Chalkbeat

Chicago educators ask lawmakers to step up support for schools seeing increase in migrant students

2024-01-18T01:45:14+00:00

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Viviana Ortiz is overwhelmed. As the only advocate for students experiencing homelessness at Cameron Elementary School in West Humboldt Park, she supports 126 students — a workload that has dramatically increased with the influx of migrant students from Latin America and other countries.

“The amount of support that our families need is incredible,” said Ortiz, who noted that she has never seen families in such need of clothing, food, and other necessities.

On Wednesday, Ortiz joined other educators, local and national union leaders, including Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and parents of new arrivals at a roundtable at Cameron Elementary School to call for more support for migrant students from federal, state, and local governments and to draw attention to the struggles of migrant families at Cameron and across the city.

Gabriel Paez, an English learner program teacher at Cameron and chair of the Chicago Teachers Union bilingual education committee, estimate that about 200 migrant students at the school need access to more bilingual education, transportation, and basic needs — a reflection of the wider challenges presented by the arrival of thousands of migrant families to the city.

As of Jan. 17, more than 30,000 migrants had arrived in Chicago since August 2022, according to a city dashboard. Most crossed the southern border and were ordered bused here by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Families and children are often fleeing countries that have seen a rise of violence and political strife.

At a City Council Education Committee meeting in November, a CPS official said the district had enrolled at least 4,000 migrant students.

Teachers at Cameron Elementary school said they have noticed some migrant students arrive at the school without proper clothing, such as coats warm enough for Chicago winter, and in need of medical support. Many are without permanent housing.

A spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools said the district has provided additional funding for staffing and services to help schools with the increase of newly arriving students. Nearly all migrant students have been classified as English learners or Students in Temporary Living Situations. CPS officials said they are currently working with the city, state, lawmakers, and the U.S. Department of Education to receive more funding.

At the roundtable, organized by the Chicago Teachers Union, participants echoed the call for more resources to help migrant students, including more bilingual teachers and staff.

In Chicago, the number of designated bilingual teachers has declined in recent years, but teachers with bilingual or English as a second language endorsements have increased, according to an analysis of staffing data by Chalkbeat Chicago. Another finding from the analysis found that the ratio of staff with bilingual credentials or titles to students was increasing as more English learners have enrolled.

At Wednesday’s roundtable, Paez said the district should push to cover 100% of tuition costs for educators who want to get a bilingual endorsement. He applauded the district for currently covering 50% of tuition, but said he wants to see teachers who want to get that endorsement not go into debt.

Paez also said the school needs more bilingual staff who can help students and families dealing with emergencies. Paez said he and other staff members at the school have gone above and beyond their duties to support students.

“Taking children to the ER is not in my job description, but we do it because the need is there,” said Paez. “If CPS, or the state, or the federal government could pay for someone to be in our building day in and day out whose only purpose is to help get these people on their feet, that will make the teaching and learning part of this equation a lot more manageable.”

State Rep. Lilian Jiménez, who represents neighborhoods on Chicago’s northwest side, noted that families who have migrated from Latin America need transportation and access to bus passes to get to school.

Chicago Public Schools has grappled with a bus driver shortage over the past few years. This school year, the district decided to only bus students who are legally obligated to have transportation — such as students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness. This leaves out 5,500 students who used to get buses to and from the city’s magnet and selective enrollment schools.

Migrant students might not know that they are eligible for transportation if they don’t have access to stable housing under federal law. The law also says students can stay enrolled at the same school even if they have to move to another shelter.

In November, Gov. J.B. Pritzker allocated $160 million to the Illinois Department of Human Services to address the ongoing migrant crisis, with $65 million going to the city to help set up a winter shelter. With state lawmakers kicking off the spring legislative session this week, advocates are hoping for more money to support families who have migrated to the United States.

Jimenez said she’ll work throughout the spring session to get more tuition reimbursement to help teachers get a bilingual education endorsement.

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates called on the federal government to support Chicago during the migrant crisis as the city and district lack the infrastructure to assist migrant families.

“We need our collaboration to extend beyond the city. The city is not set up to deal with an immigration crisis. We do not have the infrastructure,” said Davis Gates. “So, this idea that we are just going to focus in on what isn’t here, let’s focus on who is supposed to bring the things that we need here.”

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education, and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago Public Schools estimates between 9,000 and 17,000 migrant students are enrolled, depending on who is counted

2024-04-18T00:03:39+00:00

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How many migrant students are enrolled in Chicago Public Schools? The exact number is hard to pin down.

The district says about 8,900 migrant students are currently attending local schools, according to CPS data. But that number climbs to more than 17,000 when using the Illinois State Board of Education’s definition for students eligible for the Immigrant Education Program — students born outside the U.S. who started attending school in this country in the past three years are categorized in this group.

An accurate picture of how many immigrant students are arriving and enrolling in local public schools is becoming more important as schools work to support newcomers from Latin America, as well as other countries around the world. A proposal in the Illinois legislature would provide money to districts faster to help new students.

But the size of the enrollment increase — and the existing resources — depends on which agency is counting students. In response to an information request from Chalkbeat for migrant student enrollment numbers, Chicago Public Schools and the Illinois State Board of Education produced different numbers, based on different definitions and methods of categorizing newly arrived students:

Chicago Public Schools says the district is currently serving 8,900 students who arrived since August 2022, including those who passed through the southern border and were bused to Chicago from Texas. The district uses five criteria to identify this cohort: students who speak languages other than English at home, have been identified as students in temporary living situations, are new to the district arriving after August 2022, were born outside of the country, or are listed on the city’s Department of Family and Support Services shelter roster.
The Illinois State Board of Education, on the other hand, says any student not born in the U.S. or Puerto Rico who has been attending school in this country for less than three years is eligible for the Immigrant Education Program. Chicago estimates roughly 17,000 students fit this definition. Chicago just started to collect this data in November 2023 and school staff are collecting the birth country and enrollment date of students.

Between 2019 and November 2023, Chicago Public Schools officials said, the district stopped gathering information on students’ birth country and the date of first enrollment in the U.S. in response to threats against immigrants and their citizenship status and as part of the implementation of sanctuary provision in the collective bargaining agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union. However, the district resumed the practice after being pushed by the state board of education.

In addition, the numbers continue to fluctuate. Last month, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez told reporters that the district has welcomed more than 6,000 new arrival students into schools this year.

Chicago Public Schools also estimates that its population of English learners – students whose first language is not English and are in need of bilingual programs and support – has increased by 12,000 students, jumping from 76,000 to 88,000 over the last year students as of April 12. English learners may include students born in the U.S.

A Chalkbeat analysis in February found that the number of English language learners in CPS grew since the end of September, with an additional 7,000 English learners enrolled in schools around the district.

Even as state and local school districts have different definitions on how to categorize students who recently immigrated to the United States, lawmakers, advocates, educators, and the Chicago Teachers Union continue to raise concerns that there are not enough bilingual staff and resources available to support students.

State Rep. Fred Crespo, a Democrat representing suburbs northwest of Chicago, has filed a pair of bills — House Bill 2822 and House Bill 3991 — that would allow the Illinois State Board of Education to create a New Arrivals Grant program to distribute funding to school districts who need more support for new arrival students.

When Crespo first filed the bill last year, he asked the general assembly to approve $35 million. Now, he is asking for $188 million because the number of students has increased.

In February, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed budget did not include money for newcomers requested by the Illinois State Board of Education. A spokesperson for Pritzker’s office previously told Chalkbeat that schools can access federal funding through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the governor’s proposed $350 million increase for K-12 schools will help.

Local education advocates say families who have migrated from Latin America countries are transient, often moving from community to community as they look for a home to settle in. As students continue to transfer between districts, advocates say the state’s evidence-based funding formula is unable to capture the growing need of schools.

The state distributes resources to districts based on enrollment and adds additional funding based on the number of low-income students, English language learners, and students with disabilities. The state formula looks at enrollment from two points in time during the school year. With families moving between communities, the number may not capture the number of immigrant students a district has served.

Bridget Peach, executive director of Ed-Red — an organization that advocates for suburban school districts — and a supporter of Crespo’s bill, says students migrating from the southern border often leave school districts quickly.

“At the beginning of the year, the enrollment snapshot is taken,” Peach said. “Some of those students are leaving the next week, some are staying until the end of the school year, but they aren’t re-enrolling in the district.”

State lawmakers are debating whether to include Crespo’s New Arrivals Grant program in the budget. They must pass a budget at the end of the legislative session, which is scheduled for the end of May.

Illinois high school juniors must take the ACT to fulfill graduation requirements starting next spring

2024-05-15T22:51:06+00:00

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Illinois high school juniors will take the ACT instead of the SAT to graduate starting next school year.

The Illinois State Board of Education was updated on the switch during its monthly meeting on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the school board says the ACT was awarded a $53 million contract over the course of six years. The state requires students to take a college entrance exam in order to graduate.

“At the end of the day, it came down to price,” said Stephen Isoye, chairman of the State Board of Education, noting that state law requires assessment vendors to go through a competitive procurement process.

State Superintendent Tony Sanders wrote in a weekly message to school administrators on Tuesday that the ACT “aligns with the Illinois Learning Standards, provides a secure online testing experience for students, reduces administrative burden on districts,” and will give “actionable reporting for educators and families.”

The procurement office evaluated bids from the College Board, which administers the SAT, and ACT Inc. on “technical specifications, commitment to diversity, and price.” Overall, the ACT received more points.

School districts in the state have given high school juniors the SAT for almost a decade. Illinois switched from ACT to the SAT in 2016 and has renewed the contract with the College Board several times.

However, Sanders said the state board will work with ACT to support schools through the transition.

“We will help you prepare teachers for the transition and help you communicate with students and families, so you can continue doing your best work in teaching and learning,” Sanders wrote in his weekly message.

Many colleges and universities stopped requiring entrance exams during the pandemic but are moving back to requiring the tests for admissions.

The state board’s contract with the College Board to administer the SAT for 11th graders and the PSAT for 9th and 10th grades will expire on June 30. Illinois, like all states, is required by federal law to administer accountability assessment to high school students. State law says the exam must be a nationally recognized college entrance exam, leaving the state with two choices: the ACT or SAT.

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Report: Illinois schools won’t be ‘adequately funded’ by 2027

2024-05-15T17:31:16+00:00

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Illinois will not be able to adequately fund public schools by a 2027 state deadline, according to a new report.

Due to inflation and state lawmakers holding K-12 funding flat in 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic, districts would not be adequately funded until 2034 if the state continues to only add $350 million to the evidence-based funding formula, according to a report from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.

But lawmakers could adequately fund schools by 2030 if they provide an additional $500 million a year, the report said.

However, state budget officials are predicting a decrease in revenue in the next year. Federal COVID-19 relief money, which boosted school budgets the past few years, is also set to run out.

“I think school districts will have to make some tough financial decisions in the next coming years,” said Elaine Gaberik, one of the co-authors of the report. “This goes back to showing how important the state funding is going to be in these next couple years.”

In February, Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed adding an additional $350 million for public schools and $150 million for early childhood education to the state budget for the next fiscal year, which covers the 2024-25 school year.

Hundreds of Chicago Public Schools educators are going to Springfield on Wednesday to ask for more state funding. They maintain that the district is underfunded by $1.1 billion. That is the amount Chicago would need to reach adequacy under the state formula. Mayor Brandon Johnson was also in the capitol last week to ask state lawmakers to give more money to Chicago schools.

Elizabeth Todd-Breland, vice president of the Chicago Board of Education, said during the Agenda Review Committee on Wednesday her daughter will be an adult before the state can adequately fund schools.

“Generations of public school students will be deprived of their right to a quality, fully-funded public education and we should all see that as being unacceptable,” said Todd-Breland.

Roughly $2.5 billion of Chicago Public Schools’ $9.4 billion budget comes from state funding. Of the $2.5 billion in state money, $1.7 billion comes from the state’s evidence-based funding formula. Seven years ago, before the state changed its funding formula, CPS received about $1.9 billion from the state.

Illinois’ evidence-based funding formula calculates how much money a public school district needs based on the needs of the students the district serves and how much local revenue a school district can raise. A district could receive additional state funding if they have a larger amount of students from low-income families, English learners, or students with disabilities. Districts in areas with less property wealth are also prioritized for more state funding, while richer districts with higher value property get less.

Since the formula was created, state funding for K-12 schools has grown by more than $3 billion, with the majority of the new money going to districts that need it most.

The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, which helped design the evidence-based funding formula in 2017, looked at four possible scenarios state lawmakers could take action on. Each scenario takes into account how much money it would take to fully fund schools, estimates the amount of time, and includes other factors, such as inflation.

The report mentions other possibilities for lawmakers to weigh as they put together the budget. If the state decided that it wanted to reach the 2027 funding goal, the report estimates that it would take at least $1.1 billion a year starting in 2025. Another possibility is to continue to add $300 million to the evidence-based funding, but add more funding based on the rate of inflation. However, inflation rates can drastically change. As noted in the report, inflation rose to 5% in 2022 and 8% in 2023.

Gaberik, one of the co-authors of the report, told Chalkbeat that one of the best things the evidence-based formula did for public schools was to change the ratio of local funding to state funding.

Before the formula was put into use, school districts relied heavily on property taxes, which created inequities in educational opportunities for students across the state, according to Gaberik.

When the state’s General Assembly created the evidence-based funding formula in 2017, the goal was to adequately fund all schools by 2027. During negotiations, there was a bipartisan promise to continue to add at least $350 million a year to public schools every year until every district reached its “adequacy target.”

State lawmakers committed to this promise every year, except in 2020 when they agreed to keep funding flat due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since then, education advocates have been pushing lawmakers to increase K-12 funding by at least $550 million annually in order to get all school districts to adequacy more quickly. But lawmakers have continued to add $350 million annually in the years since.

Andy Manar, deputy governor for budget and economy, said in a letter dated May 8 to various Illinois agency directors that the state’s revenues are down by $800 million. Plus, the state’s share of COVID relief funds will end this year. Manar said that it is unclear how many programs this will impact, but budget officials will continue to work with the state’s General Assembly to create a balanced budget.

The legislature must pass a budget by June 30, but is expected to do so before the end of its spring session, currently scheduled to finish on May 24.

Reema Amin contributed reporting.

Illinois is one step closer to creating a department for early childhood education

2024-05-09T21:31:44+00:00

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Illinois is one step closer to creating a new department that will house all child care and early childhood education programs after the state House passed a proposal to create the Department of Early Childhood Thursday afternoon.

The bill, which passed with a 93 to 18 vote, will head to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk for final approval. Pritzker, who has championed creating an agency focused on early childhood programs, is likely to sign the bill.

Once signed into law, the bill would allow the Department of Early Childhood to begin work on July 1. The bill asks the state’s General Assembly to allocate a total of $13.1 million for support staffing and operations. By July 1, 2026, the department would manage programs such as early intervention for students with disabilities and the Child Care Assistance Program to support low-income families, as well as administer licenses for day care programs.

The state currently operates and funds child care and early childhood education programs under three departments: the state’s Department of Human Services, Illinois State Board of Education, and the Department of Children and Family Services.

State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a Democrat representing Arlington Heights, was a sponsor of the House version of the bill and presented the Senate’s proposal to the House on Thursday afternoon. She told fellow lawmakers that creating a department focused only on early childhood education would make it more efficient for parents and providers.

“We see duplication of efforts, duplication of forms, and that means that we are not getting as many dollars into the programs that we need,” said Canty. “By creating this new agency housing all of these programs in one place, we can create more efficiency, transparency and ease of access for families and providers.”

Illinois’ legislative session is winding down. Here are seven education issues to watch in Springfield.

2024-05-06T11:00:00+00:00

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A moratorium on closing any Chicago public schools until 2027, extra funding for schools supporting migrant students, and the creation of a new early childhood department. These are some of the top issues Illinois lawmakers in Springfield are focused on as the end of the legislative session looms.

The Illinois General Assembly is scheduled to end its spring session on May 24, leaving a few weeks to pass bills and send them to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk for final approval.

At the beginning of session, one of the most pressing issues for lawmakers was to approve an electoral map and ethics provisions for Chicago’s first school board elections, which they punted last year. With an April 1 deadline fast approaching, lawmakers settled the issue early in March. But that wasn’t the only issue before lawmakers that could impact the future of Chicago Public Schools.

Here are some education bills we’re continuing to follow.

Bills moving quickly through the legislature

Moratorium on Chicago school closures until 2027: House Bill 303 was initially filed to prevent the Chicago Board of Education from making any changes to selective enrollment schools until 2027 when the board will be fully elected. The bill is a direct response to a resolution passed by the current school board, which is appointed by the mayor, that calls for a new strategic plan that would invest in neighborhood schools and move away from school choice. The latest change to the bill included a closure moratorium on all Chicago schools until 2027. The bill is currently in the Senate’s executive committee.

Early Childhood Department: Illinois is currently in the process of merging early childhood education programs currently housed under the state’s Department of Human Services, Illinois State Board of Education, and the state’s Department of Children and Family Services. Pritzker unveiled the plan last October. He said the current system is an “impossible bureaucracy” for parents and providers to navigate and hopes that one department will make it easier. Senate Bill 1, which would create the new department, has passed the Senate and is currently in the House.

Bills with an uncertain future

State license for Montessori teachers: Illinois lawmakers are trying to figure out ways to deal with the current teacher shortage. One proposal, Senate Bill 2689, would make it easier for Montessori-trained educators to teach in public schools by creating the Montessori Educator Licensure. Teachers are eligible if they have graduated from a college or university with a bachelor’s degree, received a credential from an institution accredited by the Montessori Council for Teacher Education, the American Montessori Society, or the Association Montessori International, and completed state licensure testing. The Senate’s proposal, which passed, is currently in the House’s Rules Committee.

Police in Chicago Public Schools: The Chicago Board of Education voted in February on a measure to remove Chicago Police Department officers from schools. Currently, 57 officers are spread across 39 high schools. Some community leaders rallied against the board’s decision and said they wanted to keep their schools’ police officers, often referred to as school resource officers, or SROs. House Bill 5008, would allow Local School Councils to contract directly with the Chicago Police Department for school resource officers. The bill is currently in the House’s Rules Committee.

What we’re watching for in a final budget

Several bills could provide additional money to early childhood education, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions. The General Assembly must approve a budget before the end of the session. Here’s what’s on the table for school funding:

More funding for K-12 schools: Illinois education advocates are currently pushing the General Assembly to put $550 million more into the evidence-based funding formula that provides funding to K-12 schools. The formula distributes money to school districts based on the enrollment numbers of students from low-income students, English learners, and students with disabilities.

Since the evidence-based funding formula was established in 2017, the legislature has been adding $350 million more a year. But advocates say that it will take larger annual increases to fully fund schools by 2027.

Grants for schools enrolling migrant students: Since the spring of 2022, CPS and suburban school districts have enrolled students who have migrated from countries around the globe facing war and economic insecurity, such as Ukraine, Russia, and Venezuela. Many schools lack bilingual resources and staff to support these students.

Rep. Fred Crespo, a Democrat representing suburbs northwest of Chicago, proposed a pair of bills that would create a New Arrivals Grant to be distributed through the Illinois State Board of Education. An earlier version of the bill proposed allocating $35 million, but lawmakers have increased that number to $188 million.

Illinois child tax credit: During the pandemic, Congress expanded the child tax credit, providing families with monthly payments of between $250 and $300 per child, depending on their age. The program reduced child poverty rates temporarily, but it ended in 2021. Now, Illinois lawmakers — along with other state legislatures, such as Colorado — are proposing a state child tax credit.

In Illinois, families could receive up to $300 per child for children under the age of 17. Married couples who make less than $75,000 and single people who make less than $50,000 would be eligible.

Chicago Public Schools and the union representing school support staff reach tentative contract agreement

2024-05-02T02:06:32+00:00

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The union representing school support staff came to a tentative agreement with Chicago Public Schools Wednesday night, ending a year of contract negotiations.

The four-year deal would create a baseline salary of $40,000 for all full-time workers represented by Service Employees International Union Local 73. The tentative agreement also calls for a 4% pay increase the first two years and a 4% to 5% increase the last two years of the contract. It will cover the current school year and expire at the end of the 2026-27 school year.

SEIU Local 73 represents about 11,000 school support workers, including custodians, special education classroom assistants, bus aides, security officers, crossing guards, and parent-workers. They have been working without a contract since June 30, 2023.

“These critical support staff professionals carry out vital work in our schools each day, supporting teaching and learning and ensuring the safety and well being of our students,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez in a press release on Wednesday evening. “This agreement reflects our District’s commitment to a fair and equitable contract.”

The union also successfully negotiated for more professional development and training, particularly for special education classroom assistants who work with students with disabilities, according to a joint news release. If approved, security officers would also transition from seven-hour to eight-hour employees, and all SEIU Local 73 members would get paid time off to observe religious holidays.

“After a year-long fight, our Union members are finally being recognized for their commitment and have secured much needed raises that will greatly improve the lives of these essential workers and provide the respect they deserve. " said Dian Palmer, President of SEIU Local 73, in a combined statement with Chicago Public Schools.

SEIU Local 73 members will have to vote in the coming weeks to ratify the tentative contract deal. If approved, the Chicago Board of Education must also vote to approve it.

The union started negotiations with the district in the spring of 2023, before their contract was set to expire on June 30, 2023. Most of these school workers are often paid lower than educators and school administrators — many of them making about $40,000 a year.

In February, the union secured a win outside of their contract negotiations when the school district announced that it would end its multi-million dollar deal with Aramark for the management of school janitors and cleaning services after 10 years.

Aramark was frequently criticized for the lack of cleanliness at schools and school custodial workers represented by SEIU Local 73 often voiced concerns about the lack of cleaning supplies.

Illinois high school students must fill out FAFSA to graduate — maybe not this year, state says

2024-05-01T19:40:34+00:00

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Illinois high school seniors would not be required to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA, in order to graduate, under a new bill moving through the state legislature.

State law has required students to complete the FAFSA in order to graduate from high school since the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. Students not planning to go to college could fill out a waiver. But now, a proposal in the Senate would waive the requirement entirely for the current school year.

The proposal by state Sen. Dan McConchie, a Republican lawmaker representing northwest suburbs, comes months after the rocky rollout of the federal government’s “Better FAFSA”, which faced multiple challenges including a later opening date and technical issues that caused delays and uncertainty for college-bound students.

The FAFSA allows high school students to determine how much money — grants, federal student loans, or work-study funds — they might receive from the federal government. States, colleges, and universities also use the FAFSA to offer scholarships or grants to students. In Illinois, it also serves as the application for the state’s Monetary Assistance Program, or MAP grant, for students from low-income households.

