Illinois state lawmakers listened to teachers unions and killed school choice for over 15,000 low-income students in 2023. Now Congress has restored a scholarship program for needy kids, but Illinois leaders must allow families to access the money.
Illinois students are not learning, but instead of boosting the quality of education state leaders are trying to lower standards so scores don’t look as bad. Blame it on the Chicago Teachers Union and other teachers unions pushing for less accountability.
Charter school contracts can be renewed for up to 10 years, but the Chicago Teachers Union has been pressuring for as few as two years. Sowing instability hurts charters and improves CTU’s odds of killing competition for their mediocre product.
Illinois’ university system is losing students to other states as prices per student top the nation. The system and its funding need an overhaul, but state leaders instead are considering letting community colleges create even more competition.
Illinois students are struggling to meet proficiency standards on state assessments. Instead of working to improve student learning, the state wants to lower standards to hide the crisis.
The Educational Choice for Children Act continues to progress after it was included in the budget reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House on May 22. It is cause for hope for 15,000 low-income Illinois students who lost their private-school scholarships in 2023.
Tens of thousands of homeschool and private school families and other Illinoisans have filed opposition to House Bill 2827 – dubbed the ‘Homeschool Act.’ The bill is stalled on the House floor and poised for defeat.
A federal bill is cause for hope for 15,000 low-income Illinois students who lost their private school scholarships in 2023. That’s when teachers unions got state lawmakers to kill the Invest in Kids program.
Teachers unions have given millions to the state lawmakers targeting homeschoolers in their most recent effort to stifle educational freedom in Illinois.
Illinois students will struggle throughout their educations when 7 in 10 third-graders cannot read at grade level. Illinois Policy supports and submitted testimony in favor of a bill to train Illinois teachers in ‘science of reading’ methods to boost early-grade literacy.
Homeschool co-ops in Illinois would face several new rules meant for larger schools, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. The ‘Homeschool Act’ sponsor says her bill isn’t quite dead yet.
“Our decision to homeschool was really birthed out of necessity. My oldest was struggling in the public school system. He has autism spectrum disorder and in middle school he started to face severe bullying and started to have negative self-talk.” “We knew he needed a change. We thought we’d try homeschooling just for one year,...