-affirming curricula.

Politicians and public school educators cannot affirm something that they have not previously concluded is affirmation-worthy. Therefore, it is clear that Duncan and perhaps the Board of Education have arrived at unproven, controversial conclusions regarding the nature and morality of homosexuality--areas that stand far outside their areas of expertise.

We can fairly assume that the pervasive censorship and book-banning that manifests in virtually every public school on the topic of homosexuality will manifest in this new high school. It is this publicly funded ideological imbalance that undermines the legitimacy of public education, transforming it into indoctrination.

In order to educate Chicago high school students and equip them to think critically, Illinois Family Institute is asking that Mayor Daley, the City Council and the Chicago Board of Education insist that all Chicago public high schools develop intellectually diverse curricula that honor all voices; that challenge all biases and assumptions, including liberal biases and assumptions; and that include resources that fully and fairly articulate all viewpoints on homosexuality and social justice theory.