The federal government rolled out a simplified version of the FAFSA, known as the Better FAFSA, in late December after months of delay. The form is usually released in October. The new application is shorter, going from 100 questions to 20.

Students who have undocumented parents were among the groups impacted by the glitches, as the application initially required students to use their parents’ Social Security numbers. The issue was later resolved in March, but left many students scrambling to complete the application.

The Illinois State Board of Education, along with the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, announced in April that high schools and districts could implement “administrative waivers” for students this year. In a weekly message on Tuesday, State Superintendent Tony Sanders asked schools to encourage students to fill out the application if possible.

“So many students do not go to college or trade school because they think they cannot afford it, without actually knowing how much aid they could qualify to receive,” said Sanders.

During the Senate education hearing Tuesday, McConchie said even though the state board said schools could provide waivers, his bill would “alleviate the administrative burden” placed on schools.

Some lawmakers raised concerns about McConchie’s proposal. Sen. Doris Turner, a Democrat representing Springfield, Decatur, and other towns in southern Illinois, was concerned that the bill would create confusion and cause guidance counselors or administrators to tell students that they do not have to fill out the application.

McConchie said the bill would only waive the graduation requirement for a year as the federal government continues to work out issues with the system.

McConchie’s proposal passed the Senate Education committee by a 10-0 vote.

Some colleges and universities have pushed back their enrollment deadlines for fall 2024 because they were not able to send out financial aid letters to students earlier in the year, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling. College decision day is traditionally May 1.

Illinois’ children and toddlers are experiencing more delays in getting early intervention services

2024-04-25T23:52:29+00:00

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About a year after Desi Evans’ son Christopher was born, she noticed he wasn’t making sounds or babbling like other young children.

After the mother from Barrington, Illinois – a town west of Chicago — raised her concerns to her pediatrician at Christopher’s one-year check-up, the doctor recommended having him evaluated for a state program designed to help students with disabilities or developmental delays.

The program, known as Early Intervention, serves over 20,000 children and toddlers under the age of 3 throughout Illinois.

But, even though Christopher was found to have a speech delay and approved by the state to receive speech, developmental, and occupational therapies, he was not able to receive service until three months before he turned 3, when children are no longer eligible for Early Intervention.

Christopher, now 3, isn’t alone. Since the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, it has become harder for children to get evaluated or start services that are vital to ensuring they are prepared socially, emotionally, and academically for school. Early childhood education advocates say staffing shortages are creating barriers to early intervention services and they are urging state lawmakers to invest another $40 million into next year’s budget for the program.

More than 4,000 children are waiting to be evaluated for services, according to a report by the Illinois Department of Human Services in February. Another 23,000 children have been approved for early intervention services.

The report also found that 7.6% of children who were approved for the Early Intervention program are experiencing service delays — when the state cannot find a therapist to provide services. That’s nearly double what it was in 2019, when 4.7% of children approved for services were seeing delays.

When Christopher was able to receive some services for a couple of months, Evans said he started to talk more and his vocabulary grew.

“He was more attentive and his focus expanded,” said Evans. “Before, he would only focus for maybe like 5-10 minutes at a time when we’re doing an activity.”

Staffing shortages across early intervention

Illinois early education advocates say families face hurdles when accessing early intervention services because the state has a low number of service coordinators, who are responsible for evaluating children and connecting them to therapists, and service providers, independent contractors that provide services such as speech, developmental, occupational, and physical therapies.

In 2023, the state reported about 3,964 providers, a decrease of 6.6% from 2019 when there were over 4,246 providers.

A survey by Afton Partners commissioned by the Illinois Department of Human Services found a high turnover rate of service coordinators due to low wages, lack of benefits, high caseloads, and burnout. That makes it difficult for families to get an evaluation done within a timely matter; often, they are waitlisted.

Even when a child has received an evaluation, services could be delayed if the service coordinator cannot find a therapist to work for a family as was the case for Desi Evans’ son.

According to state law, once parents agree to receive therapeutic services under the Individualized Family Service Plan — a legal document that includes the child’s diagnosis, evaluation notes, and services they will need in early intervention — children should receive services within 30 days. Some families often do not receive services within that time frame.

Alison Liddle, a physical therapist contracted with the state to provide early intervention services, says her practice takes on private clients to keep afloat. Liddle mentioned that one of her staff members was thinking about leaving the practice because they are overwhelmed from trying to pay for student loans and child care.

Illinois is not the only state dealing with shortages. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Infant and Toddler Coordinators Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates for early intervention nationally, released a report in 2023 that found 44 states and jurisdictions said they were experiencing provider shortages, especially for speech and language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, special educators/ developmental specialists, and service coordinators.

Early childhood advocates lobby for more funding

On April 16, early childhood education advocacy organizations from across the state bused hundreds of parents and community organizations to Springfield to ask lawmakers for more money for early childhood education — including a $40 million increase for early intervention.

They say the funding boost could be used to increase compensation for providers, bring in new providers, and increase the speed in which families receive services.

In Springfield, small groups of people in purple and yellow shirts that said “For Brighter Futures” walked around the Capitol building searching for state lawmakers. In some cases, advocates weren’t able to chat directly with legislators, as many were voting on bills on the House floor. Some advocates opted to write letters instead.

Zareen Kamal, policy specialist at Start Early, one of the organizations that bused advocates to Springfield, told Chalkbeat that an increase would “allow for a much-needed rate increase for the workforce and prevent providers from leaving [Early Intervention] due to years of inadequate compensation.”

Unlike service coordinators, service providers are independent contractors. The state reimburses them for providing services to families after billing private insurance. However, providers aren’t paid for transportation, missed or canceled appointments, or receive health care or other benefits. Some providers decide to work in hospitals or the private sector to make more money.

Advocacy organizations such as Start Early, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago, is asking the state to allocate an additional $40 million for early intervention. Over the past four years, the program’s budget has largely remained flat or been cut, shifting between a total of $108 million and $115 million since the pandemic hit in 2020.

Last year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced his Smart Start Initiative and allocated more funding to early childhood education. In the first year of the plan, statewide programs received an increase of $250 million. The Early Intervention program received a bump of $40 million last year.

This year, the governor proposed an increase of $6 million for Early Intervention— less than advocates had hoped for.

In a statement to Chalkbeat Chicago, a spokesperson for Pritzker said last year’s increase was meant to cover the 2025 fiscal year.

“The program is funded to cover the more than 25,000 families enrolled in EI services, and this year’s additional $6 million investment – representing a proposed $46 million total increased investment in EI since the beginning of the Smart Start Illinois initiative — will cover projected enrollment growth over the next fiscal year,” the spokesperson wrote.

Desi Evans, the Barrington mother, says Christopher is currently receiving private therapy after he aged out of the Early Intervention program earlier this year.

She still feels guilty that she didn’t push harder to get Christopher services sooner.

“I feel like I failed him, like I should have done more,” said Evans. “I wish I knew what I know now, but I didn’t.”

Chicagoans want elected school board to better represent Black and Latino students

2023-04-06T02:28:54+00:00

Chicagoans who spoke at a public hearing Wednesday evening want to see the soon-to-be elected school board better represent the mostly Black and Latino students attending the city’s public schools.

The hearing was the first of five held by the Illinois’ Senate’s Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board, which is tasked with drawing the districts where school board members will be elected. The board has a July 1 deadline. The first Chicago school board elections will be held November 2024.

According to state law, school board districts must reflect the city’s population. In Chicago’s case, public schools serve predominantly Black and Latino students, while the city’s overall population is 33% white.

Kee Taylor, a band teacher at Michele Clark High School on the West Side, said they want the maps drawn in a way that gives a voice to Austin, North Lawndale, and Garfield Park residents, because schools in these neighborhoods don’t have the resources necessary to be academically successful.

“For me, it’s important that as we draw these boundaries that we are prioritizing and centering communities that we neglected,” Taylor said. For example, Taylor said Michele Clark does not have a race track, and students on the track team have to practice in the hallway.

Valerie Leonard, founder of Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting, said that in addition to drawing representative maps, there needs to be a stronger relationship between local school councils and the board of education to amplify the needs of schools in different communities.

“We need you to strengthen the relationship between the local school councils and the Board of Education to further amplify the voices of schools in their communities,” said Leonard. “This can be achieved by seeking local school council representation, or by developing an advisory structure where local school councils can provide more robust feedback.”

Chicago’s mayor has appointed the members of the school board since 1995. That will come to an end under an elected school board bill that Gov. J.B. Prtizker signed in July 2021. The new school board will eventually have 21 elected members, creating one of the largest school boards in the nation.

Elected members will be phased in starting with the November 2024 election, when 10 members will be elected and 11, including the board’s president, will be appointed by the mayor. In November 2026, the 11 appointed seats will be up for election.

By January 2027, a fully elected board will be in place. The school board will then have staggered elections, with half the seats up for election every two years.

Chicago Public Schools is the fourth largest public school district in the nation, serving roughly 322,000 students. A majority of students are Black and Latino, and 72% come from low-income families.

As the district transitions to an elected school board, it could face a budget crisis. While Chicago’s operating budget is $9.5 billion, federal COVID-19 relief money will end by 2025.

The district may also pick up more costs after transitioning to an elected school board.

There will be four more public hearings this month, and Chicagoans can also submit feedback through an online portal.

Illinois lawmakers propose having half of Chicago voters select school board members in 2024

2023-11-03T23:45:00+00:00

Roughly half of Chicago voters would get to elect school board members in 2024 and the other half would vote in 2026, according to new language proposed by state lawmakers late Friday.

Earlier this week, legislators released a new draft map that divides the city into 20 districts. Each district has roughly 137,000 people in it. The new proposal assigns each district a number and says odd-numbered districts would vote in 2024. The state legislature could vote on the proposal during next week’s veto session.

In addition to outlining how Chicagoans would vote in the 2024 and 2026 election, the proposal includes ethics requirements for elected members and a conflict of interest provision that falls in line with state law.

The proposal also calls for the board of education to create a Black Student Achievement Committee to address the needs of Black students throughout the district and create a strategic plan to close the gap in academic achievement between Black students and their peers.

Valerie Leonard, of Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting, has pushed during public hearings for the Senate’s committee on the elected school board to create a Black Student Achievement Committee.

According to state law passed in 2021, 10 members of the school board are to be elected and 10 are to be appointed by the mayor in 2024. The mayor will also appoint a school board president. In 2026, the districts with appointed members will vote and the entire city will vote for a school board president.

People interested in running for Chicago’s Board of Education must collect 250 signatures from their districts and can begin circulating petitions on March 26, 2024. To get on the ballot, petitions must be filed by June 24, 2024.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Who will vote in Chicago’s first school board elections in 2024? Lawmakers are trying to decide.

2023-11-08T00:39:39+00:00

Illinois lawmakers are debating competing proposals that would allow all Chicago voters to cast a ballot in the city’s first school board elections in 2024.

A new proposal put forward by House Democrats pairs up the 20 districts the city is currently divided into under a third draft map released last week.

That plan, filed by Rep. Ann Williams, who chairs the House Democrats’ Chicago Public Schools Districting Working Group, would result in 10 elected school board members and 10 appointed by the mayor from each pairing of districts. A school board president would also be appointed by the mayor.

Meanwhile, following a Senate executive committee meeting, Senate President Don Harmon put forward a plan to have all 20 districts vote in 2024 and let the mayor appoint only the school board president. That came shortly after a senate committee passed an amendment that suggested only 10 of 20 districts vote in 2024.

Harmon said creating an elected school board for Chicago has been “a long journey.”

“Hopefully, we are in the closing chapter in Springfield,” he said.

According to state law passed in 2021, Chicago will move from having a seven-member school board appointed by the mayor to a 21-member elected school board by 2027.

But the transition from an appointed board to a hybrid one to one that’s fully-elected has puzzled lawmakers tasked with dividing the city into electoral districts.

According to the law — and its subsequent trailer bill passed in 2021 — 10 school board members are to be elected on Nov. 5, 2024 from 10 geographic districts. The mayor is to appoint 10 members from those same districts and a school board president at-large. In November 2026, the appointed members would then switch to being elected, including the school board president who would be elected at-large.

By January 2027, all 21 members will be elected. Going forward, elections will be staggered, with half the board up for election every two years.

The senate’s previous proposal to assign each district a number and only have people living in odd-numbered districts vote in 2024 was met with criticism by advocates who spoke during Tuesday’s committee meeting.

Kurt Hilgendorf, special assistant to Chicago Teachers Union’s president Stacy Davis-Gates, said that while the senate’s plan proposes a more representative map and addresses concerns around candidate eligibility and ethics, the union has decided not to take a position because of the proposal to only allow roughly half of the city to vote in 2024.

“That creates a disenfranchisement lawsuit risk and that we think that maximum participation should be done in the first election,” said Hilgendorf. “We think that all the voters in the city of Chicago should have the right to vote in that first year election.”

Valerie Leonard, of Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting, expressed the same concerns as Hilgendorf and suggested all 20 districts vote immediately.

“All districts should be up for election with half the terms being two-year terms and the other half being four years and that would create your stagger,” Leonard said.

At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, Harmon said having only 10 districts vote was the “Achilles’ heel” of the proposal Senate Democrats put forward late last week.

Shortly after the meeting ended, Harmon filed the amendment that would have residents in all 20 districts vote. Members elected in odd-numbered districts would serve four-year terms and members elected in even-numbered districts would serve two-year terms. The mayor would only appoint the school board president and in 2026, that position would be elected at-large by all Chicago voters.

If the House passes its new proposal to pair districts, it would need Senate approval. Similarly, the Senate’s proposal to have all 20 districts vote in 2024 would need House approval. Lawmakers are scheduled to be in session until Thursday.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Seis cosas que hay que saber sobre las elecciones a la junta de educación de Chicago

2024-04-19T20:44:05+00:00

Read in English.

Algunas de las cuestiones sobre las que se preguntan los habitantes de Chicago en cuanto a las primeras elecciones de la junta escolar tienen que ver con el tema del dinero en las campañas, los distritos electorales, y la compensación de los miembros de la junta escolar.

A partir del 15 de enero de 2025, la Junta de Educación de Chicago cambiará de siete miembros nombrados por el alcalde a una junta de 21 miembros con 10 miembros elegidos por votación y 11 nombrados por el alcalde Brandon Johnson. La temporada de campaña está oficialmente en marcha y los candidatos están surgiendo.

El martes fue el primer día en que se pudieron recoger firmas para participar en las elecciones del 5 de noviembre. Hasta el miércoles, seis candidatos han presentado documentos de financiación de campaña ante la Junta Estatal de Elecciones de Illinois.

El mes pasado, Chalkbeat preguntó a sus lectores qué preguntas tenían sobre el cambio de Chicago a una junta escolar elegida por votación. Las contestaremos en los próximos meses, empezando con estas seis que se centran en el proceso electoral.

¿En el pasado, cómo se elegían los miembros de la Junta de Educación de Chicago?

La Junta escolar de Chicago está formada actualmente por siete miembros nombrados por el alcalde, que tiene poder para elegir a quien desee. En el pasado, estos nombramientos eran secretos hasta que el alcalde los anunciaba, a menudo en una rueda o comunicado de prensa. Tanto la ex alcaldesa Lori Lightfoot como el ex alcalde Rahm Emanuel reemplazaron a toda la junta escolar tras ser elegidos.

El estado otorgó al alcalde de Chicago el poder de nombrar a los miembros del consejo escolar en 1995, cuando el entonces alcalde Richard M. Daley estaba en el cargo. Antes de eso, el alcalde seleccionaba a los miembros del consejo escolar a través de un proceso de nominación comunitario.

En las elecciones de noviembre, ¿habrá elecciones en todos los distritos? ¿Por cuánto tiempo serán miembros de la junta?

Sí. Los legisladores de Illinois dividieron a Chicago en 10 distritos para las elecciones de 2024. El 5 de noviembre habitantes de cada distrito elegirán un miembro para representarlos por dos años. Antes del 16 de diciembre de 2024, el alcalde Brandon Johnson nombrará a 10 miembros - uno de cada distrito - y un presidente para servir en términos de dos años.

Así es como funcionará.

Cada distrito también se subdivide en dos regiones. Por ejemplo, el Distrito 1 se compone de dos partes: 1A y una 1B. Si el candidato ganador en el Distrito 1 vive en la zona 1A, el alcalde tiene que nombrar a alguien que viva en la 1B. Si el ganador en el Distrito 2 vive en 2B, el alcalde debe nombrar a alguien que viva en 2A, y así por el estilo.

En 2026, los habitantes de Chicago votarán por candidatos para un mandato de dos o cuatro años. El presidente de la junta escolar será elegido ese mismo año para un mandato de cuatro años, que comenzará el 15 de enero de 2027.

¿Qué cualificaciones se necesitan para ser miembro del consejo escolar de Chicago?

La ley estatal dice que para servir en la junta escolar de CPS, usted debe ser:

ciudadano estadounidense.
votante registrado.
tener al menos 18 años.
ser residente de la ciudad, distrito o subdistrito durante al menos un año inmediatamente antes de la elección o nombramiento.

Además, los miembros de la junta no deben ser delincuentes sexuales registrados ni contratistas o proveedores que trabajen con el distrito. Los candidatos también deben conseguir al menos 1,000 firmas en una petición electoral, entre otras normas.

¿Habrá algún tipo de supervisión con respecto a las finanzas de campaña de los miembros de la junta escolar? ¿Cómo se puede comprobar quién hace donaciones a las campañas?

La Junta de Educación de Chicago exige a sus miembros que presenten una declaración de intereses económicos y recomienda a los miembros de la junta que lleven una lista de los donantes de la campaña. Los interesados pueden comprobar quién financia la campaña de un candidato consultando el sitio web de la Junta Electoral del Estado de Illinois o la base de datos Reform for Illinois’ Sunshine.

¿Serán compensados los miembros de la junta escolar?

La respuesta corta es no. Los miembros de juntas escolares en Chicago y el resto de Illinois sólo pueden ser reembolsados por gastos relacionados con sus deberes.

Sin embargo, el otoño pasado, los legisladores estatales propusieron un proyecto de ley con el fin de eliminar la prohibición de compensar a los miembros de las juntas escolares. Este proyecto de ley no obligaría al distrito escolar a proporcionar un salario ni establecería unos mínimos sobre cuánto se pagaría a los miembros de la junta escolar. Simplemente permitiría a los consejos locales decidir. Este proyecto de ley está estancado en la comisión de Asignaciones del Senado desde octubre.

¿Recibirá la nueva junta escolar formación de la Asociación de Juntas Escolares de Illinois?

No necesariamente. Según el código escolar del estado y una norma de la Junta de Educación de Chicago, todos los miembros de la junta escolar, nombrados o elegidos, deben recibir entrenamiento. Sin embargo, los miembros de la junta escolar no tienen que ser entrenados por la Asociación de Juntas Escolares de Illinois.

El estado exige que los miembros de la junta reciban entrenamiento en leyes educativas, leyes laborales, supervisión financiera, y rendición de cuentas, responsabilidad financiera de los miembros de la junta escolar y entrenamientos sobre la importancia de los traumas en los estudiantes y el personal. La Junta de Educación de Chicago dice que los miembros deben ser entrenados en la Ley de Reuniones Abiertas, el Código de Ética, y la ley de Illinois Mandated Reporter, entre otros temas.

¿Aún tiene preguntas? Háganos saber en el siguiente formulario.

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Samantha Smylie es la reportera de educación estatal de Chalkbeat Chicago y cubre los distritos escolares de todo el estado, la legislación, la educación especial y la junta estatal de educación. Póngase en contacto con Samantha en ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Becky Vevea es la jefa de redacción de Chalkbeat Chicago. Póngase en contacto con Becky en bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Traducido por INN.

Six things to know about Chicago’s board of education election

2024-03-27T23:10:38+00:00

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Leer en español.

Campaign money, voting districts, and school board member compensation are some of the issues Chicagoans have questions about as the city’s first school board elections loom.

Starting Jan. 15, 2025, Chicago’s Board of Education will go from seven members appointed by the mayor to a 21-member board with 10 elected members and 11 appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson. Campaign season is officially underway and candidates are surfacing.

Tuesday was the first day people could collect signatures to get on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election. As of Wednesday, six candidates have filed campaign finance paperwork with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Last month, Chalkbeat asked readers what questions they had about Chicago’s shift to an elected school board. We got dozens of responses. We’ll be answering them over the coming months, starting with these six focused on the electoral process.

How were Chicago Board of Education members chosen in the past?

Chicago’s school board is currently made up of seven members appointed by the mayor, who has unilateral power to pick anyone to serve. In the past, those appointments have been secret until the mayor announced them, often in a press conference or press release. Both former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel replaced the entire school board after being elected.

The state gave Chicago’s mayor the power to appoint school board members in 1995, when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley was in office. Prior to that, the mayor would select school board members through a community nominating process.

During November’s elections, will all districts be up for election? How long will board members serve?

Yes. Illinois lawmakers divided Chicago into 10 districts for the 2024 election. On Nov. 5, residents of each district will elect a school board member to represent them for two years. On or before Dec. 16, 2024, Mayor Brandon Johnson will appoint 10 school board members — one from each district — and a board president to serve two-year terms.

Here’s how it will work.

Each district is also subdivided into two regions. For example, District 1 is made up of two parts: 1A and a 1B. If the winning candidate in District 1 lives in 1A, the mayor has to appoint someone who lives in 1B. If the winner in District 2 lives in 2B, the mayor must appoint someone who lives in 2A, and so on.

In 2026, Chicagoans will vote for candidates in all 20 subdistricts to serve either a two-year or four-year term. The school board president will be elected that same year citywide to a four-year term, which will start on Jan. 15, 2027.

What qualifications does someone need to be a Chicago school board member?

State law says that to serve on the CPS school board, you must be:

a U.S. citizen.
a registered voter.
at least 18 years old.
a resident of the city, district, or subdistrict for at least one year immediately before election or appointment.

In addition, board members must not be registered sex offenders or contractors or vendors working with the district. Candidates must also get at least 1,000 signatures on an election petition, among other rules.

Will there be any oversight into school board members’ campaign finances? How can citizens check who is donating to campaigns?

The Chicago Board of Education requires its members to file a statement of economic interests and recommends that board members keep a list of campaign donors. Citizens can check who is financing a candidate’s campaign by searching the Illinois State Board of Elections website or Reform for Illinois’ Sunshine Database.

Will school board members be compensated?

The short answer is no. Currently, school board members in Chicago and the rest of Illinois can be reimbursed for expenses related to their duties.

