May’s corruption headlines show the steep cost nontransparent government can have on taxpayers.
TAGS: corruption, good government
Unfortunately for taxpayers, June was a groundbreaking month for corruption in Illinois. In June alone, there were reports of 85 corruption-related stories in the state. Some of the record-breaking highlights include the following: For the first time in 33 years, the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission exercised its subpoena powers in the issuance of a subpoena...
The Chicago Tribune is calling on the state to be honest about how well its students are performing academically: “Illinois has a track record of massaging its school performance numbers to mask reality and make everybody feel good. Last year, 849 schools could boast that 90 percent or more of their students passed statewide reading...
TAGS: college readiness, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education, No Child Left Behind
Opponents of education innovation should be worried. The U.S. Department of Education just released one of the largest studies on blended learning ever conducted, and the results are amazing. Students who used a new blended learning program learned nearly twice as much math as they normally would in a year. The two-year study – the largest conducted...
The parents of the 30,000 displaced Chicago Public Schools, or CPS, students’ who will be attending new schools this fall are worried about their children’s futures. These fears are reasonable – what parent wouldn’t we be concerned about having their child walk to school along a Safe Passage route that was recently the scene of...
By Brian Costin
03/31/2013
the overall trend indicates that The Illinois public university system is getting worse in complying with state and federal laws, leaving the system vulnerable to future cases of public corruption.
TAGS: corruption
A new multidistrict virtual school could be coming to the Fox River Valley. K12, one of the largest online learning companies in the country, is currently traveling across Illinois in the hope of getting 18 school districts to approve its charter. The company already runs a number of online schools nationally. In Illinois, it oversees the Chicago...
By Chris Andriesen
03/27/2012
by Michael Wille Last month, Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan continued the White House talking point of “We Can’t Wait” when it comes to stalled Congressional action on education. Together with the president, he announced that waivers to the No Child Left Behind Act would be granted to ten different states. These waivers are...
Illinois lawmakers are proposing legislation that would create new state agencies and give out tax credits to certain groups.
by Collin Hitt Last Monday, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget sent a letter to Illinois school districts urging them to frantically spend newly available federal stimulus funds totaling more than $400 million, before the end of November. Highly unusual, however, was that the letter and the governor’s instructions were apparently written and circulated...
