The Illinois Senate passed a school funding reform bill containing the state’s first-ever tax credit scholarship program. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature.
Joe Ocol is taking his South Side chess team to one of the nation’s premier tournaments. But he needs help paying their way
What’s making college unaffordable for Illinois students isn’t budget gridlock, it’s soaring administrative costs in higher education.
Nearly 25 percent of Illinois school districts serve just one school, and over one-third of all school districts have fewer than 600 students.
Unaffordable salaries and pension benefits on top of a structurally unstable retirement system have pushed CPS to the brink of insolvency despite record tax revenues.
Unfunded-mandate relief could mean a savings of $200 million annually for Illinois school districts.
Among the U.S.’ 50 largest school districts, CPS teachers’ pay ranks No. 1 for teachers with a bachelor’s degree and five years’ experience, No. 2 for first-year teachers with a bachelor’s degree, and No. 3 for first-year teachers with a master’s degree.
Chicago teachers’ salaries are based on a complex and convoluted system that has provided teachers with annual pay increases well in excess of the 2.75 to 3 percent raises proposed by the district.
Across the state, only 36 percent of third-grade black children read at grade level in 2014, while only 39 percent of Hispanic children met the standards. Yet state education rules force 4th grade children to advance to the next grade – whether they’re reading-ready or not.
“I was born poor and I will die poor. The best inheritance I can give to my children is an education.”
"Nací pobre y me moriré pobre. La mejor herencia que le puedo dejar a mis hijos es una educación".
The achievement gaps between white and Hispanic students in Illinois’ public schools, and the need to fundamentally reform the education system.
Online courses could keep students engaged in their current material even when schools are closed for inclement weather.
The state should simplify and amend the General State Aid formula to end loopholes, and require each school district to fully report its true property wealth when requesting means-based state aid.