However, last fall, state lawmakers proposed a bill to lift a ban on compensation for school board members from being compensated. This bill would not mandate the school district to provide a salary or set minimums for how much school board members would be paid. It would simply allow local boards to decide. This bill has been stuck in the Senate’s Assignments committee since October.

Will Chicago’s elected school board be trained by the Illinois Association of School Boards?

Not necessarily. According to the state’s school code and a Chicago Board of Education rule, all school board members, appointed or elected, must be trained. However, school board members do not have to be trained by the Illinois Association of School Boards.

The state requires board members to be trained in education law, labor law, financial oversight and accountability, financial responsibility of school board members, and trauma-informed practices for students and staff. Chicago’s Board of Education says that members must be trained in the Opening Meetings Act, the Code of Ethics, and the Illinois Mandated Reporter law, among other topics.

Still have questions? Let us know in the form below.

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Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Dissecting frogs and dispelling stereotypes: This South Side teacher wants her second graders to love math and science

2024-04-15T19:08:36+00:00

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Precious Allen’s main goal as a teacher is to create more first-generation doctors and engineers. She believes that the only way to accomplish this goal is to expose children to science, engineering, math, and medicine as early as second grade.

Allen’s second grade students at Betty Shabazz Academy, a charter school in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the city’s South Side, have already dissected frogs while wearing doctor’s outfits and gear. One might think that second graders would be squeamish when it comes to dissections, but Allen said that her students took it very seriously.

Allen, who has been teaching for 12 years, was celebrated as a finalist for Golden Apple’s Excellence in Teaching award — an honor she said was “kind of surreal.”

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Precious Allen poses for a portait.

Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?

I wanted to be a pediatrician. But in my high school experience, I didn’t have guidance that pushed the importance of SATs or ACTs. My school counselor advised us to go to a community college, get our GPAs up, and then transfer to a four-year university. That’s what I did. I didn’t know anything about a pre-med track, and I didn’t have any guidance on scholarships. I switched majors multiple times — going from interior design to early childhood education and psychology, and eventually into elementary education.

How do you get to know your students?

There’s this activity that I found 10 years ago on Pinterest called, “I wish my teacher knew… .” It goes like “I wish my teacher knew that sometimes I don’t eat over the weekend,” or “I wish my teacher knew that in the morning time, my mom drops me off at my dad’s house and I miss my mother.” I do it every year because it really helps me see the human before the student.

Tell us about a favorite lesson to teach. Where did the idea come from?

The human body. The idea stemmed from when I had my daughter. I took her to several pediatricians because I felt like I wasn’t being listened to. When I finally found a pediatrician who was Black, I felt like she really listened to the concerns that I had. So when I first taught the human body, it was with the mindset of trying to create first-generation medical students.

What object would you be helpless without during the school day?

My clipboard. It’s where I track all of my students [and] the things that they’re doing. It is not used as a consequence; it’s used as a celebration so that parents can see all the great things that their child has accomplished throughout the day.

Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.

I had a couple of bad experiences with parents who were upset during my first few years of teaching. When I look back now, I say, “I should have practiced empathy.” Now, I’m able to see that more is going on when a parent is frustrated, and I’ve learned that there are other issues that parents are going through that are upsetting them. They could be experiencing homelessness, going through a divorce or a custody battle. I think that approach has really helped me to build relationships with parents.

What part of your job is most difficult?

I would say the most difficult part is trying to navigate a stereotype against Black children that says they’re hard to teach. I have to work extra hard in the classroom to show that my students are just as smart as a student in Japan or a student in the suburbs.

What was the biggest misconception that you initially brought to teaching?

During my first two years of teaching, I realized I was passing on my bias [against] math to my students. I taught every other subject with my heart, but with math, I taught it exactly like the book said and nothing else. I realized it was bad. For one year, I only went to math professional development courses. Now, math is my favorite subject to teach.

What advice would you give to new teachers?

Give yourself grace, and do not compare yourself to anyone else. The last thing I would say is to “check your politics at the door,” which means whatever politics is happening at school, when you’re in front of your students, enjoy them and have fun with them.

What’s a book that has helped you become a better teacher, and why?

“Yardstick” by Chip Wood. It’s about developmental changes for children ages of four to 14. I give it to my parents every year. It helps me and the parents understand what’s happening developmentally so they can grow with their child.

Bill creating new state Department of Early Childhood clears key Illinois House committee

2024-03-22T20:59:18+00:00

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A bill creating a new state Department of Early Childhood cleared a key Illinois House committee Friday morning by a 14-0 vote – advancing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s goal of streamlining early childhood and child care programs.

The bill now heads to the House floor.

If House Bill 5451 clears the general assembly this session, the state’s Department of Early Childhood would start operations on July 1 and would oversee programs such as early intervention for young children with disabilities, home visiting, and child care assistance programs to help low-income families access child care.

While the department is in a transition phase, the Illinois State Board of Education, state Department of Human Services, and the Department of Children and Families Services would continue to run child care programs and early childhood education programs.

The Department of Early Childhood would be the lead state agency to administer and provide early childhood education and child care programs and services to children and families by July 1, 2026.

In opening remarks to the House’s Child Care Accessibility & Early Childhood Education Committee on Friday, State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a Democrat representing Arlington Heights, said placing childhood services under one department would be easier on families with young children and child care providers.

“This bill will make early childhood simpler, better, and fairer,” said Canty. “It will make it easier for families to access services, it will allow the state to more equitably serve high-need families, and will also reduce the administrative burden on providers.”

HB 5451 does not change any child care programs during the transition, according to Canty. Any changes to child care or early childhood education programs would have to come before the general assembly either next year or during 2026.

State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, Senate Majority leader and a Democrat representing Chicago’s west side and nearby suburbs, proposed a Senate version of HB 5451, known as Senate Bill 1, which is already on the Senate’s floor.

During Friday’s committee meeting, other House representatives raised concerns about the costs of operating the Department of Early Childhood and whether state employees who work under the three state departments that currently operate early childhood education programs will be able to maintain their jobs.

Ann Whalen, Early Childhood Transition director, testified during the hearing that the original cost analysis estimated $13 million to launch the department, but the future budget would be determined later.

When asked if current state employees would be able to retain their jobs during the creation of the new department, Whalen said personnel may be pulled from one department to the other. “No one will lose their jobs. Period,” she said at the committee hearing.

Earlier in the hearing, Canty noted that AFSCME Local 31 and the Illinois Federation of Teachers represent early childhood education and child care workers across the state. Both unions currently have ongoing negotiations with the state about the development of the new department.

Canty said current workers are protected under state law and would be “unaffected” by her proposal.

Pritzker also plans to boost funding for early childhood education in the state’s 2025 budget during the second year of his Smart Start Illinois Initiative — which has the goal of creating 20,000 new preschool seats for 3- and 4-year olds. Last year, he added $250 million to the plan. According to the governor’s office and the state board, the plan has already created an additional 5,800 preschool seats.

In February, Pritzker proposed a $150 million increase for early childhood education. The increase includes $75 million for the Illinois State Board of Education’s early childhood education block grant to add 5,000 more public school seats for preschool students. Pritzker also recommended an additional $5 million for home visiting programs and $36.5 million for the child care assistance programs for the state Department of Human Services.

The state legislature is expected to approve a final budget for fiscal year 2025 at the end of session in late May.

Illinois House passes plan for Chicago’s elected school board

2024-03-07T21:58:38+00:00

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The Illinois House has approved a Senate proposal that would allow Chicagoans to vote for 10 out of 21 school board members during the Nov. 5 election. The bill now heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s officer for final approval.

Senate Bill 15, which passed 75-31 on Thursday, includes boundaries for the districts that school board members will represent, ethics guidelines, and term limits.

November marks the first time Chicago voters will be able to elect school board members. Voters will elect 10 board members while Mayor Brandon Johnson will appoint 11, effectively keeping control until the end of his first term. In 2026, all 21 seats will be up for election, with 20 members elected from districts and the board president voted on by the entire city.

The House vote Thursday comes just two weeks before March 26, when school board candidates can start to gather signatures to get on the Nov. 5 ballot. According to the bill, candidates will need to collect at least 1,000 signatures by June 24 to get on the ballot.

Rep. Ann Williams, a Democrat representing neighborhoods on Chicago’s north side, said Thursday afternoon that if this debate had taken place a year ago, she would have pushed for a fully elected school board. However, with November only a few months away, she feels the plan to elect 10 instead of all 21 is the best way to move forward.

“CPS is a $9 billion dollar agency which serves over 325,000 students,” said Williams. “It feels irresponsible to completely turn over the governance of Chicago Public Schools in a matter of months without adequate time to plan.”

While House members praised the work Williams and other lawmakers have done to establish an elected school board, others expressed concerns the shift in governance could impact the district’s finances.

Rep. Fred Crespo, a Democrat representing suburbs northwest of Chicago, said he is still worried about the financial impacts of Chicago’s elected board on the state and city.

A 2022 report required by state law detailed costs the Chicago Board of Education might take on as the board transitions to an elected board. For example, the report said, the City of Chicago could begin to charge the school district for things such as water and rent in non-district public facilities.

Chicago’s school board has been appointed by the mayor since 1995. For years, community organizations and the Chicago Teachers Union lobbied state lawmakers and rallied local support to get a fully elected school board. The effort gained momentum after school closures in majority Black and Latino neighborhoods on the city’s South and West Sides.

In 2021, the general assembly passed a compromise bill that created a hybrid board in 2024, which drew protests from local advocates.

Illinois could switch from the SAT to the ACT next school year

2024-03-14T17:04:03+00:00

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Next year, Illinois high school juniors could take the ACT instead of the SAT as the federally-mandated state test. The Illinois State Board of Education has started the process of awarding a three-year, $53 million contract to ACT Inc.

The College Board’s contract to administer the SAT for 11th graders and PSAT for ninth and 10th graders is set to expire June 30. The state board is required by federal law to administer accountability assessments to high school students. State law says that exam must be a nationally recognized college entrance exam like the SAT or ACT and must be awarded through a competitive procurement process. All Illinois public high school students must take a college entrance exam in order to receive their high school diploma.

The ACT would be administered in school buildings starting with the school year 2024-25, but students will still be able to take the SAT if they want to pay for it.

Illinois’ plan to switch tests comes at a time when the SAT is going fully digital and will take two hours instead of three. (The ACT is three hours). The new SAT will also be adaptive, with test questions that adjust in difficulty based on how students respond to previous questions.

While around 2,000 schools nationwide have become test optional or test free, elite universities like Yale, Brown, and M.I.T have backtracked and reinstated standardized tests as an admission requirement.

Illinois used the ACT for 15 years before the state board switched to the SAT in 2016. Since then, the state board has renewed the College Board’s contract several times. In 2016 and 2018, ACT Inc. protested the state’s College Board contract without success.

The new contract says that ACT Inc. will provide an assessment to ninth, 10th and 11th graders that aligns with the Illinois Learning Standards in English and math. The next step in the process is for certain parties to protest the bid. In the past, when the College Board was awarded a contract, ACT Inc. protested it. The board has not said when it will formally approve the contract.

A spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools said in an email to Chalkbeat that “CPS urges that if ISBE makes a change in the high school accountability assessment selection, they allow at least a year transition period before any new assessment becomes mandatory to ensure a smooth transition for our students.”

The Chicago Board of Education renewed a three-year contract with College Board in April 2023 and a spokesperson for the district said it plans to continue administering the PSAT and SAT until at least 2026.

Matthew Raimondi, who works at district U-46 in Elgin, asked the board on Wednesday morning at their monthly meeting not to move forward with contracting with ACT Inc. because he says the exam has not changed for years and does not align with the state’s learning standards.

“That high school assessment is ultimately going to guide how teachers teach. Teachers are going to teach to the test that you select,” said Raimondi. “I urge you as board members to make sure you make the best decision to move Illinois forward and not back to a test from the last century.”

State Superintendent Tony Sanders wrote in a weekly message Tuesday that the state board will ensure that assessments are in line with the board’s learning standards and that ISBE will provide schools with “ample support.”

Cassie Creswell, executive director of Illinois Families for Public Schools, says that no matter what tests the state switches to, she wants to protect Illinois’ students from having their data sold to other institutions.

Creswell urged board members on Wednesday to stop allowing testing agencies to sell student data that they collected through their exams. Creswell’s group recently sent a letter to state Attorney General Kwame Raoul asking his office to enforce the state’s student data privacy law, the Illinois Student Online Privacy Protection Act.

“Any new contract signed with the College Board or ACT Inc. should be clear that data sales are illegal and will no longer be tolerated,” Creswell said. “There is no exception in the student data privacy law for asking students or parents permission for sales. Licensing is actually the same as selling or renting data.” Creswell said.

In February 2024, the New York attorney general announced that the College Board is set to pay $750,000 in a settlement for sharing and selling student data it collected through the SAT, PSAT, and Advanced Placement tests.

Correction: March 19, 2024: An earlier version of this story said Cassie Creswell is the executive director of Illinois for Public Families. The organization’s correct name is Illinois Families for Public Schools.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget plan leaves out extra money for schools to help migrant students

2024-03-18T19:28:29+00:00

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Illinois lawmakers and education advocates say Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed budget does not recommend enough money for schools to help newly arrived migrant students.

Pritzker’s budget proposal in February did not include an additional $35 million to support migrant students that the Illinois State Board of Education had requested in the budget proposal it submitted in January.

State Rep. Fred Crespo, a Democrat representing suburbs northwest of Chicago, has filed a pair of bills — House Bill 2822 and House Bill 3991— that would allow the Illinois State Board of Education to create a $35 million New Arrival Grant program that would distribute funding to school districts to support migrant students.

Crespo said he plans to amend the legislation to request $150 million for the grant program.

Both bills are currently in committees in the House.

A spokesperson for Pritzker said in a statement to Chalkbeat that the governor’s priority is to ensure newly arrived migrant families have shelter, food, and a path to independence. The governor and Cook County officials pledged $250 million for shelter, health care, and wraparound services in February

“Schools are also able to access federal funding for many new arrived students under the federal McKinney Vento law to support homeless services,” said the governor’s office. “The Governor also proposed a $350 million increase in K-12 funding and new students will be incorporated into funding formulas at their districts moving forward.”

Since 2017, Illinois has distributed funding to K-12 public schools through a formula that takes into account need, such as how many low-income students, English language learners, or students with disabilities are enrolled.

Erika Méndez, director of P-12 education policy and advocacy at the Latino Policy Forum, said the state’s evidence-based funding formula to fund K-12 public schools is not enough to keep up with the number of migrant students entering and leaving school districts.

“When you’re thinking about funding distribution, they use enrollment data which doesn’t capture all of the transiency that happens in a school year when you’re receiving newcomers or they’re leaving your school districts,” said Méndez.

Méndez said migrant families are resettling in communities around the state and schools need money to reduce class sizes, address staffing shortages, and fix infrastructure of schools.

Chicago Public Schools has said it does not collect information on the immigration status of students. But overall enrollment in the district has climbed since the start of the school year and nearly 7,000 more students have been identified as English language learners, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of mid-year enrollment data from the district. English language learners are not all new arrivals.

School districts across the state have also seen an increase in English language learner enrollment over the last five years, moving from 12.1% of the state’s total enrollment in 2019 to 14.6% in 2023, according to the state report card. In October, state officials said they could not say how many students are migrants from Latin America or refugee students from Ukraine or Afghanistan.

Teachers have said schools need more support to help students who are in need of housing, clothing, and food, as well as more staff who can speak Spanish.

The City of Chicago has reported over 37,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in the city as of March 14, 2024. The city’s dashboard doesn’t specify how many of those new arrivals are of school age.

Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and one of the architects of the state’s evidence-based funding formula, said the funding formula will adjust for the needs of the school based on the schools overall enrollment and the enrollment of students from low-income households, English learners, and students with disabilities. But it depends on the tier of the school.

Tiers determine the level of need for state funding. School districts that fall in Tier 1 or 2 are higher on the priority list for state funding and receive more funding, while Tiers 3 and 4 receive a smaller amount of state dollars.

“CPS schools are in Tier 2,” said Martire. “They are not going to get the full benefit of the support of the enhanced investment that a Tier 1 district would get.”

Chicago Public Schools moved down from Tier 1 to Tier 2 in 2022 after the district saw a loss of low-income students but an increase in property tax base. In 2022 and 2023, the district saw slightly less new money from the state. Since the change in tiers, CPS officials have raised concerns about the decrease in state funding and what it means for the district.

District officials recently said in a statement to Chalkbeat that they appreciate the governor’s continued commitment to put new money into the state’s evidence-based funding formula, but the model has fallen short, leaving CPS about $1.1 billion short of its “adequacy target.”

A report from the Center of Tax and Budget accountability found last year that the evidence-based funding formula is working to reduce funding gaps between wealthier and underfunded districts and increase funding for districts serving more students of color and those from low-income families.

The state’s final budget won’t be finalized until the end of the spring legislative session in late May.

Illinois lawmakers challenge Chicago school board’s plans to remove police, rethink choice policy

2024-03-11T20:07:43+00:00

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Illinois state lawmakers filed two bills last week aimed at reversing the Chicago Board of Education’s decisions to rethink school choice policies and remove school resource officers from campuses.

The bills focus on board moves that have drawn both support and sharp pushback in recent months from school communities and elected officials. Those decisions include a plan to reconsider the district’s system of school choice — including charter, selective enrollment, magnet, and gifted schools — and to create a new school safety plan that bans the use of school resource officers, or on-campus police.

The new state bills would significantly curtail both board decisions. One bill would prevent the closure of selective-enrollment schools and any changes to admissions policies at those schools for the next three years. The other would let local school councils retain the power to decide whether they want on-campus police — a right they would lose by next school year under a new safety plan.

Both bills have gathered support from other Chicago-based state lawmakers and powerful allies, including House Speaker Chris Welch.

The legislation is an example of lawmakers seeking to use state power to override Chicago’s authority over its schools. It comes just days after the Illinois House and Senate passed a bill governing elections for Chicago’s first-ever elected school board.

That power dynamic drew criticism from Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, who has supported the board’s moves around school choice and resource officers.

“I remember being told by (Illinois General Assembly) members that they would *not* circumvent local control of CPS BOE,” Davis Gates tweeted in response to a tweet about the resource officer legislation. “That was in 2013 when Rahm Emanuel closed down 50 Black schools impacting nearly 20K Black children. Can anyone help me define irony?”

Dwayne Truss, a longtime activist on the West Side who has opposed the board’s decision on school resource officers, felt state lawmakers took an important step.

It’s the state’s attempt, Truss said, to “say, ‘Hey, if this is what they want, and it’s fair and it’s reasonable, then we have to protect those rights.’”

Some local school councils want to keep police officers

One of the state bills, House Bill 5008, would allow local school councils to contract with the Chicago Police Department for school resource officers. It would counteract a board vote two weeks ago to create a new school safety policy by June 27 that would end the use of school resource officers, effectively removing officers from 39 schools that currently have them, by next year.

“Local school councils are designed to make the best decision for their school,” said Rep. Mary Gill, a Democrat who represents neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side and south suburbs, and is a key sponsor of HB 5008. “This is about keeping the power local to be able to decide if a (school resource officer) is needed, and from my research, 39 high schools would like to keep them. I think that’s enough.”

This bill passed the House’s Police and Fire committee last week, 13-0, and is headed to the House floor.

The safety plan board members called for in their vote two weeks ago would focus on more “holistic” approaches to discipline, such as restorative justice practices, which emphasize conflict resolution.

In steering away from on-campus police officers, the board cited data showing that Black students and those with disabilities were disciplined and arrested at school at disproportionately higher rates than their peers.

Schools that implemented restorative justice saw a drop in student arrests, according to a recent study.

The board decision drew substantial support, including from organizations that had pushed for years to get rid of on-campus police officers and use the money on other resources, such as more social workers or alternative discipline practices.

But it also triggered a backlash from community members and elected officials who want local councils — not the board — to decide whether their schools should have school resource officers.

Froy Jimenez, member of the district’s Local School Council Advisory Board, said Rep. Gill is “doing the city a big favor” by letting councils make the decision. Many parents, students and staff will be happy if the bill passes, said Jimenez, who is also a teacher at Hancock College Preparatory High School, which voted to remove its resource officers.

“Some will choose not to, and having that ability is crucial,” he said.

CPS spokesperson Sylvia Barragan said in a statement that the district “follows the policies and procedures set by the Board of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education” and that the district “remains committed to working with our leaders, administrators, and school staff toward improving efforts to bolster student safety and protection.”

Lawmakers say ‘hands off’ selective enrollment schools

The second bill, House Bill 5766, would prevent the closure of any school with selective admissions criteria — such as the city’s 11 selective high schools — until Feb. 1, 2027. The bill also calls for a halt to any changes to admissions criteria for selective schools or any decrease in funding to selective schools until 2027.

The bill is a response to the board resolution stating that it would rethink the school choice system and invest more resources in neighborhood schools. The resolution criticized admissions policies at selective enrollment and other “choice” schools, which were originally created to desegregate the school system but have in recent years led to segregation along the lines of student race and income.

Rep. Margaret Croke, a Democrat serving neighborhoods on the city’s northern lakefront who is sponsoring the bill, said her constituents were concerned about changes to selective enrollment schools under a majority appointed school board. They would rather wait for changes to be made after the Chicago Board of Education is fully elected during 2026, she said.

“If an elected school board that has been elected by the city of Chicago decides to take a position or action as it pertains to selective enrollment schools, I may not agree with it, but they were elected by the constituents and the voters of the city of Chicago,” said Croke.

Croke said she believes the current board is trying to change the funding formula to provide less money to selective enrollment and give more to neighborhood schools. The board’s resolution states that it wants to “ensure equitable funding and resources across schools within the District using an equity lens.”

Board members have expressed a desire to scrutinize charter schools more closely. They also want the district to provide more resources to neighborhood schools, or a child’s zoned school, in order to support “students furthest away from opportunity and ensure that all students have access to a world-class public pre-K through 12th-grade education,” officials said.

The board’s resolution did not include any language about closing schools, and board members have stated they don’t plan to close selective-enrollment schools. Written into the compromise hybrid school board bill in 2021 was a moratorium on school Chicago closures until after Jan. 15, 2025.

The resolution didn’t call for specific changes; board members said they want to hear from the public on what the district should do. The resulting plan will be part of the district’s five-year strategic plan, which the board is expected to vote on this summer.

Community groups call for better engagement

The pushback in Springfield comes after a coalition of community groups in Chicago sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson urging him to push his hand-picked school board to do more — and better — community engagement.

The letter, which was sent to other elected officials, city staff, district officials, and school board members, also asked that the resolution on rethinking school choice policies, among other things, be repealed because it “was crafted with no input from the communities it will impact” and was published and approved during the final week of classes before winter break.

