SE Illinois News

An Illinois state representative who has a bachelor’s degree in education said the Higher Education Fair Admissions Act that allows test-optional admissions to public universities and colleges is an attempt to cover up the poor quality of Illinois public education.

Chris Miller (R-Oakland) voted against House Bill 226 which passed the house 109-8 on April 21, 2021 and which created the Higher Education Fair Admissions Act that went into effect on Jan. 1. The act requires that the submission of standardized test scores to public institutions of higher learning be optional for an applicant.

“It's an attempt to cover up failures,” Miller, who, according to his biography, is a third generation farmer who raises Angus cattle, told SE Illinois News. “Who wouldn’t want to know where they stand as a student ?…We have to put the students and the parents first if we want to turn out a better product.”

The issue of test-optional admission is focused on the idea that using standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT cuts off “the admission of otherwise well-qualified students,” according to the study “Defining Access: How Test-Optional Works.”

“The number of colleges using Test Optional Policies (TOPs) in higher education admissions has dramatically expanded in recent years,” the study, hosted electronically by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, said. “And these colleges have avoided ‘one-size-fits-all,’ finding varied ways to administer TOPs and experiencing varied outcomes. … We find that there is plenty of room in American higher education for diversity of process, allowing test-optional admission to contribute to that diversity.”

However, Miller said that standardized testing gives youth direction.

“You have to have a measuring stick if you want your students that go to college to be successful,” Miller said.  “Any time you turn out a populous that thinks they’ve been educated when they really haven’t it’s a problem. I think to a certain degree we see that now. They need to let educators educate and get back to the basics.”

According to the latest data from the Illinois State Board of Education, the number of Illinois students in 3rd-11th grade who meet grade-level standards decreased by 18% in the last two years in math and by 17% in English.  Among Chicago Public School 11th graders, only 23% met grade-level standards for reading and only 21% met grade-level standards for math, WBEZ reported.

A University of Illinois math professor wrote an anthology for teachers in which she argued that math is racist, stating “mathematics itself operates as Whiteness,” National Review reported, but Miller labeled the subject "color-blind."

Illinois State Rep. LaToya Greenwood (D-East St. Louis), who advocates for “equitable education for all children,” was House sponsor of House Bill 226 that created the Higher Education Fair Admissions Act.

“I would like to highlight 3 pieces of legislation that I am extremely proud were signed into law by Governor Pritzker. HB226-Created the Higher Education Fair Admissions Act,” Greenwood said in part on Facebook.