Waivers for state mandates could take center stage when lawmakers are back in Springfield next week.

During a Senate Education Committee hearing Wednesday in Chicago, several school districts defended their waiver requests from a variety of state mandates, including bilingual education.

Democratic Senator William Delgado said bilingual education is important because you can quote “take a chihuahua to Germany and it’s still a chihuahua.”

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Delgado said assimilation is important, but he wants to ensure cultural heritage is intact in the school environment.

House Joint Resolution 101 would disapprove certain school district waiver requests for bilingual education, the Illinois Kindergarten Individual Development Survey, non-resident tuition, general state aid and instructional time and could be brought up when the General Assembly meets next week.