“There wasn’t a public comment opportunity when the resolution was announced. And then it just kind of passed,” said Daniel Anello, executive director of Kids First Chicago, a parent advocacy organization that helped create the letter.

In December, district officials said they would hold community engagement sessions in February. A Chicago Public Schools spokesperson said last week that the district now plans to hold community engagement sessions around the next five-year strategic plan after spring break, which is the last week of March.

Becky Vevea contributed reporting.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois Senate approves plan for how Chicago would elect 10 of 21 school board members in 2024

2024-03-06T00:12:50+00:00

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Chicago voters would elect – for the first time – 10 school board members this November and all 21 members in 2026, according to a plan approved by Illinois senators Tuesday.

The vote on Senate Bill 15 firms up the districts that elected school board members would represent ahead of a looming April 1 deadline to draw a map lawmakers pushed back last spring. It also comes ahead of March 26, when candidates can begin circulating petitions to get on the Nov. 5 ballot. They would need to collect at least 1,000 but not more than 3,000 signatures by June 24 in order to run.

The bill now goes to the House, which must approve the measure before it can head to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.

The Senate vote appears to resolve a disagreement between lawmakers that emerged last year over whether Chicago should go straight to electing all 21 school board members and skip having a hybrid school board. The original law passed in 2021 laid out a process to have 10 elected members and 11 appointed by the mayor.

Senate President Don Harmon said during the hearing that he filed an amendment to the bill that passed Tuesday because Mayor Brandon Johnson wrote a letter to him at the end of January requesting to stick with a hybrid school board.

“There has been much passion and frustration surrounding this effort, not for days or weeks or months, but for years and decades,” said Harmon during the Senate’s floor debate on Tuesday afternoon. “What we’re about to do today is one of the most consequential things we will do in our legislative careers. We are making a new democratic form of government from whole cloth and getting it across the finish line.”

Chicago’s Board of Education has been appointed by the mayor since 1995, when the state legislature gave control of Chicago Public Schools to then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. In 2021, the state legislature passed a law paving the way for a 21-member elected school board. The school board votes on the district’s annual multi-billion dollar budget, determines how schools are measured, authorizes contracts with vendors to bus students to and from school, clean classrooms and hallways, and even operate entire schools under charter agreements.

Senate majority leader Kimberly Lightford, who represents parts of Chicago’s West Side and western suburbs, said it is time to stop “playing politics” and represent the children who are attending Chicago Public Schools.

“We are here now, punting the ball back and forth from chamber to chamber – if the mayor wants it, if [Chicago Teachers Union] wants it — who cares?” Lightford said. “When are we willing to put politics aside and educate our children? I would love to see that happen before I retire.”

The district map approved by the Senate on Tuesday mirrors a third draft released during the veto session in November, but groups the 20 districts into pairs to create 10 districts for this year’s elections. That aligns with what the House passed last fall which was put forward by Rep. Ann Williams, who represents parts of the city’s North Side and chairs a special task force of House Democrats who worked on drawing school board districts.

There are three majority Black districts, three majority Latino districts, two majority white districts, and two districts with no majority, but a white plurality.

By creating 10 districts for 2024 and dividing them into 20 subdistricts in 2026, Senate Bill 15 would allow everyone in the city to vote for a school board member this November.

During the 2024 elections, if the winning candidate in District 1 lives in subdistrict 1a, the mayor would appoint someone who lives in 1b. In 2026, all 20 school board members would be elected from subdistricts to either a two-year or four-year term and the school board president would be elected citywide to a four-year term beginning Jan. 15, 2027.

Chicagoans who testified at multiple hearings last year raised concerns about the school board representing the students it will eventually serve. The district is 46% Latino, 36% Black, 11% white, and 4% Asian American. However, electoral districts must represent all voters. Chicago’s overall population is 33% white, 29% Latino, and 29% Black.

A Chalkbeat analysis of the demographics of the schools within the boundaries of each of the 10 districts indicates that in four districts, the racial majority of the population does not match the student demographics of the schools in that district.

There is also an imbalance of the number of CPS schools within each district. One district, which stretches from West Town to Austin, has 101 public schools in it, while the north lakefront district that includes Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and Uptown, has 34 CPS schools.

Kids First Chicago, a parent advocacy group, said in a statement it hopes Mayor Johnson will “leverage his appointments to ensure the elected school board reflects our student body’s diversity in 2025.”

Under the bill now headed to the House, the 10 districts would be divided for the 2026 elections, creating 20 districts, seven majority Black, six majority Latino, and five where the population is 50% or more white. Two districts are plurality white, with Latinos making up the second-largest population.

During the Senate’s executive committee hearing earlier on Tuesday, a large number of people were critical of Senate Bill 15. Some want to see a fully elected school board now, while others found the language in the bill confusing.

“Back in November, everybody could vote for the candidate of their choice. Anybody who wanted to run could run and it didn’t matter where they lived or who their neighbor was,” said Valerie Leonard, with Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting, which also pushed for a committee that focuses on Black student achievement at Chicago Public Schools.

Leonard said the move to an elected school board under this plan is confusing. “If you ask 30 people what this bill is today, I guarantee you’re gonna get 30 different answers,” Leonard said. “That’s not good public policy.”

Sen. Robert Martwick, who sponsored the elected school board law that passed in 2021, said on the Senate floor Wednesday that bill also required compromise.

“That’s what the Senate passed. That’s what the House passed. That’s what the governor signed,” said Martwick. “Is it perfect? No. But when you figure out what the perfect form of democracy is, would you let me know?”

Martwick worked with some grassroots organizers and the CTU for several years to make an elected school board a reality in Chicago.

“People volunteered and worked for years and years before I got there,” he said. “We get the privilege of making their dreams of democracy become a reality.”

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois advocates of career and technical education want more funding as demand for programs increase

2024-03-04T23:35:01+00:00

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A decade ago, Latisa Kindred fought to bring back the electricity program at Simeon Career Academy, which had been shut down by the school’s principal due to low enrollment. The effort by Kindred, students, alumni, and elected officials paid off – and the program was reinstated.

Now, Simeon’s career and technical education program, where Kindred continues to teach electricity to high school students, is being held up as a model. Last week, Mayor Brandon Johnson toured the high school, visiting carpentry, electricity, and culinary arts classrooms – and even sampling a large breakfast of sausages, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and toast prepared by the high school’s chefs.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson tours Simeon Career Academy on Mon., Feb. 26, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

“CTE can provide introductions to industries that [students] never knew existed and exposure to opportunities that they never dreamed of,” said Kindred, who has been teaching for about 17 years.

Advocates for CTE programs such as the one at Simeon have praised such programs across the state for introducing students to the trades and helping them land jobs after high school graduation.

In February, Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed a $10.3 million increase in funding for CTE programs. If the legislature approves his budget proposal at the end of session, the total amount of state funding for CTE programs would be $58 million in fiscal year 2025. Last year, CTE programs received around $48 million in state funding.

This school year, at monthly meetings and during fall budget hearings, CTE advocates asked for a funding increase of at least $10 million from the Illinois State Board of Education. They believe CTE programs can help students get into high-salary jobs right out of high school, grow the state’s workforce and economy, and allow students to start their lives without a large amount of student loan debt. However, data on student outcomes is still unclear, even as school districts like Chicago and across the country continue to invest in CTE programs.

Some school district leaders, educators, and economic developers say they are glad to see a major increase, but think even that might not be enough after years without additional state dollars – between fiscal years 2009 and 2023, state funding stayed mostly flat. They say more is needed due to a rise in demand from students who want to be in CTE programs and the need to expand current facilities and update equipment for classes.

A spokesperson from Pritzker’s office said the governor’s proposal “included a significant increase in CTE funding distributed from general state funds, as opposed to many other states who did not commit to CTE funding beyond the required amount given through Perkins federal dollars.”

Across the state, enrollment for career and technical education programs has gone from around 285,000 students during the 2019-20 school year to about 300,000 students last school year, a 5% increase. Some high school programs have had to turn away students due to lack of space, say school district leaders.

At the state board’s meeting in February, Brad Skertich, superintendent of Collinsville Community Unit School District 10, asked for more funding for CTE programs. In his district, high school juniors and seniors can take classes in fields such as cosmetology, dental assistance, and automotive repair at the Collinsville Area Vocational Center. The vocational center serves students from Collinsville and eight other high schools from districts in the surrounding area.

Skertich said companies are reaching out to his school district to see which students can work in the field after completing the two-year program.

“We have not seen those public-private partnerships before and they’re exploding each year. The demand is more and they’re looking to hire our students,” he said. “So we find ourselves in a unique time.”

The nine high schools connected to the Collinsville Area Vocational Center received about 700 requests from students to enroll in CTE programs during the 2024-25 school year. However, because the center’s maximum capacity is 500 students, it does not have the space to absorb so many students at once, according to Skertich. He said this has happened every year for the past three years and demand for classes continues to grow.

Adam Seaney has seen a similar trend at the Galesburg Vocational Center in Western Illinois. As vocational director of the center, Seaney has seen an increase in demand for programs such as automotive, construction, and nursing.

Seaney said the coalition will continue to “beat the drum” to ask the state for more funding to get more students into programs and to afford equipment.

“When you look at inflationary increases on the equipment that we use in our center and centers across the state. It’s expensive,” said Seaney. “They’re great programs to have and we’re excited to be able to have those programs but it’s expensive.”

Some advocates of career and technical education programs say the programs help increase the number of workers in fields that have shortages, such as nursing, and attract more business to Illinois to help the state’s economy.

For over a decade, said Ken Springer, president of the Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development, he has heard companies say there were not enough workers in Western Illinois to meet their demands. Now, Springer and his organization work closely with CTE programs at high schools and community colleges to help students find jobs after graduation.

“The story of economic development in the 21st century is about talent. It’s about workforce skills. Every state is competing against each other,” said Springer. “If Illinois wants to continue to be at the head of the pack in terms of being able to attract companies across the state, CTE is one pathway to do that.”

Report: Tax-credit scholarship recipients didn’t outscore public school students

2024-02-29T01:27:09+00:00

Illinois public school students outperformed students who received tax credit scholarships on state standardized tests in 2022 and 2023, according to a new report submitted to the Illinois State Board of Education.

But researchers say the lack of demographic data for tax credit scholarship recipients limits the conclusions that researchers can make on the effectiveness of the program. While advocates who opposed the tax scholarship program say it raises questions about oversight into private schools who are receiving public dollars.

Illinois’ controversial tax credit scholarship, known as Invest in Kids, was created in 2017 amid a budget impasse between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and a majority Democrat general assembly. The program allowed people and corporations to donate money to organizations tasked with granting scholarships to low-income students to attend private schools. Donors would get a tax credit worth 75 cents for every dollar. Now the program is sunsetting after failing to get renewed during the veto session in the fall.

Supporters of Invest in Kids promised that the tax-credit scholarships would allow students from low-income families to get a better education than in public schools. However, a report commissioned by the state board and written by WestEd, a San Francisco-based nonpartisan research agency, found data to the contrary.

WestEd looked at test score data from the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, an exam that students from third to eighth grade take in the spring, scores on SATs, a college entrance exam for 11th graders, and surveyed how students, families, and teachers were doing at schools granted scholarship funding.

Among the report’s key findings:

In 2022, 30% of students in public schools were proficient in reading on the IAR compared to 20.8% of those who went to private schools on a tax-credit scholarship. In 2023, the percentage was 35.4% in comparison to 22.5%.
The gap in proficiency rates in math on the IAR was similar. In 2022, 25% of public school students were proficient in math while 17.8% of students who received the Invest in Kids scholarship were proficient; in 2023, the numbers were 27.1% versus 16.3%, respectively.
On the SAT in 2023, public school students scored lower than students with a tax credit scholarship on English language arts; 31.6% of public school students were proficient in reading compared to 34.3% among scholarship recipients.
On the math portion of the SAT, a higher percentage of public school students were proficient in the subject compared to scholarship recipients — 26.7% compared to 23.9%.
Surveys of students and site visits also found that 95% of students said they feel safe at school and 81% said they like learning at school.

The report notes that data was missing for 34 schools that received Invest in Kids funding. In addition, WestEd said it could not analyze SAT scores for 2022 because some private schools included both scholarship recipients and students enrolled at the private school who did not receive a tax credit scholarship.

For the IAR test, WestEd could not find student-level demographic information and opted to compare scholarship recipient scores to the average statewide numbers. No data was available for students with disabilities and English language learners, the report said.

School voucher experts say while it appears that public school students are outperforming private school peers with tax-credit scholarships, it’s hard to make “apples-to-apples” comparisons without demographic data.

“It didn’t tell us anywhere near the amount of information about the schools serving these children as public schools have to report,” said Josh Cowen, an education policy professor at Michigan State University who has written similar reports. “Based on the little information we do have from the report, Illinois public schools are still looking pretty good relative to the private schools participating in Invest in Kids.”

Joe Waddington, a researcher at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana who has done research on Indiana’s voucher program, said the state board’s report didn’t say anything new about how voucher, tax credit scholarships, or education saving programs work.

“There’s nothing that sticks out here, particularly with test score results, that are any different from recent trends, which suggests kids’ achievement outcomes on especially state tests tend to be null or negative,” Waddington said.

Multiple studies reviewed by Chalkbeat on voucher programs in Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, and Washington D.C. found that low-income students who attended private schools using a voucher did not see an improvement on test scores from attending private schools and proficiency rates in math were low.

Opponents finally see data after arguing for transparency

Opponents of the Invest in Kids scholarship have long raised concerns about the lack of transparency into the private schools serving tax-credit scholarship students. State law required the Illinois State Board of Education to provide annual reports on the academic progress of students attending private school using tax-credit scholarships.

The first annual report was supposed to be submitted in the 2019-20 school year. But a spokesperson for the state board said the coronavirus pandemic threw off those plans. Gov. J.B. Pritzker shuttered schools in 2020 and spring assessments such as the IAR and SAT were suspended for the year. While assessments resumed in 2021, student participation was low.

Cassie Creswell, director of Illinois Families for Public Schools, which advocated for ending the tax-credit scholarship program, said the findings in the report bring up the lack of oversight into schools that students with Invest In Kids scholarships attended. She said private schools should have provided more information.

“This does not happen with public school students. We have a lot of data besides the one pandemic year,” said Creswell. “That’s not the case for this program. It’s not okay to be diverting public funds from public schools that don’t have the same oversight, accountability, and transparency.”

Empower Illinois, which advocated for the creation of Invest In Kids and became one of the largest organizations to administer scholarships, released a statement on Tuesday saying the report failed to compare low-income students with Invest in Kids scholarships to low-income students in public schools.

“The Illinois State Board of Education makes testing data readily available to sort by income levels, but researchers instead compared low-income scholarship recipients to all Illinois public school students, rendering the results meaningless because they lack proper context,” the statement said.

A spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Education said in a statement that”the absence of demographic data for the scholarship recipients and the lack of apples-to-apples comparisons between scholarship recipients and like-students in public schools” limits what can be gleaned from the report and noted that “ISBE did not have a role in creating or administering the program.”

The spokesperson said the report has been submitted to lawmakers.One of those lawmakers should be Pritzker, according to state law.

The governor said during the veto session that he would sign a bill to extend Invest in Kids if one made it to his desk. But that never happened.

“Advocates who supported the voucher program could not get the necessary votes to pass a bill during the veto session,” a spokesperson for the governor’s office said in response to a request for comment from Chalkbeat. “If their efforts are successful in the future the Governor will review the legislation, just like he does for all the bills that come to his desk.”

Cowen, Michigan State University professor, said the report is still important even months after the program has ended.

“It’s never too late to tell the truth,” said Cowen. “It’s never too late to shine a light on a program.”

Child tax credit, funding for school meals: Five education bills to watch this legislative session

2024-02-21T21:46:01+00:00

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A child tax credit for Illinois families, funding for free school meals, and support for districts enrolling migrant students are some of the key issues to watch during this year’s spring legislative session.

State lawmakers headed back to Springfield for the start of the session on Jan. 16 to file hundreds of bills, start committee hearings, and negotiate over the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget. Legislators plan to wrap up the session at the end of May, with the new budget set to go into effect July 1, 2024.

Chalkbeat Chicago is keeping an eye on the debate over the Chicago elected school board maps, since the legislature has until April 1 to finalize the voting districts. November will be the first time that Chicago residents can vote for school board members, after years of the board under mayoral control.

In addition to the elected school board maps bill, here are five other education issues we will be watching:

Funding for migrant students

Chicago Public Schools and suburban school districts have been scrambling to support migrant students. Chicago announced earlier this month that 5,700 newly arrived students have enrolled in the school district since the beginning of the year.

Last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced they were partnering to provide $250 million to help migrants receive shelter, wraparound services, and health care.

“With thousands of asylum seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support and with Congress continuing to refuse to act — it is clear the state, county, and the city will have to do more to keep people safe,” Pritzker said in a press release.

A spokesperson for the governor said the funding is not for schools.

State lawmakers have not yet filed a bill this session to help schools support migrant students with additional funding. Rep. Fred Crespo — who represents Chicago’s northwest suburbs — filed the “New Arrivals Grant” bill last year that would have allocated $35 million to schools, but it did not move past committee.

A child tax credit for Illinois families

Illinois lawmakers have proposed a bill to create a statewide tax credit for families. Senate Bill 3329 and House Bill 4917 would allow families to receive up to $300 per child for children under 17. Married couples who make less than $75,000 and single people who make less than $50,000 would receive the additional financial support.

This comes a couple of years after the federal government’s expanded child tax credit ended. In 2021, families received monthly payments of up to $300 per child for children under 6 and $250 for children between the ages of 6 to 17 as part of the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan.

Some families reported using the funding for groceries and educational expenses. At the time, initial research found the money helped to reduce child poverty and help families feed their children.

Now states around the country have either created a child tax credit or expanded benefits for families. If the general assembly passes a child tax credit, Illinois will be the 15th state to create a statewide child tax credit.

State license pathway for Montessori teachers

Illinois lawmakers, parents, and educators hope new legislation will require the state to recognize Montessori teaching credentials as another pathway to state licensure.

Under House Bill 4572 and Senate Bill 2689, the state would create the Montessori Educator Licensure, which would grant a state teaching license to educators who have graduated from a college or university with a bachelor’s degree, received a credential from an institution accredited by the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education, the American Montessori Society, or the Association Montessori Internationale, and completed state licensure testing.

Reena Vohra Morgan, board president for the Association of Illinois Montessori Schools, spoke in support of the legislation during the State Board of Education meeting last Thursday.

“With the teacher shortage as it is, I believe we’re doing a huge disservice to our communities to not have a more streamlined pathway for Montessori credentialed teachers to enter into the public sector with a teacher licensure or pathway to recognize Montessori teaching licensure as a state recognized licensure,” said Vohra Morgan.

Chicago Public Schools has five schools with Montessori programs: Drummond, Suder, Oscar Mayer Clissold, and The Montessori school of Englewood. A total of eight more public Montessori schools are located throughout the state, according to the Association of Illinois Montessori Schools.

New department for early childhood education

In October, Pritzker announced plans to create a new department to house early childhood education.

To make this department a reality, state lawmakers have filed House Bill 5451 and Senate Bill 3777, which would start operations of the department on July 1, 2024. By July 1, 2026, the department would be the lead agency in charge of funding for preschools, licensing for child care programs, home-visiting services, early intervention services for students with disabilities, and other early childhood education and care programs.

For years, early childhood education services were administered by the state’s department of human services, the State Board of Education, and the state’s department of child and family services.

However, it is unclear how large the new department will be and how much funding would be allocated to it.

Funding for free school meals

In August, Pritzker signed a law creating the “Healthy School Meals for All program” to help school districts across the state pay for the cost of school meals for all students. However, the bill did not allocate additional funding to schools to help pay for the program.

Illinois advocates are pushing the state to allocate $209 million in the fiscal year 2025 budget to help school districts provide breakfast and lunch for students. Illinois lawmakers Rep. Maurice West, a Democrat representing Rockford, and Sen. Laura Ellman, a Democrat representing Chicago suburb Naperville, have filed appropriation bills. West sponsored the “Health School Meals For All program” law last session.

During pandemic-related school closures, the federal government gave school districts waivers to provide free meals to all students, provided flexibility on what is served to students, and allowed students to pick up meals and take them home. But the waivers lapsed at the end of June 2022, and Illinois school districts again required families to explain why they needed subsidized school meals.

Correction: Feb. 21, 2024: This article has been updated to reflect that individuals who want a Montessori Education License can go to an institution accredited by Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education, the American Montessori Society, or the Association Montessori Internationale, not necessarily an institution of higher education.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2025 budget plan continues to boost early childhood education in Illinois

2024-02-21T20:19:32+00:00

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pushing for another boost in early childhood funding that would keep the state on track to have universal preschool for 3- and 4- year-olds by 2027.

In his sixth budget address to state lawmakers, Pritzker laid out his $52.7 billion spending plan, which includes increasing funding for early childhood education by $150 million. The move would fuel the second year of his Smart Start Illinois initiative, which seeks to expand preschool across Illinois.

The investment in public preschool programs has already helped families like Heather Andrade, a Rochester parent whose child, Natalia, had speech delays, the governor said Wednesday. Pritzker noted that Natalia was able to get into a full-day preschool program with early intervention services, including speech therapy. Smart Start funding, he said, helped the program expand to full-day.

“Since Natalia’s first day in the program, her progress has been nothing short of remarkable. She can spell and write her name,” said Pritzker. “Natalia is on track to thrive when she enters kindergarten and her path ahead couldn’t be brighter.”

Pritzker’s proposals include $75 million for the state board’s early childhood education block grant to add 5,000 more seats for preschool students. Under the state Department of Human Services, Pritzker recommended an additional $5 million to home visiting programs and $36.5 million more for the child care assistance program that helps low-income families access child care services.

Pritzker has been a proponent of early childhood education before becoming governor. When he entered office in 2019, he promised to create universal preschool within four years. However, his plans were thrown off track by the coronavirus pandemic. After he was re-elected in 2022 for a second term in office, Pritzker moved to get universal preschool back on track with his Smart Start Illinois Initiative.

Smart Start Illinois, which is currently entering its second year, seeks to provide public preschool to 20,000 more 3- and 4-year olds throughout the state. The state allocated $250 million for early childhood education for the first year of the program and added 5,800 more preschool seats for Illinois children.

Pritzker announced in October that he wants to house early childhood education and child care programs under one department. He asked the state’s general assembly on Wednesday to provide $13 million for the creation of the department, which would bring together programs from the state Department of Human Services, the state Department of Child and Family services, and the State Board of Education.

