2 things Waukegan can do to nurture students’ futures

By Ann Miller

09/16/2021

With rising costs and sinking test scores, school district efficiency and pension reform provide ways to put more money into Waukegan classrooms and improve student achievement.

TAGS: Classrooms First Act, education spending, pensions, Waukegan

Illinois bill would give ISBE authority to revoke schools’ state recognition

By Patrick Andriesen

09/02/2021

Gov. J.B Pritzker has warned district administrators since early August that ISBE would strip state recognition from Illinois schools defying his statewide mask mandate. House Bill 4135 aims to give the state board of education that power.

TAGS: COVID-19, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education, masks

Pritzker mask mandate leads to threats against 58 schools, districts

By Patrick Andriesen

08/27/2021

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Aug. 4 mask mandate drew criticism from the communities he just weeks earlier promised would keep local control over student COVID-19 safety. School districts that fail to kowtow face severe state sanctions.

Chicago Public Schools hiring 2,000 staffers, but might be missing 100,000 students

By Patrick Andriesen

08/11/2021

The Chicago Board of Education approved a $9.3 billion budget that hires 2,000 new, permanent staff using temporary COVID-19 federal aid. There are also concerns about whether 100,000 students will return.

TAGS: COVID-19, CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Even private schools must mask up after Pritzker flip-flop

By Patrick Andriesen

08/06/2021

Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised to respect local school boards and private school autonomy, until too few were doing what he wanted. So he reversed himself, mandating masks for both private and public Illinois schools.

TAGS: COVID-19, JB Pritzker, masks, private schools

Before fall in-person school, Chicago Teachers Union wants over 4,000 new workers

By Noah Shaar

07/15/2021

The Chicago Teachers Union issued a long list of demands it wants before allowing in-person learning this fall. Union leaders seek over 4,000 new employees, including a “restorative justice coordinator” in each of Chicago’s 638 schools.

TAGS: COVID-19, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

Masks can be optional in Illinois school districts

By Patrick Andriesen

07/13/2021

Illinois schools can resume in-person learning without masks next month now that the state has clarified its guidance to acknowledge local school boards should decide which COVID-19 policies best fit their students.

TAGS: COVID-19, Illinois, masks, public schools

7 things to know about new COVID-19 school guidance from CDC, Illinois

By Amy Korte

07/09/2021

New federal and state health guidance adjusts policies on masks, distancing and quarantines in Illinois’ K-12 schools. Many students will again be masked in the coming year.

TAGS: COVID-19, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education

Only 1 in 10 Illinois students had access to in-person learning for eight months of the pandemic, CDC report finds

By Patrick Andriesen

07/01/2021

Illinois ranked 8th worst in the nation for offering students access to full-time in-person learning between September 2020 and April 2021 – less than any other Midwest state.

TAGS: COVID-19, Illinois, teachers union

New study gives Illinois an ‘F’ for civics and history education standards

By Noah Shaar

07/01/2021

A recent study by the Fordham Institute critiqued Illinois’ education standards for U.S. history and civics education. Illinois’ standards lacked mention of historical concepts and did not offer goals for what each grade should learn in civics and U.S. History.

TAGS: education, Illinois, public schools