Quincy Reporter

Schools across Illinois face significant changes under new legislation advancing through the state's General Assembly. House Bill 1237, passed by the Illinois House with a 71-40 vote, seeks to prohibit K-12 schools from using Native American names, logos, and mascots. Among those affected are schools in the area such as the Pikeland School District Saukees and Payson-Seymour Community Schools Indians.

The proposed ban targets mascots like "Redskins," "Braves," "Chiefs," "Chieftains," "Tribe," "Indians," or any synonymous terms. It also includes logos featuring Native American headdresses or weapons. The bill is now before the Senate for further consideration.

State Representative Moore of Quincy expressed concerns about the bill's impact. Moore stated, "What this is doing is it’s taking one or two examples that were done many years before, and wouldn’t be acceptable now, and really it’s causing harm to those schools who choose to honor our rich heritage, and that’s unfortunate for many of us in the General Assembly."

Rep. Moore highlighted the financial burden the bill would impose on schools. He noted, "Not only are they going to need to change their name, and their image, they need to change their gyms, their uniforms, their fields. This will have a multi-million dollar cost for every school district that’s affected by this, and of course there’s no state funding allocated to help."

He further urged the Senate to reconsider the legislation: "The majority party in the House passed this legislation over our strong objections. I hope the majority party in the Senate will think this through before voting to eliminate our local history and inflicting huge unnecessary expense on our schools."