K-12 education sees smaller increase this year

Pritzker also asked the general assembly to increase the state’s K-12 education budget by $450 million to a total of $10.8 billion for the Illinois State Board of Education.

Pritzker plans to increase funding for K-12 schools by $350 million, which will be distributed through the evidence-based funding formula — continuing the state’s bipartisan promise to increase funding by at least that much annually.

Illinois education advocates have been pushing for a $550 million increase to the evidence-based funding formula. Advocates argue a larger increase is needed in order to “adequately fund” schools by 2027, a date set by the state’s general assembly in 2017 when the funding formula passed.

Pritzker’s proposal also included an additional $45 million for the second year of the Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Programs.

The K-12 education budget proposal is less than the State Board of Education requested earlier this year. At its monthly meeting in January, the state board proposed a $653 million increase, for an overall budget of $11 billion, to the state’s education budget for fiscal year 2025. The request from State Superintendent Tony Sanders included a $350 million increase to public schools through the state’s evidence-based funding formula.

Across the state, school districts will likely be hit hard by a funding cliff as federal COVID relief funding dries up at the end of September. The state received over $7 billion in funding to help schools deal with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Many schools spent money on facilities, salary, and benefits for school employees.

More scholarship funds to help students go to college

Pritzker’s proposal also includes more funding for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s Monetary Award Grant — a program to help support students from low-income families to attend college — by $10 million for a total of $711 million.

Pritzker also asked for an additional $8 million for the commission’s Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship, which provides scholarships to students of color and bilingual students who want to pursue a career in education.

State lawmakers will negotiate the budget until May, when the session is expected to end. Once approved, the new budget goes into effect on July 1.

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education, and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago’s school support staff have been working without a new contract. Union leaders say talks have stalled.

2024-02-20T23:11:14+00:00

During Aaron Jemison’s 35 years as a custodian for Chicago Public Schools, he has had to work overtime or pick up other part-time jobs such as driving an Uber or Lyft to make ends meet.

As a member of the bargaining committee for SEIU Local 73, the union representing school support staff, Jemison said he is fighting to get more retirement benefits, higher wages, and better working conditions under the next contract between the union and Chicago Public Schools.

However, it’s unclear when the next contract will be finalized since the union contract expired on June 30, 2023 and negotiations have been ongoing since May. Union leaders say contract negotiations have stalled.

Jemison, who said he makes a good salary, worries about other custodians whose pay starts off around $16 an hour. “We’re being treated like we’re nobody,” he said.

Union leaders say only one bargaining session is scheduled for February and the district has not provided them with economic proposals. SEIU Local 73 is hoping a new four-year contract will be finalized as soon as possible — or at least by the end of the school year.

SEIU has a powerful ally in the mayor’s office. The union endorsed Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teachers union organizer, during his run for office in 2023. SEIU affiliates donated more than $2 million to Johnson’s campaign, according to an analysis by Chalkbeat Chicago.

A spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools said the district is working with SEIU to reach an agreement, with the goal of finalizing a contract before the end of this school year.

SEIU Local 73 represents about 11,000 support workers, including custodians, special education classroom assistants, bus aides, security officers, crossing guards, and parent-workers. These workers are often paid lower in comparison to educators and school administrators. On average, many of these school employees make about $40,000 a year. The average Chicago teacher’s salary is over $88,000,

In addition to waiting for economic proposals from the district, the union says it is waiting for responses from the district on proposals already talked about across the table.

Here are some of the key issues SEIU is bargaining for in its non-economic proposals:

Getting a centralized new hire orientation for school-based employees to understand their job responsibilities.
Allow special education classroom assistants to attend Individualized Education Program meetings to support students with disabilities and their families.
Prevent schools from using special education classroom assistants for other jobs such as teaching assistant or school clerk.
Transparency on how the district uses evaluation for school support staff. Evaluations determine layoffs and the amount of time a school employee works during the day.

Stacia Scott Kennedy, executive vice president of SEIU Local 73, said the union proposals come directly from rank-and-file members.

“Most of our proposals have come from our members; issues that they face in the workplace and then solutions that would help them to be able to better do their jobs,” said Scott Kennedy. “but to, ultimately, be able to better serve students.”

Shirley Shelton, who has been a special education classroom assistant for 11 years, said her experience working with students has been the most rewarding. She said she can see the fruits of her labor in the development of her students.

Shelton said she often sees her co-workers are struggling to make ends meet.

“My co-workers, some of them are single parents working two jobs. That’s taking them away from their families,” said Shelton. “In this next contract, I’m looking forward to a nice pay raise, where they could be able to spend more time with their families in the afternoons and evenings.”

Scott Kennedy said the union has secured tentative agreements for proposals regarding custodians, bus aides, and custodians.

Last week, Chicago Public Schools announced it does not plan to renew a multi-million dollar contract with Aramark for custodial services and management. The district has contracted with Aramark for a decade. For the past three years, school janitors have voiced concerns about the lack of cleaning supplies and families have complained about the lack of cleanliness in school for years.

Chicago’s Board of Education will vote on seven new contracts to help manage school custodians on Thursday at the monthly board meeting.

Chicago Public Schools plans to end Aramark cleaning contract

2024-02-13T01:41:10+00:00

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Chicago Public Schools said Monday it is not planning to renew a multi-million dollar deal with Aramark for the management of school janitors and cleaning services after a decade.

The move comes after years of concerns and complaints over school cleanliness from staff, parents, and students.

The school board’s latest agreement with the Philadelphia-based company is set to end June 30, 2024. According to a school board committee agenda posted Monday, the district is asking board members to increase the current contract, which started Aug. 2021, from $369 million to $391 million “due to unforeseen expenditures associated with overtime, custodial supplies and custodial equipment.”

A district spokesperson confirmed Monday the district is not renewing the contract with Aramark and the school board will vote on seven new contracts at its Feb. 22 meeting.

Charles Mayfield, chief operating officer at CPS, said the district is looking forward to more direct oversight of janitorial services and supplies and allowing principals to have more say on school cleaniness. Mayfield said the district will contract with seven vendors for custodial services. He said he doesn’t anticipate any job losses with this change.

CPS employs more than 1,000 custodians, according to staffing records updated at the end of December.

“We had an opportunity to renew at Aramark and we opted not to,” said Mayfield. “There were some challenges there, but they’ve also been great partners over a number of years. Sometimes change happens.”

A spokesperson for Aramark wrote in a statement that the company was disappointed to not be selected to continue providing facility services for CPS.

“We are proud of the efforts of our dedicated employees and are committed to ensuring a smooth transition to the school district’s new provider,” said Chris Collom, Aramark’s vice president of corporate communications.

Chicago Public Schools first contracted with Aramark in 2014. Budget officials at the time promised that outsourcing the management of school cleaning would save money and ease the burden on school principals.

But the deal backfired in the first school year when staff returned from summer break to dirty classrooms and, in some buildings, fewer custodians. Then-CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett admitted the shift to privatized management of custodians was not going smoothly and the board reversed nearly 500 planned layoffs. By the spring of 2015, the contract with Aramark had gone millions of dollars over budget, WBEZ reported.

The union representing school janitors called the move a victory for its members. SEIU Local 73 — the union that also represents school employees such as special education classroom assistants, bus aides, and crossing guards — has been meeting with the district’s facilities department for almost three years to raise concerns about Aramark’s management of equipment and supplies for custodial staff.

Stacia Scott Kennedy, executive vice president of SEIU, said she is thrilled the contract is over.

“I feel hopeful that this change in management will improve the outcomes of cleanliness,” said Scott Kennedy. “I also feel hopeful that it’ll improve the working conditions of our members who have suffered under private contract with management for the last 10 years.”

SEIU Local 73 has been in contract negotiations with Chicago Public Schools since its contract ended June 30, 2023. One of the union’s economic proposals was to ask the district to get rid of the contract with Aramark. Scott Kennedy said they will keep the proposal as negotiations continue.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

The Illinois State Board of Education finalized a literacy plan. What’s next?

2024-02-07T23:16:33+00:00

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Two years after Illinois literacy advocates started pushing the state to adopt research-backed reading curriculum, the Illinois State Board of Education finalized a comprehensive literacy plan last month. Now, advocates are pushing for more funding to schools and support for educators to implement the plan.

The literacy plan grew out of an effort by Illinois advocates, who pushed lawmakers in 2022 to pass The Right to Read Act. The bill would have required schools to use evidence-based reading strategies, such as phonics, rather than the now-debunked “balanced literacy” approach, which is based on the idea that reading is a natural process. But that bill hit a wall during negotiations as advocates worked to address concerns about the needs of English language learners.

In the 2023 legislative session, advocates presented a new set of bills called the “Literacy and Justice for All Act.” After months of negotiations between advocates and lawmakers, Senate Bill 2243 passed. The law required the state board to create a literacy plan by the end of January 2024, a curriculum rubric for schools, and professional development opportunities for teachers.

Here is what is included in the state’s comprehensive literacy plan and what literacy advocates say is still needed:

What does the literacy plan mean for schools?

The almost 200-page plan is a hybrid between guidance and a workbook, designed to help pre-K-12 educators teach reading using evidence-based and developmentally appropriate practices. The plan’s three main goals are to provide research-backed literacy instruction, professional development and other support for current teachers in the classroom, and guidance to help school leaders create supportive learning environments.

“At its core, this plan is a resource that we hope will serve as a springboard to bring about local school, district, region, and statewide movement to elevate literacy instruction and ensure every learner, no matter where they reside, is provided with equitable opportunities to gain the literacy skills necessary for lifetime success,” said Erica Thieman, director of standards and instruction at the state board.

The plan is not a mandate for schools to follow and doesn’t require schools to buy new curriculum or instruction materials for educators. Since Illinois is a local control state, the plan only urges districts to use guidance in the plan.

Will this plan change how reading is taught to students with dyslexia?

Parents of children with dyslexia have struggled to get support from their child’s schools. Often waiting a long time — even years — before their child was able to get screened and receive an Individualized Education Program, or IEP.

The literacy plan stresses the need to identify students with dyslexia early, noting that universal screening can be used in schools “to identify students who are thriving, those at risk, or those in need of accelerated support. It also serves as a vital signal for potential systematic instructional improvements.”

The state board updated its dyslexia guide in early January. The guide provides more information about how to use screeners and assessments to identify and provide evidence-based interventions for students.

“I’m proud that we have it and I’m proud that we took steps, but I don’t think it’ll really make a difference until it gets implemented,” said Meredith Paige, co-founder of the CPS Family Dyslexia Collaborative. She is also still concerned about the lack of training for teachers to detect dyslexia.

Does the literacy plan include English language learners?

For Chicago and surrounding suburbs, supporting English learners will be a major area of focus since schools are enrolling a large number of migrant students.

Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro and Erika Méndez of the Latino Policy Forum, who advocated for the needs of English learners during negotiations for the literacy bill, had been concerned that reading advocates looked at English learners as a monolith, instead of a group of students with complex needs. They are happy to see that the state board has included different types of English learners and highlighted support for students.

For instance, one section addresses dual language programming in schools. “These programs, which integrate instruction in both English and the students’ native languages, not only enhance language proficiency in both languages but also foster academic excellence,” the plan says.

“The report looks at the different emergent bilinguals, like newcomers,” said Mendez. “There are different versions of English learners that have different needs. The report sets up how each of those different student populations, even within English learners, are going to get supported in different ways.”

What is next for schools, teachers?

The Illinois State Board of Education has to create a rubric for school districts to evaluate literacy curriculum by July 1. Next year, the state board is required to create training opportunities for current educators that align with the comprehensive literacy plan by Jan. 1, 2025.

Beginning July 1, 2026, student teachers who plan to teach first through sixth grade will be tested on their knowledge of literacy on a content-area exam before they can receive a license and start teaching.

What do literacy advocates still want to see?

Advocates are pushing lawmakers to increase the state’s education budget and an increase of $550 million for the state’s evidence-based funding formula that supports public schools. Literacy advocates hope that the state board will set aside money to implement the literacy plan.

The state board has recommended $3 million for fiscal year 2025 to implement the literacy plan, but advocates hope for $45 million.

Jessica Handy, executive director of Stand for Children Illinois, said she will be working on a new bill to strengthen the literacy plan.

“There is a lot more work to be done on literacy instruction in Illinois,” Mea Anderson, a spokesperson for Stand for Children Illinois said. “The plan is a great starting point, and we find it promising that ISBE leadership seems highly motivated to continue that work.”

‘Productive struggle’: Chicago educators search for ways to close math gaps

2024-02-05T23:31:44+00:00

Arika Henderson’s kindergarten class at LEARN South Chicago campus usually starts the day with a math lesson. On this early morning in January, the kindergartners are working through addition problems.

Henderson, an 18-year veteran teacher, asks a student to help model to the class how to solve 1+2. Together, they use brightly colored blocks to represent the numbers in the equation and count out loud together.

Henderson then pairs off the kindergartners to solve more problems on their own — a strategy she uses to see if students are grasping the concept and provide additional guidance to those who need a little more help.

As schools across the country grapple with low math scores that have dropped over the last decade and plummeted even further during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators like Henderson are searching for ways to engage students and build proficiency in math.

In Chicago, some schools have brought in math coaches to help teachers hone their instruction, while other educators are turning to a concept called “productive struggle,” where students are encouraged to find their own strategy to solve math problems before a teacher steps in to give them a solution.

Finding ways to help young learners build a solid foundation for math learning is key to students’ success in later grades, experts say.

Math concepts build over time, so instilling those basic math skills is critical, said Susan Levine, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.

“Evidence shows that the level of math that you go into kindergarten with is predictive of your long term-trajectory,” said Levine. “It doesn’t mean students can’t catch up, but research shows that it is better to start early.”

Students who skip pre-K or K may miss early math skills

In kindergarten, students learn how to count to 100, add, subtract, and identify shapes — building blocks for more advanced skills such as multiplication, division, order of operations, and the Pythagorean theorem.

In Illinois, state law does not require parents to put children in school until the age of 6. It is unclear how many young children do not attend preschool or kindergarten, since the state only tracks the number of children in publicly funded programs.

But research has found that students enrolled in kindergarten, especially full-day programs, have significant gains in reading, math, and social emotional skills. Young children who don’t attend school before first grade may fall behind in being introduced to foundational math.

Enrollment in the early grades also took the biggest hit during the pandemic as parents were concerned about safety and virtual learning.

That may have further stalled progress in math for many young children.

The Illinois State Board of Education’s KIDS exam is an assessment given to students in the fall that measures the readiness of children entering kindergarten. Teachers are asked to assess students’ readiness in math, social-emotional skills, and language and literacy development. In Chicago, teachers found that 31% of kindergarten students were ready for math during the 2020-21 school year, down by 3 percentage points from 2019.

When Illinois shuttered schools in 2020 in response to the pandemic, Henderson’s kindergarten class that year was in its second semester. During virtual learning, she said, only 14 students showed up consistently on the computer.

“It was only so much you could control from your end,” Henderson said.

Now, those students are third and fourth graders. Henderson suspects many did not have a good kindergarten experience to build their foundational knowledge in math, she said. “I just feel so bad.”

At Ruggles Elementary located on the city’s South Side in Chatham, Shekinah Curry, a second grade math teacher who has only been in the classroom for three years, said she’s noticed gaps in students’ foundational skills when it comes to writing numbers and counting.

“You may have students who are still writing numbers backwards. There was one student, she put 97 when it was supposed to be 79,” said Curry. “I have students who may not know how to count by fives or students who are questioning ‘if I’m counting by 10s correctly.’”

Schools turn to math coaches, shifting strategies

As districts work to close the learning gaps, educators are shifting to different strategies, such as productive struggle, and schools are scrambling for ways to help teachers become more effective in teaching math. In CPS, the district has started to roll out the Skyline curriculum, which encourages students to be active participants in class.

Katie Gleason, a first grade teacher at LEARN South Chicago campus, learned about productive struggle during her monthly meetings with teachers who are a part of the charter school network’s math professional learning community.

The approach — which Henderson used in her classroom and involves allowing students to work out ways to solve problems on their own after the teacher has first modeled a strategy — is effective because it requires students to make a connections between math concepts they are learning in class, Gleason said. However, the approach can be difficult for teachers to adapt to because some were taught to stand in front of the class and show students how to get the right answer.

“The math professional learning community has really taught us to allow students to have that productive struggle to try it on their own first and to teach them that it’s okay to make mistakes,” said Gleason. “We actually learn a lot through our mistakes.”

Some Chicago schools are also investing in math coaches — who observe educators in class to provide them with feedback and instruction strategies — to help bridge the gap in student learning and get students engaged in math.

At LEARN, math coach Midm Yi, who was a teacher for 11 years working with third, fourth, and fifth grade students, understands how difficult it can be for classroom teachers to catch students up to their current grade level while teaching new material.

In his role as a math coach, Yi spends his time observing teachers from anywhere between 25 to 45 minutes to evaluate engagement strategies teachers are using. Then he provides debriefing notes to teachers and resources they can use to improve their instruction. At the end of each week, he meets with other coaches in the network to go over training plans, professional development plans for teachers, and other projects.

Yi said he not only wants to see how teachers are working to fill in holes in students’ foundational skills, but also how they are “delivering that high, rigorous content that the curriculum is also providing for us. Are you intentionally using your plan time to effectively carve out specific time where you will be addressing those needs?”

In CPS, Corey Morrison, director of mathematics at the district, said his department has a math specialist for each grade who looks at research to see what math strategies are useful and a program manager who analyzes real-time data to see what interventions students need.

A CPS spokesperson said the district also has 198 coaches who support teachers in literacy and math. In addition, the district has also given funding to every school to hire at least one academic interventionist to work with students.

Shekinah Curry stands next to her second grade class on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024 at Ruggles Elementary school in Chicago, Illinois.

CPS’s Skyline curriculum, which is still being rolled out across the district, has also been a main force in changing how students learn math, Morrison said. Lessons are designed to encourage students to try their own math strategies in class, while teachers help students facilitate the conversation.

“It allows students to form their understanding based on what they’re naturally bringing to the classroom,” said Morrison. “Then, the onus is on the teacher to facilitate them to a point of deep understanding.”

School officials see promising growth

With the new support for educators and students the district added last year, Morrison said, schools are starting to see growth on students’ test scores.

“Last year was our first real year back from COVID,” said Morrison. “We saw a lot of promise from the strategies we put in place, and I think more of the intentionality around building positive math identity.”

Chicago Public Schools assesses students in reading and math between kindergarten and second grade three times a year on the i-Ready exam. At the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, 12% of K-2 students were at grade level at the beginning of the year. That number jumped to 50% by the end of the school year, according to data Chalkbeat Chicago received from a Freedom of Information Act request.

LEARN charter school network found that teachers who received math coaching or were a part of the network’s professional learning council during the 2022-23 school year saw their students score a higher proficiency rate on the NWEA and Illinois Assessment of Readiness exams, compared to teachers who were not receiving coaching. The charter school network — which serves 4,200 students across 11 schools in Chicago, northern suburbs, and Washington D.C. — went from one math coach last coach to five this year, according to a spokesperson. Three are shared between schools in Chicago and North Chicago; the schools in Waukegan, Illinois and Washington D.C. have one school-based coach each.

Teachers at LEARN like Katie Gleason have found math coaching and being a part of the professional learning community helpful. While Arika Henderson doesn’t receive math coaching, she is practicing productive struggle in her classroom.

Since the pandemic has eased, Henderson says she has seen growth in her students — some of whom had never been in school before — this year.

“They are getting in a routine of things,” she said. “The lightbulb has kind of come on and I can see the difference.”

On the cold January day in Henderson’s classroom, after she modeled a way to solve addition problems, her students worked on their own in their textbooks for about 10 minutes, tackling equations such as 2+1, 2+2, and 2+3.

Most students sat at tables named after flowers — sunflowers, tulips, lilies, roses, chrysanthemums — and worked with cubes. Others were asked to sit with Henderson’s instructional aide to get more hands-on support. Henderson walked around the classroom, keeping students on task and offering support where needed.

Some needed time to solve the problems, while others already found the answers. One student told Henderson: “I don’t need the counters. I already know it.”

A few minutes later, Henderson asked the class to share their answers and how they solved the problem.

Nearly every hand shot up, as the kindergartners jumped with excitement to tell their teacher and classmates what they had learned.

Illinois Board of Education asks for an additional $653 million for state education budget next year

2024-01-25T01:22:42+00:00

The Illinois State Board of Education is proposing a $653 million increase to the state’s education budget, bringing the overall budget for next school year to $11 billion. The proposal — less than what advocates pushed for during hearings in the fall — is ultimately voted on by state lawmakers.

The state board unanimously approved the budget proposal — Tony Sanders’ first as state superintendent — at its board meeting on Wednesday.

Sanders’ recommendation includes an increase of $350 million for the state’s evidence-based funding formula for K-12 public schools, which distributes state money to under-resourced schools that serve a majority of students from low-income households, English learners, and students with disabilities. His proposal also asks for an additional $75 million increase for the state’s early childhood block grant.

Illinois’ portion of federal pandemic funding, over $7 billion, is set to run out by the end of September 2024. Schools could see a cut in staff and programs, especially since it is unlikely that state dollars will make up the difference. State budget officials told the state board of education that they are seeing a drop in state revenue.

State education advocates have pushed the state to increase the evidence-based funding formula by $550 million annually to help the state fully fund schools by 2027. The state has approved an additional $350 million each year except for 2020, during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic — keeping in line with a bipartisan promise made by lawmakers in 2017.

Gerson Ramirez, senior government relations associate for Advance Illinois, a nonprofit organization that advocates for education, told the board Wednesday that the evidence-based funding formula has done a good job at directing more funds to school districts with high needs. However, he estimates that more than 1.5 million students in underfunded school districts are from low-income households and are students of color.

“We, and many others, believe we should put an additional $550 million into the formula to make up for the skip budget year, to address inflation, and to meet ongoing needs,” said Ramirez.

Other advocates asked for more funding to support students experiencing homelessness throughout the state. The federal government set aside $800 million in COVID relief funding for students experiencing homelessness. Illinois received $33 million to help families pay for clothing, temporary housing, and transportation, among other assistance.

Niya K. Kelly, director of state legislative policy, equity, and transformation at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, asked the state to increase funding for students experiencing homelessness. At a time when federal funds are set to expire and there isn’t a clear number on how many students are actually homeless, Kelly said, state funding is needed more than ever.

“It is imperative that the state step in. I know, oftentimes, people say that if we’ve made do with funding levels that we have then we should continue on that path,” said Kelly. “For homeless families and for the folks who are supporting them, it’s not enough at this moment.”

According to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, homelessness has grown 12% nationwide since 2022. However, Kelly said HUD’s reported numbers might only be a fraction of what the actual numbers are.

