Madigan already pandering for votes

I suppose it's official now. In October, the Daily Herald ran a story about Lisa Madigan "thinking about" a gubernatorial run. Now that Blagojevich is gone, the attorney general has begun pandering to the religious right. There is no other rational reason for appealing Illinois' "Moment of Silence" law. The law was ill-conceived, poorly written and so open for interpretation that one school could have 15 seconds of silence while another might set aside an entire hour. According to Morgan Quitno Press, Illinois ranks 35th in education when compared to other states. In these tough economic times, do Illinois taxpayers really need to be paying teachers to encourage their students to disengage their brains for any length of time? One minute per day over the course of the 176-day school year would mean almost three hours of idle time. Mrs. Madigan, please find another way to win our votes.

Anne O'Day

Mundelein