Low student proficiency is being hidden in Illinois. Virginia raised its expectations for students.

Students in Illinois are steadily returning to class across Illinois’ 866 school districts and 3,835 schools. The state’s public schools have a lot of room for improvement to prepare students for life beyond the classroom.

About 2-in-5 Illinois elementary students can read at grade level, so there is a lot of room for improvement. Five new bills would improve student outcomes and parental involvement.

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.

Student literacy is in trouble nationally. Illinois is one of 41 states where just 1 in 3 or fewer of its fourth-graders met reading standards in 2024.

Illinois schools would be required to share curriculum materials with parents under a pair of bills in Springfield. State Rep. Amy Grant’s House Bill 3806 and state Sen. Andrew Chesney’s Senate Bill 2080 require school materials be made available to parents.