Kelly also said she believes there could be an undercounting of students in Illinois. In the state’s report card, Illinois has identified over 42,000 students as experiencing homelessness during the 2022-23 school year.

State budget and financial officials signaled at the state board’s monthly meeting in December that Illinois’ education budget could see some belt-tightening in the future. The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget predicted that the state board could expect to receive an additional $425 million in state dollars for the next fiscal year.

The approved budget proposal will head to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office for consideration. Pritzker is set to announce his proposed budget to state lawmakers on Feb. 21.

Illinois families will have access to over 5,800 additional pre-K seats, says Pritzker

2024-01-19T19:53:50+00:00

An additional 5,800 preschool seats for Illinois children received funding under the first year of the state’s Smart Start Illinois initiative, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday.

“For too long, child care has been either unavailable and affordable or both,” Pritzker said at a press conference on Thursday.

Pritzker, who has long promised to make universal preschool a reality around the state, noted that the state’s reimbursement system was unpredictable and made it difficult for child care providers to retain staff and offer seats to parents.

Smart Start Illinois, which launched in 2023, added $250 million to the state’s early childhood education programs. The initiative is focused on expanding access to preschool for low-income families and families living in “preschool deserts,” regions of the state where there are not enough pre-K seats for at least 80% of low-income families with young children, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

The initiative included funding for the Illinois State Board of Education’s early childhood block grant and for the state department of human services’ child care assistance program, home visiting program, and early intervention services that support young children with disabilities.

The plan’s initial goal was to create a total of 20,000 preschool seats for 3- to 4-years-olds within four years. The state planned to create 5,000 preschool seats for young children within the first year of Smart Start. The state surpassed the first-year goal by 18%, Pritzker said on Thursday.

The state board provided new funding to 95 programs statewide to create 5,886 new preschool seats. Once these programs are up and running, over 82,000 preschool seats will be available.

In the state’s 2024 budget, the state board of education received $75 million for its Early Childhood Block Grant as part of the Smart Start Initiative — the overall budget for the grant went from $598.1 million in 2023 to $673.1 million. With the additional funding, the state board plans to provide and administer seats for 5,383 additional children in half-day preschool programs and 503 additional seats for full-day preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.

At Thursday’s press conference, State Superintendent Tony Sanders noted that preschool is important because it is where children and families form their first relationships with schools.

“We’re going to keep working until we transform every preschool desert into places where our youngest learners have a chance to thrive,” said Sanders.

Under Smart Start Illinois, the state board allocated $8.4 million to existing child care programs. According to a press release from the state, the state board encouraged programs to consider using funding to boost salaries for early childhood educators.

Many child care workers at centers have the same education levels as preschool teachers in public schools, but often make significantly less money. Many have reported having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet or being forced to leave the field altogether. More funding could decrease the pay disparity, especially for women of color who dominate the workforce.

The coronavirus pandemic slowed down Pritzker’s efforts to expand preschool. After he was reelected in 2022, he vowed to make good on his promise by increasing funding and increasing pay for workers.

Smart Start also included two new initiatives to help support child care providers. The Childcare Workforce Compensation Contract was aimed at increasing the salaries of child care workers and bringing more educators into the field and the Childhood Construction Grant Programs was created to help improve current child care facilities.

In the spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers will decide how much to approve for the second year of the governor’s plan. Pritzker is expected to give his State of the State address and budget proposal later in February.

As states adopt science of reading, one group calls for better teacher training, curriculum

2024-01-17T19:43:53+00:00

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Wisconsin is creating a new literacy office and hiring reading coaches. Ohio is dedicating millions to a curriculum overhaul. Indiana is requiring new teacher training.

Dozens of states are moving to align their teaching practices with the science of reading, a body of research on how children learn that emphasizes explicit phonics instruction alongside helping students build vocabulary and knowledge about the world. But a national policy group says many states still have significant work to do to ensure strong reading instruction.

A new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality finds that half of states don’t set specific standards telling teacher prep programs what future educators should know about teaching reading, and 28 states cede their authority over teacher prep programs to outside accrediting agencies with vague guidelines. A similar number of states administer weak licensure tests, the report said, creating uncertainty about how well prepared teachers are.

Meanwhile, just nine states require that districts adopt high-quality reading curriculum, NCTQ’s analysis found. Only three of those — South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia — require districts to choose curriculum from a state-approved list and cover the cost for districts.

NCTQ President Heather Peske hopes the report can serve as a roadmap for states looking to improve reading instruction.

“We cannot continue to accept the reading outcomes that we’ve been seeing,” she said.

Last year, NCTQ’s review of hundreds of teacher preparation programs found that thousands of educators graduate every year unprepared to teach children how to read, or trained using debunked literacy instruction strategies.

Some of the states that got good ratings from NCTQ in its new report have been at it for years. Mississippi passed its first reading law a decade ago. Colorado stepped up regulation of its teacher prep programs five years ago.

Other states NCTQ called out for their weak policies are just getting started. Illinois is poised to adopt a new literacy plan this year. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul just announced a major new literacy initiative. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy highlighted early literacy in his State of the State speech.

NCTQ makes five main recommendations. States should set well-defined standards for how teacher prep programs teach reading, review those programs thoroughly, use a rigorous licensing test that includes all components of how students learn to read, require that districts use high-quality curriculum, and provide ongoing training and support.

These types of policies often face pushback from school districts, universities, and teachers unions that see politicians infringing on educators’ authority and autonomy.

In Colorado, some school districts initially resisted state curriculum guidelines. Others struggled to find approved curriculum that felt culturally responsive. In Illinois, political opposition and lack of state funding means the new literacy plan has no teeth. In Ohio, Reading Recovery, a popular but increasingly disfavored reading program, is suing the state for banning certain methods of teaching.

NCTQ’s reports have also come in for criticism for their technical and narrow view of good teaching, for being incomplete, or for not relying on the right data — Peske said states had multiple opportunities to review the latest report and offer corrections. Other advocacy groups have laid out different priorities for reading instruction.

Melinda Person, president of the New York state teachers union, is excited the governor wants to invest $10 million in teacher training aligned with the science of reading. But she’s cautious about calls to get every district to adopt curriculum that meets a currently undetermined standard. She fears that state-approved lists could be influenced by lobbying or force districts to abandon good programs developed by local educators.

“Teaching a child to read is a very complex task,” Person said. “Don’t oversimplify this. It is brain science. Hundreds of studies are pointing us in this direction, but they are not pointing us to ‘buy this curriculum.’”

Data lacking on curriculum in school districts

Twelve states received “strong” ratings overall in NCTQ’s report, including Colorado, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

NCTQ categorized 16 states as having “weak” reading policies, including Illinois, New York, and New Jersey, while three states — Maine, Montana, and South Dakota — were marked as “unacceptable” because they had few or no state-level reading policies.

An analysis by Education Week found that 32 states and the District of Columbia have adopted new reading laws since 2013, but NCTQ found many of these states still had major gaps in teacher preparation or curriculum.

States with strong oversight of teacher prep programs lost points for having weak standards, and states with strong standards lost points for weak oversight. More than half of states, NCTQ found, review the syllabi of teacher preparation programs, but just 10 include literacy experts in the process.

Most teacher prep programs don’t devote at least two instructional hours to how to teach English learners to read in an unfamiliar language or to supporting struggling readers, NCTQ’s analysis found. Even fewer programs provide opportunities for student teachers to practice those skills.

Meanwhile, 21 states don’t collect any data on the curriculum their districts use, nearly half offer no guidance on picking curriculums that serve English learners, and a third offer no guidance on how to use curriculum to support struggling readers. Even in states that value local control, Peske said states have a duty to offer guidance, and many administrators likely would welcome it.

NCTQ’s analysis does not address third-grade retention policies that have been adopted in 13 states. Nor did NCTQ’s report address universal screeners that look for warning signs of reading difficulties such as dyslexia.

Advocacy groups like JerseyCAN have made universal screeners and parental notification key parts of their platform. “Parents cannot ring the alarm or participate in this goal effectively if they don’t know where their children stand,” Executive Director Paula White said.

Linking new policies to test scores can be challenging. Mississippi students’ growth on national exams has been touted as a “miracle.” But students there still have lower test scores than students in some more affluent states with weaker policies.

New York and New Jersey governors elevate literacy

New Jersey received a weak rating from NCTQ due to inadequate standards for teacher prep programs, no requirement that elementary teachers have reading training, and no curriculum requirements or even guidelines for local districts.

White, the JerseyCAN leader, said she hopes the state is turning the corner after years in which people told her “we got this, we’ll do it on our own,” or “We’re already doing what you want us to do, so why should we expend energy on state policy or legislation?”

In neighboring New York, NCTQ gave the state some credit for strong state oversight of teacher prep. But the state lost points because reading standards aren’t specific enough. Nor does New York require districts to adopt high-quality curriculum — its powers are limited under state law.

Hochul’s push on literacy comes as New York City is months into its own reading overhaul, with schools required to adopt one of three approved curriculums. It’s not clear yet how the state might encourage districts using low-quality curriculum to make different choices. State officials are also developing a plan to incorporate more science of reading into teacher prep programs.

Judy Boksner, a literacy coach and reading specialist at P.S. 28 in the Bronx, recalls the “aha moment” she experienced after getting trained in the science of reading on her own time. She said the approach helps more students more reliably than the methods she was previously trained to use, but it can be slow at first.

Curriculum and training requirements are good, Boksner said, but schools still need ongoing support, including literacy coaches.

“In all these curriculums, they have tasks in them. We don’t know if they’ve all been tested in the field. Some of the tasks are so hard for kids, and if you don’t train your teachers well, kids will still struggle,” Boksner said.

Illinois on verge of adopting new literacy plan

In giving Illinois a “weak” rating, NCTQ found the state has set good standards for teacher preparation programs, but called for more oversight to ensure programs are following through. And NCTQ labeled as “unacceptable” Illinois’ lack of any guidance around high quality curriculum.

The report comes just as Illinois is finalizing a literacy plan to help school districts revamp how students are taught to read. After a two-year legislative fight, advocates successfully passed a bill last year that requires the Illinois State Board of Education to write a literacy plan, create a rubric for school districts to grade curriculum, and offer professional development to teachers.

But the new law does not mandate school districts adopt a phonics-based approach that’s key to the science of reading. Other ideas, such as reading grants and an approved curriculum list, didn’t survive the political process.

“There are really no mandates on school districts,” said Stand for Children Illinois Executive Director Jessica Handy, a literacy advocate who helped write the 2023 bill and negotiated with lawmakers. “I think reading grants would be one way to get buy-in from school districts and get more people thinking about how they can accelerate their progress to improve literacy curriculum.”

Education advocates hope to see $45 million from $550 million in new state funding go towards regional literacy coaches and state board staff that work just on literacy — and Stand is working on a new bill that Handy hopes strengthens the literacy plan.

Erica Meltzer is Chalkbeat’s national editor based in Colorado. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org

Illinois’ education budget might be tighter over the next several years, say officials

2023-12-14T00:23:17+00:00

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The budget for public schools in Illinois might see some belt-tightening, officials signaled at the Illinois State Board of Education’s meeting Wednesday.

That’s because local revenue projections are modest and federal COVID relief dollars are set to run out, state finance and budget officials told board members.

The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget has predicted the Illinois State Board of Education can expect to receive an additional $425 million in revenue next year.

With $350 million of that funding going toward the evidence-based funding formula, “that leaves very little meat on the bone left to appropriate to other areas,” said Matt Seaton, the state board’s chief financial officer. “As we think about our budget for the next several years, I think we’re going to be thinking in terms of a conservative budget.”

The state board will likely have less funding for items such as transportation, private school tuition for students with disabilities, and Illinois’ free breakfast and lunch program.

Officials said it is possible that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker or the state legislature could allocate more than the board asks for, as happened this past year. The board asked for $510 million for fiscal year 2024, but received $601 million from the state.

The State Board of Education is expected to vote on a budget recommendation to send to the governor during its Jan. 24, 2024 meeting.

Many school districts will face a new financial reality during fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1, 2024 and ends June 30, 2025. Since the start of the pandemic, school districts across the district were flush with federal COVID-19 relief funds to help schools recover. Illinois received over $7 billion in funding. The largest pot of money that came under the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan is set to expire Sept. 30, 2024.

A data dashboard from the state board says districts have spent 74.5% of their emergency federal dollars as of Dec. 7, 2023. A majority of funding went to after-school programs to help students recover learning loss, tutoring, transportation, and existing staff. Out of the $7 billion, the state board kept $440 million for statewide recovery efforts including the Illinois Tutoring Initiative and professional development for educators. According to the dashboard, the state has only spent 66.5% of the money so far.

Illinois school districts are already bracing themselves for budget cuts. Chicago Public Schools, the state’s largest district, says it is expecting a $391 million budget shortfall next year.

The budget outlook isn’t an encouraging sign for education advocates, educators, and families who want to see more money going to schools. Those who testified at the state board’s budget hearings in October want to see an increase in funding in early childhood education, K-12 public schools, and social-emotional learning hubs among other issues, according to state officials on Wednesday.

Pritzker kept the education budget flat during the first year of the pandemic. Afterwards, Pritzker approved an increase of $350 million toward the evidence-based funding formula to support K-12 public schools — keeping the bipartisan promise made in 2017 when the formula was created. However, advocates have been pushing the state to increase funding by $550 million a year to fully fund schools by 2027.

Pritzker is pushing to expand early childhood education across the state during his second term. Most recently, he announced an effort to create a new agency that would bring together several departments that currently provide services for families with young children. Last year, he increased early childhood spending by $250 million, including a $75 million increase toward that state board’s early childhood block grant. Advocates hope the state will again increase funding by $75 million in next year’s budget.

In previous years, Pritzker has given his State of the State address and budget proposal in February before Illinois lawmakers go into the spring legislative session to negotiate what the final budget will be. It must be approved before the start of the next fiscal year on July 1.

How this Illinois teacher uses the McDonald’s menu to teach math

2023-12-14T21:35:03+00:00

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When Erin Sagaskie was a high school student, she often felt invisible. Now, as a high school math teacher, she does whatever she can to engage her students inside and outside of the classroom.

Sagaskie teaches math to juniors and seniors at Carbondale Community High School in Southern Illinois, where she’s taught for 19 of her 22 years in the classroom. While she teaches courses that students might not be jumping at the chance to take — statistics, Algebra II, and transitional math, including some dual-credit courses — she works hard to make her classes fun and relevant.

When she was a teen, Sagaskie said she didn’t like school even though she was a good student. She would go to school, get good grades, but she couldn’t participate in after-school activities because she needed to catch the bus back home as soon as school was over. She had friends, but they often weren’t in the same classes. The experience made her feel unseen.

“I don’t want kids to feel unseen, and that’s how I’ve gone about my career,” Sagaskie said.

Erin Sagaskie, a teacher at Carbondale Community High School, poses for a portrait in 2023.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

How and when did you decide to become a teacher?

I was in high school when I decided to be a math teacher. I didn’t particularly like school, actually, but I realized that I liked a couple of things: I loved explaining math to other people, and I had a math teacher in 10th grade who looked like she was having a good time all the time. That was the first time I could say that I was having a good time in class. I was like “I can make money and be a math teacher. That’s a tangible goal.”

Why have you stayed a teacher over the past 20 years?

I’ve stayed invested in education in different ways. I have been involved in extracurricular activities with students. One year, I sponsored a junior class and ran a lot of concession stands. I’ve volunteered with students outside of the classroom. I worked on a college and career readiness program at a community college. Also, I’m always thinking about improving the classroom.

What’s your favorite lesson to teach and why?

My favorite types of lessons to teach are anything that uses real-world data and is relevant to what the kids are interested in. Recently in my Algebra II class, we were graphing parabolas. This one lesson was modeling when the McRib at McDonald’s will appear on the menu and for how many days. The question that students had to solve was “why?” But the lesson that I was teaching was about quadratic models. It was funny because around the time I was teaching the lesson, the McRib came back to McDonald’s menu, even though I didn’t plan that.

What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on inside your classroom (or your school)?

The lack of universal broadband access is affecting kids all over the nation. I have two dual-credit classes I teach through the community college. The kids need to have internet access because all of the assignments are online. Carbondale is not a small town, but not everyone has access to high-speed internet. Some places can’t get any access. Also, all the COVID emergency funds will run out next year, so we can’t afford to give kids devices anymore. I think having the internet in every household is also just a fundamental right these days.

What’s one thing you’ve read that has made you a better educator?

I read multiple blogs from mathematics educators. I think that’s good because they’re current and you get to learn from teachers in different locations. I also follow social media groups for teachers to hear about their struggles and solutions in the classroom. You can get ideas from hundreds or thousands of teachers, and you don’t have to just stick to the teachers that are in your building or in your district.

Sometimes, I’ll be up at midnight reading a teacher’s blog on my phone and think “Oh, that’s really cool. I’m gonna try that in seventh period tomorrow.” I don’t have the details worked out at midnight, but I’m gonna do it in less than 24 hours anyway. Sometimes it works out great, and sometimes it doesn’t. But learning, even learning from failure, is how we grow as people.

How do you take care of yourself when you’re not at work?

I like being outside. It doesn’t matter if it’s hot in the summer or cold in the winter. I like taking long walks and riding bikes. I have two bikes, a mountain bike and a gravel bike. I like doing several bike races.

Chicago Public Schools is tapping principal Joshua Long to lead its special education department

2023-12-11T20:31:00+00:00

Joshua Long, currently the principal of Southside Occupational Academy High School, has been selected to lead Chicago Public Schools’ beleaguered special education department, according to district officials.

The department — known as the Office of Diverse Learners Supports and Services — serves nearly 52,000 students with disabilities and has been without a chief since June. That’s when Stephanie Jones stepped down amid fallout from Chicago’s violations related to the use of restraint and timeout of students. The department has also struggled in recent years to ensure students with disabilities are getting services they’re legally entitled to under federal law.

Long sent a letter to families whose children attend Southside this morning announcing “with mixed emotions” that he accepted the role and would start after winter break, pending confirmation by the school board this Thursday.

“I am excited to continue working for students with disabilities and look forward to new opportunities to engage with all stakeholders as we move to positively impact each student’s experience in every school,” he wrote.

Ben Felton, chief talent officer at Chicago Public Schools, said the district used an external search firm and input from city officials, local advocates, educators, and other staff in its search for a new department head.

“We approached this differently than we had in the past given how critical this role is to CPS and how deeply invested many of our stakeholders are in special education and in this position,” said Felton.

Representatives from Access Living, the city’s Office of People with Disabilities, district principals, the Dyslexia Collaborative, and the Chicago Teachers Union were among the community groups that had a conversation with finalists and provided feedback, Felton said.

CEO Pedro Martinez made the final recommendation; the school board, which meets on Thursday, must approve the appointment.

Long would be inheriting a department beset with problems. The district is under state watch on multiple issues, including providing timely transportation to students with disabilities and for how it physically restrains students in the classroom.

Long has been the principal of Southside since 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile. In 2019, he won the prestigious statewide Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Leadership.

Joshua Long, second from left, speaks with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in Sept., 2023 in Chicago, Ill.

Before that, Long worked in various positions, including as a speech pathologist in a dozen schools, he told Chalkbeat in 2019. At the time, when Chalkbeat asked Long how the district should help students with disabilities, Long said he saw classes that “were not being run effectively” and weren’t “as rigorous” as other schools he’d been in. With that in mind, Long said “that the biggest thing is establishing equity for all students no matter which school or neighborhood they are in.”

Some district leaders have known Long for years. Board of Education member Mary Fahey Hughes, a longtime advocate for students with disabilities, sent her son to Southside. During a school visit with Mayor Brandon Johnson in September, Hughes praised the school and its model, which is designed to help those with more challenging disabilities transition into the real world.

“The thing I love about this place is there is so much respect for students where they’re at,” she told Chalkbeat at the time.

Long was a proponent of changing the timeline for when students with disabilities could transition out of public schools. Previously, under state law, some students with disabilities could receive services until the day before their 22nd birthday. In 2021, state law changed to allow students who turn 22 during the school year to remain eligible for services through the end of that year.

Long has also advocated for improving funding and availability of services for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities once they graduate from CPS. In an interview with Chalkbeat during the September school visit with Johnson, Long said the state has a yearslong waiting list for people with more challenging disabilities who want to access state-funded adult services, such as for community-based living or day services, that are meant to provide people with more independence. One of his former students accessed such services eight years after she graduated from Southside, he said.

“Our students do best through routine and through daily interactions,” Long said. “Now, she sat home for eight years and likely lost a lot of skills that she learned here with us.”

Long’s appointment comes after the district leaders signaled this fall that they were interested in expanding the school model Long oversaw. Southside is one of a handful of so-called specialty schools that focus on teaching students with intellectual and developmental disabilities about work and life skills. Southside, for example, has classes that teach students how to work in retail, food service, and auto mechanics. Unlike most schools, the district assigns students to these schools.

The district is under state watch regarding multiple issues for how it supports students with disabilities. Last year, the state launched a corrective action plan requiring the district to cap bus commute times for students with disabilities to 60 minutes each way. About 3,000 students with disabilities exceeded that limit at the start of last school year, according to the district.

Under state watch, those travel times have vastly improved this year, after the district decided to stop busing general education students, largely those in magnet and selective enrollment programs. In September, the state launched a new corrective action plan to ensure the district is providing transportation to all students of disabilities whose Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs, call for bus service.

This spring, documents obtained by Chalkbeat revealed the district had been under state watch for failing to follow state law on physical restraint and timeout for students. The state board said that Chicago was not notifying parents of incidents, staff and faculty were not trained in how to properly restrain and seclude students, and untrained staff were using outlawed methods of restraint.

The state board named Jones for failing in her role as a designated official to look into restraint and timeout incidents. In that role, she was required to maintain copies of incidents, be notified of incidents that occurred during the school day, and receive documents of physical restraint and timeout incidents that went on for a long time.

Prior to Jones’s time as chair, the district’s department responsible for supporting students with disabilities had been in trouble with the state before. A 2017 investigation WBEZ found Chicago Public Schools secretly overhauled the special education department in 2016, resulting in students losing access to vital services. The State Board of Education placed the district under a corrective action plan in 2018, which lasted until 2022. During the 2022-23 school year, the state placed Chicago under a general supervision plan to continue to watch how the district handles special education services.

Now, Long could play a key role in ensuring that the department is delivering services to students with disabilities, monitoring physical restraint and timeout incidents, and helping students catch up after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted education.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Dual credit courses growing in Illinois, but students of color less likely to take them, report says

2023-12-08T12:59:53+00:00

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To help students get a head start with college credits without having to pay college tuition, Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 lets its students take college-level courses on everything from history and political science to culinary arts and cybersecurity.

