The Illinois State Board of Education released a late, flawed report on the Invest in Kids scholarship program. Despite comparing apples to oranges, the report shows the Invest in Kids program worked for low-income kids.

Chicago Teachers Union leadership will use this summer’s contract negotiations with Chicago Public Schools to push for expansion of “sustainable community schools” in the district. The model doesn’t work: students perform worse, absenteeism rises.

Chronic absenteeism rates are higher in Chicago than statewide, with 44% of low-income Chicago students missing at least 10% of their days in school.

House Bill 4417 requires an annual “Workplace Readiness Week” in all Illinois high schools, which focuses not on getting kids ready for jobs but on the labor movement’s role in the workplace.

The Chicago Board of Education is preparing to remove police officers from public high schools. Local School Councils already have the power to remove officers, but district leaders are taking away that local control.

Research shows income and adult literacy are strongly related. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show 20% of Illinois adults are “functionally illiterate.” Cook County’s rate is 25%.

The Illinois State Board of Education failed to publish diagnostic reports required by the Invest in Kids Act to track scholarship recipients’ progress starting in 2019. State lawmakers are letting the program expire without seeing a single report.