As enrollment declines CPS may lose its spot as the third-largest school district nationally, yet spending increases continue.
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.
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.
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.
Classrooms First Act would benefit virtually all Illinoisans including teachers, parents and students.
“A lot of funding gets diverted or allocated to other things before students immediate needs are considered. Students need to be well in order to excel at life. Students need access to supportive environments, quality connections and college and career opportunities.”
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.
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.
"The need for social-emotional learning has gone through the roof, and that’s what makes what out superintendent did so extraordinary."
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.
“One mom with a child with autism spoke up at the board meeting and said, ‘Instead of my child getting adequate speech services that he desperately needs, he has been taught how to put on a mask, how to wear a mask, how to keep his mask on his face.’"
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.
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.
Illinois ranked 9th 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.