The courses are a part of the small suburban district’s dual credit program, in which the district’s two high schools partner with College of Lake County to offer courses to students. And there’s significant demand for it: Melissa DiGangi, executive director of academic excellence at District 126, said that the district set up the program because more than half of its students say that they want to attend a two- or four-year college after high school.

“We can provide that first college experience in a safe supportive learning environment,” said DiGangi.

Zion-Benton is far from alone. Due to recent changes in state law in 2021, Illinois high schools were encouraged to expand their dual credit courses. And the share of students who are taking these advanced classes has been on the rise over the past several years: Participation in dual credit courses grew from 10.2% of high school students in the 2017-18 school year to 14% for 2021-22, according to a recent report from the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative.

A separate Chalkbeat analysis of Illinois’ high school students’ participation in dual credit courses between the 2017-18 and 2022-23 school years also found disparities in participation rates between different student demographics

However, the report also found that in Illinois, students of color, students from low-income families, and English learners do not have the same level of participation in dual credit courses as their white, Asian American, and affluent peers. (The report was funded by the Joyce Foundation, which provides funding to Chalkbeat.)

Even within school districts, on average, white and Asian American students have higher participation rates than other racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, English learners, and those from low-income families the report found.

Sarah Cashdollar, the report’s author, said that often when schools take steps to expand access, participation increases but gaps along racial and socioeconomic lines tend to widen. She said there are benefits for all students taking advanced coursework in college, but they can be especially helpful for students of color and low-income students.

“There is some evidence suggesting that impacts are especially beneficial for students who historically have been underrepresented as college attendees and college graduates,” said Cashdollar.

Meg Bates, director of Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative, said one reason for disparities could be that school counselors and teachers used to frequently recommend to students that they take advanced courses. Since state law changed in 2021 to automatically enroll students in advanced courses, those disparities might change, but it is too early to tell, Bates said.

State law requires public universities and colleges to accept the credit if a student passes the course. For students from low-income families, this could help them save money on college tuition or prevent them from borrowing student loans. Research also shows that high school students who take college level courses are more likely to attend college in the future.

The report found some bright spots in the state’s participation data between school years 2018 to 2022. For instance, participation rates for Native American, Latino, and English learners grew over that time.

Cashdollar’s research also uncovered a geographic divide. On average, school districts in southern Illinois had a large number of students participating in dual credit courses in comparison to districts in Northern and Central Illinois. Also, there was higher participation in districts located in rural areas and towns than in urban and suburban districts.

State data indicates Chicago Public Schools, the state’s largest district, offers fewer dual credit courses than Advanced Placement courses. A spokesperson for the district said CPS is working to expand opportunities to advanced courses for all high school students, but it is easier for the district to offer Advanced Placement courses.

“There are significant cost and instructional preparation differences between AP and Dual Credit courses with AP courses being more accessible, established, and affordable and still offering students more depth and rigor than traditional high school classes,” said the spokesperson.

Through partnerships with community colleges, high schools can offer dual credit courses in multiple models.

Dual credit courses can be taught by qualified high school teachers, college professors, or college adjuncts at a local high school, on a college campus, or virtually. “In Illinois and nationally, over two-thirds of (dual credit) students attend courses located within their high schools,” the report says.

Sometimes high school teachers are teaching dual credit courses and are labeled as “adjunct college professors.”

DiGangi said that finding teachers with a credential to teach a dual credit course is difficult for school districts. To teach dual credit, a teacher may need to go back to school for additional graduate-level credentials.

“For a math teacher that teaches AP Calculus, they don’t need that,” said DiGangi. “For a math teacher to teach dual credit math, they need to get around 18 graduate hours of mathematics coursework completed.”

Right now, Zion-Benton is working with the College of Lake County to prepare an educator to teach a dual credit math course next fall.

In the past, the district worked to credential three teachers to teach dual credit courses in English and History. Providing these opportunities is easier when school districts partner up with local community colleges.

Zion-Benton’s community college partner, College of Lake County, has found that dual credit courses can be beneficial to institutions of higher education as well. For example, students are more likely to return to the college where they took classes in high school.

The community college with five locations throughout Lake County, works with 24 schools, and provides dual credit courses to about 3,000 high school students.

Sarah Stashkiw, the director of P-20 educational partnerships at Colleges of Lake County, said that of the class of 2022 seniors who took a dual credit course, 30% of those students came back to take at least one course from the community college.

“The more early exposure we can give students to a college experience and college coursework, the more likely they are to be successful long term,” said Stashkiw.

Many states are moving toward private school choice. Illinois is letting its program lapse.

2023-11-14T19:35:49+00:00

A little over three years ago, Eva Villalobos was searching for a public school for her four daughters, two of whom she had recently adopted in March 2020.

She wanted a school that would provide the mental health and academic support her new daughters needed. Then she discovered St. Gall School on the city’s Southwest side. It had everything she was looking for: small class sizes, before- and after-school child care, and social emotional support.

The price tag for the Catholic school was steep — Villalobos said it cost her almost $20,000 a year for all four children. But her oldest daughter received funding from Illinois’ tax-credit scholarship, Invest in Kids, to bring the price down to about $10,000 a year.

Next school year, however, Villalobos’ children — and more than 9,000 other Illinois students who received tuition support this year through Invest in Kids — will no longer benefit from the state-sponsored financial help.

That’s because Illinois lawmakers are letting the tax-credit scholarship program lapse on Dec. 31. Students who already receive the tax credit scholarship will have their tuition paid for through the end of this school year.

Illinois’ move comes at a time when more than a dozen states across the country have created new private school choice programs or expanded existing ones.

Neighboring red states, such as Iowa and Indiana, have recently made nearly all of their students eligible for private school choice programs, which give families public dollars to pay for private educational options. Wisconsin, which has a Democratic governor and a Republican-dominated legislature, increased the dollar amount of its school vouchers over the summer.

But in Illinois, state lawmakers did not pass a bill during the fall veto session to extend the program despite a last-minute push from families and advocacy groups. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker struck a neutral position that frustrated both sides — underscoring the shifting political winds in a state that has become more blue since the program passed six years ago.

Invest in Kids allows individuals or corporations to donate to scholarship-granting organizations that then distribute money to students from low-income families who need help paying tuition for private schools. Donors get a tax credit worth 75 cents for every dollar donated, up to $1 million. The state capped donations at $100 million and credits at $75 million — limits that were never hit, according to state data.

Michael Petrilli, president of the right-leaning Fordham Institute, said Illinois is likely the first state to kill an existing private school choice program without court intervention.

“It’s very hard to take government benefits away from people, especially when they are sympathetic individuals, especially low-income parents trying to do right by their kids,” Petrilli noted.

But opponents of private school choice programs applauded Illinois lawmakers for not extending the program when the veto session closed last Thursday evening.

Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, one of the state’s largest teachers unions, said in a press release that “there is a nationwide push to divert public dollars from our public schools through vouchers or voucher-like programs like tax credit scholarships and education savings accounts.”

He praised Illinois lawmakers who “chose to put our public schools first.”

For Villalobos, the end of the program likely means taking her children out of a school where they are thriving.

“We would be forced to try to find different ways to still be able to support them because they need all this additional help,” she said, noting that she doesn’t see how paying for private school would be feasible. “It just won’t happen.”

How politics shifted during Invest in Kids’ existence

Last week, Villalobos and other families and supporters of Invest in Kids filled the halls of the state capitol in Springfield for the final days of the fall veto session. Wearing blue shirts that read “Save My Scholarship,” they pushed state lawmakers to call a bill, HB 4149, that would extend the program until 2029 with some new limitations around donations.

But Illinois Speaker of the House Emanuel “Chris” Welch never called the bill for a vote.

The moment stood in stark contrast to 2017, when Republicans and Democrats were engaged in a tense, drawn-out battle over how to pay for public education. A budget impasse had stretched for two years.

At the time, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner favored the idea of tax-credit scholarships and said he was “hopeful” a compromise deal would include such a program. Democratic leaders — all of whom are no longer in office — wanted a compromise to end the stalemate and better fund public schools. Behind the scenes, they were open to including a tax-credit scholarship.

Invest in Kids emerged from the closed-door negotiations that finally broke the impasse.

State lawmakers agreed in 2021 to extend the program for a year, with the backing of trade unions that supported additional money for the creation of private vocational schools. Those unions offered their support again this year.

Some advocates, who hoped for another extension, became concerned in the spring when Brandon Johnson, a former middle school teacher and organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union, became mayor of Chicago. Johnson beat Democrat Paul Vallas, a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, who favored school vouchers and charter schools.

“His victory surprised a lot of people,” said Greg Richmond, superintendent of the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools. “I had a friend who works in the political arena, he called me two days after the mayoral election and he said, ‘I hope I’m wrong, but I’m just letting you know the scholarship program is now dead.’”

The perception was that “elected officials would want to be on the right side of the CTU,” he added.

Still, in October, Pritzker said he would sign a bill if lawmakers sent it to him. A spokesperson from the governor’s office told Chalkbeat Chicago in late October, “he won’t veto something that passed with a majority supporting it.”

Republican lawmakers urged Welch to bring the bill to a vote on the House floor last week and expressed deep frustration that he didn’t do so.

Rep. William Hauter, a Republican representing a district in central Illinois between Peoria and Springfield, mocked his colleagues from the floor Thursday. “I stand to just congratulate the majority power party who has stood firmly against the Invest in Kids program.”

He called Democrats’ commitment to kill the program “breathtaking.”

In a veto session, a bill requires three-fifths vote to pass. Cassie Creswell, executive director and president of Illinois Families for Public Schools, a public education advocacy group, said Welch might not have wanted to call the bill because it didn’t have enough support from Democratic lawmakers.

“He does not want to call bills that are going to divide his caucus,” she said.

Opponents celebrate ‘historic win’

When the veto session ended on Thursday, opponents cheered the end of Invest in Kids. They said the program lacked transparency and accountability when it came to reporting who received public dollars, and it gave public money to religious schools that discriminate against LGBTQ students.

Public schools have to report academic and disciplinary data to the Illinois State Board of Education, which is included annually in the state’s report card. Similar data for Invest in Kids is not available, though students enrolled in private schools with the help of a tax-credit scholarship are required to take state standardized tests.

“We do not know test scores. We don’t know graduation rates. We don’t know discipline information. We don’t know who attends,” said Creswell. “We don’t know how anyone spent $250 million they got over these last five years. So no transparency and no oversight.”

The Illinois Department of Revenue has issued an annual report on Invest in Kids for the past five years. But much of the individual school level data is suppressed because of student privacy laws. Aggregate data collected in the most recent annual report showed 56% of students supported by tax-credit scholarships last school year were white, 32% were Hispanic or Latino, 20% were Black, and 12.5% identified as other.

Roughly two-thirds were from families whose income was below 185% of the federal poverty line — or $49,025 for a family of four in the 2022-23 school year.

Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, a Democrat and the lead sponsor of HB 4149, said she hopes to bring new legislation in the spring.

Guerrero-Cuellar, who represents neighborhoods on the city’s southwest side and west suburbs, said more than 400 students in her district use the tax-credit scholarship to attend private schools.

“This is a critical and needed program for a lot of people,” she said. “We have food deserts, health deserts, and educational deserts.”

But some supporters of the program think a last-minute save is unlikely after lawmakers declined to act last spring and then again in the veto session.

Anthony Holter, president of Empower Illinois, one of the largest scholarship-granting organizations for the program, said he doesn’t know how “feasible it is and whether the conditions in the spring would be any different.”

Parents and students hold signs inside the Illinois State Capitol building as they rally in support of the state's tax-credit scholarship program. The tax-credit scholarship is set to sunset at the end of 2023 after lawmakers didn't act.

Supporters worry about the future for scholarship students

Some supporters of Invest in Kids worry about the long term-effects on students and schools when the tax-credit scholarship program ends.

Tracy Smith, a mother of twin boys whose tuition is supported with the help of a tax-credit scholarship, said that without an extension, private schools could close and teachers could be laid off from their jobs. She also said that ending Invest in Kids would take away families’ right to choose a school that is right for their kids.

“You’re going to have an influx of more students going into a system that they don’t want to be a part of,” said Smith. “If they don’t extend the program, you’re taking away their choice.”

Richmond, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago, said some Catholic schools could face closure without the scholarship program.

“Some of our schools have 50 kids on scholarship or more,” he said. “When a school loses that number of students then the school’s future is also at risk. It’s not just the 50 students whose education is at risk.”

Some donors have already reached out about helping students stay in their schools, he said.

Christine Boyd, principal of St. Mary of the Lake and St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic schools on the North Side of Chicago, said the vast majority of the schools’ 300 students were on scholarship. Most of the students are African immigrants who speak two languages at home, she said, and the school has a “robust” program for English language learners.

The loss of the scholarship program “will be very devastating to our community and to the school,” Boyd said.

Roni Facen, principal at St. Francis de Sales High School on the city’s Southeast Side, said that she has 55 students who are a part of Invest in Kids. She said some of the students won’t be able to continue attending the school.

The school is located in a predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood and many families are low-income, she said. Facen said that the school gives a scholarship to all students to help them attend.

“I’m gonna do everything I know how to do to keep my babies here. But it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be an easy fight,” said Facen.

Villalobos, the mother of four, was angry when lawmakers waited until the last minute to make a decision on the scholarship and disappointed that the program was not extended.

“There’s so many unforeseen things that happen in life. No matter how financially stable or healthy you are, things can change in the blink of an eye,” said Villalobos. “This is such a wonderful cushion to have for hard times.”

Now she’s trying to figure out her next step. She wants to keep her daughters at St. Gall, which offers before- and after-school care and social-emotional and academic support. But now that Invest in Kids is ending, she doesn’t know what she’ll do.

Becky Vevea contributed reporting.

Cara Fitzpatrick is a story editor at Chalkbeat. Contact Cara at cfitzpatrick@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois student test scores closer to pre-pandemic proficiency levels, but absenteeism remains high

2023-10-30T14:00:00+00:00

Illinois public school students made strides in recovering from pandemic disruption, with gains in English language arts and math test scores, a jump in high school graduation rates in the past decade, and an increase in students taking advanced courses, according to data from the state’s latest report card.

The report card issued by the Illinois State Board of Education shows that more students were considered proficient on standardized tests in the 2022-23 school year compared to the previous year, but scores have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

In a press conference on Wednesday, State Superintendent Tony Sanders said educators and families should be proud of the progress made on the 2023 report card.

“I’m so happy to see a second year of strong recovery post-pandemic,” said Sanders. “We’re moving fast toward recovery, although we still have quite a distance to travel.”

The annual report card provides families and educators with a glimpse at how their district and school are doing in comparison to the state’s 850-plus districts. Among the metrics collected by the State Board of Education are test scores, enrollment data, chronic absenteeism, teacher retention rates, graduation rates, the number of students taking advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement or dual credit, and participation in career and technical education programs.

The latest report card offers some good news for Illinois districts that are still working to help students recover from pandemic-related disruptions. To address learning gaps, they have focused on hiring more staff, creating after-school programs, and hosting summer learning opportunities. Some of those efforts were funded with the $7 billion in federal COVID relief funding the state received.

However, the state’s public schools will have to figure out how to continue these programs as federal relief funding will expire at the end of September 2024. Chicago Public Schools officials recently projected a $391 million budget deficit next school year.

Here are some of the highlights from the 2023 report card.

Test scores are trending up, but haven’t returned to 2019 levels

Illinois standardized test scores show that reading recovery continues to improve while math scores have yet to make similar progress. While all student groups across race and ethnicity made significant gains, the report card found that Black students made the most progress. The state board noted that Black students were hit the hardest in the pandemic and often remained in remote learning longer than other students when school buildings began to reopen in the school year 2020-2021.

On the 2023 Illinois Assessment of Readiness, known as the IAR, a yearly standardized test used as one of the measures in the report card, 35.4% of students between third grade and eighth grade were proficient in reading, a 5.2 percent point increase compared to 2022. In math, 27% of students in those same grades were proficient, a 1.6 percentage point increase. However, the 2023 scores still fell short of pre-pandemic levels; in 2019, 37.8% were proficient in English language arts and 31.8% in math.

Last month, Chicago Public Schools reported about 26% of students were considered proficient in English Language Arts on the 2023 IAR test, compared with 27.3% in 2019. For math, 17.5% of students passed, compared with 23.6% in 2019.

Students were unable to take the spring assessment in 2020 when the pandemic upended learning and forced school buildings to close. In 2021, participation was low as some schools had the option of offering the exam in the spring or in the fall, but participation rates returned to normal in 2022.

For 11th graders who took the SAT, a standardized exam used by colleges as part of admission criteria, 31.6% of students were considered proficient in reading and 26.7% were considered proficient in math. That’s fewer than the 36.2% of 11th graders in 2019 who scored proficient in reading and the 34.4% who scored proficient in math.

State sees increase in enrollment for English learners

The state’s overall enrollment continues to decline steadily. Over 1.8 million students were enrolled in Illinois public schools in 2022-23, a loss of more than 11,500 students compared to the previous school year. In a media call on Wednesday, Sanders said the declines track with a drop in birth rates across the nation and in Illinois.

Public schools saw an increase of Latino and Asian American students enrolling last school year. However, white and Black student enrollment has decreased.

Across student groups, English language learners had the largest bump in enrollment over the last five years, according to the report card. Sanders said the state board cannot say for sure how many students are migrants from Central America or refugee students from Ukraine or Afghanistan.

Students continue to be chronically absent at high rate

About 28% of students were chronically absent from school last year. That’s a slight decrease — about a 1.5 percentage point — from the 2021-22 school year when about 29.8% of students were chronically absent.

Students are considered chronically absent when they miss about 18 days, or 10% of school, with or without a valid excuse. Student mental health days also count towards chronic absenteeism.

When students miss a significant amount of school it can impact their academic performance.

The report card shows high rates of absenteeism among Black, Native American, and Latino students. But Black, Latino, Asian American, and white students also saw improvement in school attendance compared in 2021-22. During last school year, chronic absenteeism rates were high among students from low-income families, students experiencing homelessness, and students with Individualized Education Programs.

The Illinois data is similar to what schools are seeing across the country. Attendance Works — a nonprofit organization that looks into attendance rates across the country — has seen early data from 11 states that found about 27.9% of students were chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year — a 2.2% decrease in chronic absenteeism rates compared with the 2021-22 school year.

Illinois students graduation rates improve

High school seniors who graduated in the spring of 2023 entered high school in 2019. Their freshman year was disrupted in March when COVID-19 shuttered schools. Now state data shows that those students graduated at the highest rate in 13 years, excluding 2019-20 when graduation rates were inflated due to a reduction in graduation requirements in the spring of 2020.

Last school year, 87.6% of students graduated from high school, a 1.4% increase from 2019 and a 3.8% increase from 2011. Black and Latino students saw significant gains when it comes to graduation rates compared to 2019 — 80.1% of Black students, or a 3.6% increase, and 88.5% of Latino students, a 6.3% gain, graduated from high school in the spring of 2023.

During the press conference on Wednesday, Sanders was asked what factor led to higher student achievement for Black students when compared to previous years. Sanders attributed much of it to the evidence-based funding formula.

“The investment that local school districts have been making to better support our students of color is, I think, why you’re seeing some of these significant increases not only in student proficiency, but also in graduation rates and other key indicators,” said Sanders.

Illinois lawmakers propose allowing Chicago’s school board members to be paid

2023-10-24T23:13:18+00:00

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State lawmakers are proposing a bill that would allow elected Chicago’s school board members to receive compensation — a move advocates hope will encourage parents from low-income households to run for seats when the board shifts from appointed to elected.

State Sen. Robert Martwick and State Rep. Kam Buckner, who both represent parts of Chicago, announced at a press conference Tuesday morning a proposal to lift a prohibition in state law that prevents Chicago’s elected school board members from receiving compensation. The bills in the Senate and House, introduced during the fall’s veto session, would not mandate the school district to provide a salary or set minimums for how much school board members get paid.

Under a bill passed by the state legislature in 2021, Chicago’s board of education will transition from a seven-member mayoral-appointed board to a 21-member elected school board by January 2027. Ten of 21 school board seats will be up for election during the general election in November 2024.

Currently, Illinois law permits school board members to be reimbursed for certain expenses, but they do not earn a salary or stipend.

“I’ve had a number of conversations with people who live in my district from South Shore to Woodlawn who want to be a part of the solution, who want to be a part of this generational shift of a new elected school board,” Buckner said. “However, they don’t know how they’re going to do it and work the night shift.”

State lawmakers have a short window to pass the proposal. This fall’s legislation session is only six days and is currently scheduled to end on Nov. 9.

Courtney Hrejsa, executive director of Educators for Excellence, said in an interview with Chalkbeat the organization is behind this proposal because it hopes pay will persuade teachers to join the elected school board. The lack of a stipend or compensation is a major barrier to teachers who might be interested in running for school board, Hrejsa said.

“Teachers are typically middle-class residents of Chicago. They are breadwinners for their families and their income is required for their livelihood,” said Hrejsa. “If we are unable to provide them any sort of compensation for board service, we’re essentially excluding them from realistically being able to serve. That will not result in the best governance of our school system.”

Under the current law, employees of the school district are not allowed to sit on the elected school board, so a teacher would have to quit their job in order to serve.

Kids First Chicago, a parent advocacy group, surveyed almost 800 Chicagoans earlier in the fall to ask their opinions on Chicago’s elected school board. Over 70% of respondents believe board members should receive a stipend of salary.

Lorena Lopez, a parent and advocate with Kids First Chicago, said in an interview with Chalkbeat it’s only fair to pay parents for the time spent “helping the Board of Education.”

The issue of pay for Chicago’s elected school board members was taken off the table in 2021. Martwick, who sponsored the elected school board bill, pushed for compensation at the time, but said he ultimately took out the provision to get support for the legislation from some suburban and rural legislators. Martwick believes now is a good time to revive this issue during the session.

In an interview with Chalkbeat Chicago, Martwick said the proposal only focuses on Chicago at the moment, but he would not be opposed to supporting a bill from other legislators that would allow school boards across the state to decide whether they want to compensate members.

“The reason that we’re doing it for Chicago is because that’s what we’re focused on.” Martwick said. “We’re in the midst of creating (district) maps, figuring out how the process of elections is going to happen, and figuring out how we’re going to transition from 10 to 20.”

In Los Angeles, elected school board members make $125,000 if they don’t have outside employment and $50,000 if they do. Appointed school boards, such as those in New York City and Philadelphia, are not paid.

In Indiana, school board members can get a stipend of up to $2,000 per year, in addition to meeting stipends that max out at $112. Florida and Nevada allow school board members to be paid a salary.

Currently, Chicago City Council members are paid. According to Block Club Chicago, most aldermen will make $145,974 in 2024, with the lowest paid taking home $118,392.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago teachers urge State Board of Education to help with ongoing migrant crisis

2023-10-19T00:49:30+00:00

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Chicago teachers are urging state education officials to help the city’s public schools with an influx of migrant students, many of whom lack basic needs such as clothing, medical care, and housing.

Teachers told board members on Wednesday during the state board’s monthly meeting that Chicago schools are struggling to meet the needs of newly arrived school-age migrants. Some teachers said classrooms have become overcrowded, schools don’t have enough bilingual educators, and many students need access to bilingual social workers or school counselors for social-emotional support.

Diane Castro, a bilingual preschool teacher at Lorca Elementary School, said the 3- and 4-year-old students she works with have endured so much and need more than her school can provide.

“Our students are … doubled and tripled up in apartment buildings,” said Castro. “The children are in clothes that are too small and shoes that are too big. Our children have not had proper medical or dental care.”

More than 18,500 migrants have come to Chicago since August 2022, according to city officials, though it’s not clear exactly how many are school-aged. Chicago Public Schools officials have pointed to climbing numbers of students identified as English learners and those living in temporary living situations as an estimate for how many newcomers are now in CPS.

The teachers’ push for help comes as city and state officials are calling on the federal government to come through with additional funding and support.

During the spring legislative session, state lawmakers filed a bill to help support migrant students by requiring the state board to create New Arrival Student Grants for schools. But the bill didn’t move past the rules committee.

In late September, Gov. J. B. Pritzker announced $41.5 million for Illinois cities seeing an influx of newcomers. Chicago got more than $30 million of that money. But in early October, Pritzker made a plea to President Joe Biden for support, calling the pace of new arrivals “untenable” for Chicago and Illinois.

A Chalkbeat Chicago analysis of staffing data over the summer found a decline in the number of designated bilingual teachers in recent years, but an uptick in teachers with bilingual or English as a Second Language endorsements. The analysis also found that the ratio of staff with bilingual credentials or titles to students was increasing as more English learners have enrolled.

Syvelia Pittman, a teacher at Nash Elementary School on the city’s West Side, has seen that play out on the ground. She told the state board Wednesday that her school serves about 50 newcomers, increasing the school’s enrollment in preschool to third grade. However, the school does not have any bilingual educators and teachers often use Google translate to speak to students.

Pittman asked the state board to provide schools with additional funding to hire more teachers and provide current teachers with support to obtain a certificate in bilingual education.

In addition to the increased need for bilingual educators, teachers said students are coming to schools without their basic needs being met.

Gabriel Paez, a bilingual educator at Cameron Elementary School in the West Humboldt Park Neighborhood and Bilingual Education Committee chair for the Chicago Teachers Union, said some students lack shoes and clothes and need access to vaccination to attend school. With Chicago’s harsh winter around the corner, students will need warmer clothes, winter coats, and housing.

“We have 20 newcomers in each grade level who arrive daily and in worsening conditions. Many of my students arrive stripped of their basic needs,” said Paez. “Medication, clothes, shoes, socks, medical attention, housing, and mental health, are all falling on already overburdened and understaffed schools.”

Paez urged the state board to provide winter supplies, emergency housing assistance, and first aid kits along with bilingual social workers and counselors.

Paez also asked the board to give students who are migrants an exception from the state’s English-only exams such as the Illinois Assessment of Readiness because it would be “damaging and retraumatizing” to students who do not understand the language.

Chicago Public Schools’ enrollment increased by 1,000 students for the first time in more than a decade this year. District data shows more than 7,800 additional students were classified as English learners this year compared to last year. Normally, the annual increase is by an average of 3,000 English learners.

The number of students identified as living in temporary housing also increased compared to last year. Migrant students are considered Students in Temporary Living Situations, or STLS, and guaranteed admission to local public schools despite not having a permanent address.

On the 20th day of the school year, when the district took its official enrollment count, a spokesperson cautioned against attributing the bump to “any one group of students.” Earlier in July, a top mayoral aide suggested to the Chicago Sun-Times that newcomer students would reverse CPS enrollment declines.

The Illinois State Board of Education will make a budget recommendation to Pritzker before his State of the State and budget address which typically happens in February.

Reema Amin contributed to this report.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois is revamping its literacy plan. Parents, advocates say it needs more for students with dyslexia.

2023-10-17T23:14:01+00:00

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Shortly after Aimee Orta’s daughter started kindergarten in Chicago Public Schools in 2019, the 5-year-old would come home upset and complain about headaches and stomach pain.

The complaints seemed to stem from the little girl’s frustrations with school. After realizing that her daughter might be a struggling reader, Orta decided to get an outside evaluation. The results found that the kindergartener was having trouble matching letters to sounds.

But it would take two more years for Orta’s daughter to be formally diagnosed with dyslexia, her mom says, and for her school on the North West side to provide the academic services she needed. By then, she was in second grade.

Orta said she saw how it impacted her daughter’s social-emotional health.

“She just felt like she wasn’t capable of anything, because when you can’t read you can’t consume any of the other curriculum,” said Orta. “So she’s struggling in math. She’s struggling in science. She’s struggling in social studies.”

The fight to get her daughter the services she needs drove Orta to become an advocate with the CPS Family Dyslexia Collaborative. The group is pushing the district and the state to adopt evidence-based reading instruction in the classroom and to improve interventions for struggling readers and those with dyslexia.

The issue of how to improve literacy instruction has taken on new urgency across the country, as districts grapple with students who fell behind during the pandemic. On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness taken in spring 2023, 25.9% of Chicago students from third to eighth grade who took the exam met or exceeded the standard in English language arts. But for students with disabilities, the percentage dropped to 4.2%.

In recent years, many states have started to revamp how reading is taught by getting rid of a now-debunked reading method called “balanced literacy,” a reading philosophy that believes reading is a natural process, and turning to evidence-based reading instruction.

Illinois has also taken steps to change literacy instruction with the passage of a law that requires the Illinois State Board of Education to create a literacy plan by Jan. 31, 2024. In June, the state board released an initial draft of the plan, which says universal screening for literacy skills is essential and aspiring teachers need to be trained in the science of reading.

However, because the draft plan does not mandate districts to change how reading is taught in classrooms, literacy advocates worry that it is not enough to push schools to get rid of balanced literacy.

The state board plans to release a second draft of the literacy plan during the board’s monthly meeting on Oct. 18. The board also said that it will update the state’s dyslexia handbook this fall — a document that helps parents, educators, school administration understand what dyslexia is and how to support students. The handbook was last updated in 2019.

Parents like Orta and advocates like Jessica Handy, executive director of Stand for Children Illinois and a key author of the literacy bill, say the state’s literacy draft plan needs more work to address the needs of struggling readers and those with dyslexia. Having a strong reading curriculum and evidence-based instruction is good for all readers, Handy said, but students with dyslexia need more support in a classroom setting.

“Students with dyslexia deserve early identification and support instead of waiting for them to fail,” Handy said.

Advocate fight to change Illinois’ literacy instruction

In early 2022, the Illinois Early Literacy Coalition — a group of literacy advocates across the state — pushed legislation to mandate evidence-based reading instruction in all Illinois school districts. The so-called “Right to Read” Act required the state board to create literacy grants, change teacher licensure tests for elementary school teachers, and develop professional development opportunities for current teachers. The proposed law came at a time when the state’s 2021 test scores found that young students had lost ground in English language arts and math.

Many education advocates supported the bill, but critics said it did not address the needs of English language learners — a student group that makes up 14% of the state’s student enrollment. Despite negotiations, the bill did not pass.

But a year later, at the start of 2023, parts of the “Right to Read” Act appeared in several pieces of legislation in the state House and Senate. The group of bills — referred to by advocates as the “Literacy and Justice for All” package — would have required the state to create a literacy plan, design a rubric for school districts to score their reading curriculum, create professional development opportunities for current teachers, and require aspiring teachers to take courses in evidence-based literacy instruction in teacher prep programs.

Literacy advocates also fought for a bill that would have required public schools to screen all students in kindergarten through second grade for dyslexia.

Illinois is one of several states that does not require schools to screen children. Some school districts across the nation have implemented universal screeners for young learners. A spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools said the i-Ready exam, an assessment for all kindergarten through second grade students, has a dyslexia screener.

But despite the push to mandate better reading instruction, train teachers on evidence-based practices, and screen students for dyslexia early, state lawmakers only passed SB 2243. which required the state to create a literacy plan.

The draft plan, which was released in June before the law was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, provides a roadmap for educators to teach reading to students from birth to 12th grade using research-based reading strategies. The draft plan also tells educators how to adjust their instruction to meet the needs of students with disabilities and English language learners.

The plan does outline how state leaders, school districts, and educators should work with students with disabilities, which would include students with dyslexia. But the Illinois Early Literacy Coalition, in a letter to the state board in June, said students with dyslexia deserve their own section and more than “a passing reference” to the dyslexia handbook.

“We know that many students who struggle to read do not have dyslexia and we have strongly supported a plan that is comprehensive and inclusive,” the coalition wrote in its letter. “At the same time, a plan that does not include any specific discussion about students with dyslexia is not inclusive.”

Aspiring teachers need training on phonics

Aimee Orta, a mother of two Chicago Public Schools students who have dyslexia.

By the spring of 2021, Orta’s daughter was in the second half of first grade and had an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, that required her to get more reading instruction inside her classroom throughout the day.

But Orta soon realized it was not enough. Her daughter needed time outside of her general education classroom to focus on reading strategies. Orta had to push her daughter’s general education teacher and school administration for more help.

“When teachers tell parents, ‘oh, it’ll eventually click’ or ‘we need to wait and see,’ or ‘it’ll be fine.’ When we hear that, we start to doubt our instincts,” said Orta.

A spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools said the district has developed its Skyline English language arts curriculum using evidence-based reading strategies and plans to roll out more curricular support for schools this year. The district announced the curriculum in May 2019 and started rolling it out at schools in 2021. Many, but not all schools have adopted the curriculum.

Requiring evidence-based reading practices is just one part of the solution, advocates and experts say. Better teaching preparation in reading instruction is also needed.

The state board’s draft literacy plan addresses that by suggesting that teacher preparation programs should help aspiring elementary school teachers learn about the science behind reading, understand national and state standards for reading for each grade level, find strategies to help students learn how to read, and use assessments to find where students are struggling to read.

The draft literacy plan also recommends that state leaders work with teacher preparation programs to ensure that curriculum aligns with evidence-based reading practice.

Some evidence shows teacher preparation programs across the nation are still largely teaching future elementary school teachers balanced literacy reading strategies and curriculum, according to a June report from the National Center for Teacher Quality — a nonprofit organization evaluating teacher prep programs.

The report reviewed 16 teacher prep programs in Illinois; of those, eight programs did not spend any course time on helping preservice teachers to teach reading to struggling readers. Nine of Illinois’ teacher prep programs received an F grade. Only two universities, Illinois College and Olivet Nazarene University, received an A+.

However, higher education leaders have criticized the report for grading schools on course material without reaching out to teacher prep programs. The council had to change the grade of at least 24 schools in the nation. Ball State University in Indiana went from a F grade to an A.

Heather Peske, president of NCTQ, said Illinois has too many children who are not reading at grade level and better teacher preparation can change that reality for all students.

“We shouldn’t depend on the families of children who have dyslexia to advocate for their children to be taught aligned to the science and the research,” said Peske. “We need teachers who understand the science of reading, understand the research, and who know how to serve students who have dyslexia.”

Peske noted that Colorado and Mississippi have teacher preparation programs using the science of reading in their curriculum and students have seen a boost in their reading scores.

Literacy advocates look to the future

One year after Orta’s daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, Orta noticed her catching up to peers. In addition to getting more support at school, she received after-school tutoring and went to a summer school program that focused on reading.

Now, as a fourth grader, the girl is reading just shy of her grade level and enjoys reading for pleasure despite the effort it takes.

Orta has used the lessons learned in her daughter’s journey to help her younger son. She noticed that he struggled to read as well and quickly sought an outside evaluation. He was diagnosed immediately with dyslexia and given an IEP by the end of kindergarten in the spring of 2022.

Orta’s son, now in second grade, has been making progress in reading faster and his social-emotional health is strong.

The state literacy plan recommends, but doesn’t mandate, that schools use universal screeners to help teachers intervene early if a student needs support. Research shows students who receive interventions in first and second grade are twice as likely to make gains in reading than a student who receives support in third grades, according to a report in the Journal of Educational Psychology.

Orta still wants the state to mandate research-based, structured phonics instruction in school. She also wants educators, school clinicians and administrators to learn about the signs of dyslexia to help kids early.

The state’s draft plan is a good start, Orta and other advocates say, but more needs to be done.

Chicago child care providers appeal for local funding as federal aid dries up

2023-10-06T21:22:31+00:00

Jamila Wilson said that providing child care services to families of essential workers during the height of the coronavirus pandemic made her feel like she was doing “something in a time of crisis.”

Now that the coronavirus pandemic has eased and work has returned to normal, Wilson worries that she might not be able to continue serving families in her community. The emergency federal funding that helped her and other providers keep their doors open expired on Sept. 30.

During a town hall meeting on Thursday, Wilson and members of the Illinois Child Care for All Coalition called on state and local officials to step in to prevent what they see as a looming child care crisis. The child care providers and parents who spoke Thursday night want more funding to ensure that providers are able to make a living wage, and that all families are able to access services, regardless of their income or work status.

The coalition wants state lawmakers to direct funding to Chicago and is calling on the City Council to create a revenue line in the city’s budget for child care.

Without more local funding, they warned, they risk losing their businesses or having to cut jobs, and families who are already struggling to find affordable child care for young children would be even worse off.

“It’s kind of scary,” said Wilson, who has provided home-based child care for over 18 years, when asked about the end of COVID relief funds. “I’ve already picked up a lot of debt during COVID, just so I can keep things afloat.” Wilson mentioned that she has to pay her mortgage, a business loan she took out, and student loans, and support her daughter who is in college.

Kia Jackson has a similar experience. Jackson has worked at a YMCA for 19 years and in child care for 17 years. When she first started working, she had four children and was living on an income of $10 an hour.

“As you all know, that wasn’t enough, and it was difficult,” Jackson said Thursday.

Jackson and her colleagues have unionized at the YMCA and received raises every year, but she said they still have had to take on second jobs just to make ends meet.

“We need to win child care for all in Chicago, so that families can have the child care they need and deserve, and so that we, as workers, can support ourselves and our families,” she told the crowd Thursday.

Long before COVID hit, child care centers struggled to find and retain workers and pay employees living wages or provide benefits like health insurance.

And many families, especially low-income families, have long struggled to find affordable child care, or live in child care deserts. A report from Illinois Action for Children, a nonprofit organization that helps refer parents to child care providers in Cook County, found that families in the county spend $11,500 per year for a preschool-age child at a child care center, on average, and almost $16,500 a year for an infant.

During the pandemic in 2021, the federal government under the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act gave states $24 billion in child care stabilization grants to help parents access child care, and help providers stay in business and increase staff. Illinois received $796.3 million in funding.

But now that the federal coronavirus emergency funding has ended, advocates warn that families and child care providers will be facing the same challenges as before if the city and state don’t help fill the gap.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to put forward his first budget proposal next Wednesday. The city has previously reported a projected $534 million budget shortfall.

There is some hope that the state will step in. Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared that he wants Illinois to be No. 1 for child care during his second term in office. He promised to make new investments in early childhood for the next four years with his Smart Start Illinois plan.

Also, Illinois lawmakers increased state funding in early childhood education and child care.

This year, the General Assembly approved a $250 million increase for early childhood education in the 2024 budget. About $40 million of that went to the Department of Human Services’ early intervention program for young children with disabilities; an additional $70 million went to the Child Care Assistance Program, which helps low-income families access child care; and the Illinois State Board of Education’s early childhood block grant program, which supports creating early childhood education programs, received an additional $75 million.

As the state board prepares for the 2025 budget, early childhood education advocates want to see more money in the budget. One of those groups, Start Early Illinois, wants the state to invest another $75 million in the early childhood block grant and $5 million for children with disabilities.

When will Chicago’s new map for the elected school board be ready? It’s unclear.

2023-10-04T02:59:03+00:00

People hoping to run for Chicago’s elected school board in the November 2024 election may have limited time to campaign as Illinois lawmakers are still working on a map defining the areas board members will represent.

It’s unclear when state lawmakers will approve that map. The state set an April 1, 2024, deadline for completing it, after blowing through a July 1 deadline. Meanwhile, preparations for other local and state elections have already begun, with incumbents and challengers kicking off their campaigns for the primary in March 2024 and general election in November. Chicago’s school board elections are nonpartisan.

The Senate Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board is now reviving the conversation about the board map after being mum throughout the summer, and held its first public hearing on Tuesday evening.

The transition to an elected board will be a major shift for the Chicago Board of Education, which has been under mayoral control since 1995.

Eli Brottman, a political consultant who testified at the hearing, noted the lack of transparency from the committee about the school board map and asked the committee to hold off on approving one during the General Assembly’s fall veto session, which starts in late October.

“In order for the public to give quality feedback, they need to know what the timeline of this process is, so that they can provide that feedback in a manner that it can be received and implemented by this body,” said Brottman.

Valerie Leonard, of Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting, was among those who urged the committee to move faster so that potential candidates have enough time to campaign.

“I really do see the urgency for people running now, because these are large districts,” said Leonard, whose group created a proposed map. “You really want to get out there and meet the voters, and you want to know where the boundaries are. So I would urge you to pass this during the veto session.”

One commenter asked the committee to consider another big change to school board practices: paying members for their time. Compensation is “a critical piece to allowing true representation of our elected board,” said Corrina Demma, who is a part of Educators for Excellence, a nonprofit group that advocates for teachers’ voice in education policy.

In 2021, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation that established a 21-member school board for Chicago that will ultimately have all elected seats. Chicagoans will get a chance to vote for 10 members on Nov. 5, 2024, while the mayor will appoint the remaining 10 members and a board president. In November 2026, the 11 appointed seats will be up for election. By 2027, the board will be fully elected.

The newly constituted school board will be one of the the largest in the country. New York City’s school board has 23 members, who are appointed by the mayor and other city officials. In Los Angeles, there are seven elected school board members. Across the country, school boards typically have three to 15 members.

The creation of Chicago’s elected school board map has hit many roadblocks. In May, lawmakers released a draft map that proposed seven majority-white districts, seven majority-Black districts, and six majority-Latino districts. But that proposal drew criticism from advocacy groups that have put forward their own maps.

For the past year, some advocates have called on state lawmakers to draw a map reflective of the city’s public school student enrollment, not the city’s overall population. The city is 33% white, 29% Black, and about 29% Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2022. Chicago Public Schools’ student population, meanwhile, is 46.9% Latino and 35% Black, while white students make up 11.1%, according to enrollment numbers from last month.

According to a 2022 survey by the Illinois Association of School Boards, school boards across the state are 80% white, 10% Black, 1.2% Latino, and 0.6% Asian. Enrollment data shows that the state’s student population is 46% white, 17% Black, 27% Latino, and 5% Asian.

The Senate plans to have another online public hearing next Thursday, Oct. 12 at 5 p.m.

Correction: Oct. 4, 2023: New York City’s school board has 23 members. A previous edition of this story said it had 15 members.

Chicago Public Schools says it is mailing out transportation stipends this week – a month after school started

2023-09-26T18:24:55+00:00

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Some Chicago parents will be able to pick up a monthly transportation stipend at their child’s school by the end of this week — a month after the school year started, according to the district.

The stipends — offered to students with disabilities who have bus service in their Individualized Education Program and those in temporary living situations — will be mailed to schools via the postal service this week, officials said.

This first round of checks will cover August and the maximum stipend is $225, according to the district. Parents will have to pick up the stipend at their child’s school during school hours at the end of each month.

The district encouraged parents over the summer to take transportation stipends up to $500 a month amid a national school bus driver shortage. As of Sept. 21, Over 3,200 families have accepted the district’s monthly stipend, a spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools said. All of those families will receive a check this week.

The delay in mailing out stipends is another part of the district’s ongoing struggle to support families who have students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness who need transportation.

“We will continue to explore every viable option to increase our transportation options and will continue to ensure every student has safe, secure, and reliable transportation to and from school,” said the spokesperson.

As of last Thursday, the district said it had provided bus service to 7,351 students, with an average travel time of 28 minutes.

But last week, the district said it had only 681 drivers out of 1,300 bus drivers needed to provide transportation. At the same time, 324 students were waiting for bus services. About 170 requests were received within the last week and the district plans to begin services for 144 students this week.

Parents have been concerned about long bus travel times to and from school since the beginning of the school year. Last year, some students were on bus routes that were longer than an hour — with 365 students with disabilities on rides longer than 90 minutes.

The Illinois State Board of Education encourages school districts to limit bus service to less than an hour. Chicago Public Schools has been under state watch since last November for failing to do so.

As of Sept. 21, the district said 62 students had travel times longer than 60 minutes, but none are on routes lasting more than 90 minutes.

The state opened another investigation in September after a complaint from advocates and parents alleging that students with disabilities whose Individualized Education Programs include transportation are being denied a “free appropriate public education,” which they are entitled to by federal law.

The complaint alleges “widespread … delays and denials” across CPS and an “unnecessary administrative burden” because families have to request transportation even after they’ve already been deemed eligible, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Chalkbeat.

Chicago Public Schools has struggled to provide bus service to students since 2021, when all students returned to school buildings after pandemic closures. The district has cited the national bus driver shortage as the main reason it has not been able to provide transportation to students and for long bus routes.

This year, the district decided to prioritize bus service for students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness — both groups are entitled to transportation under federal law. This leaves out thousands of students who attend the district’s selective and magnet schools, which has garnered pushback from parents.

Correction: Sept. 28, 2023: This article has been updated to reflect that Chicago Public Schools plans to send transportation stipends of up to $500 to families. The amount changes depending on the number of school days that students are in attendance. For the month of August, it will be up to $225.

Becky Vevea contributed to this report.

Chicago’s youngest students showed growth on reading tests last year, but officials mum on math

2023-09-25T22:33:55+00:00

Chicago Public Schools said Monday that last year’s kindergarten, first, and second grade students made promising progress in reading, according to data from a new test now used in most district elementary schools.

Officials touted reading growth on a new test called i-Ready, which students took at the beginning, middle, and end of the 2022-23 school year. According to a press release, about 40% of kindergarten through second grade students were at or above grade level in reading by May, up from just 9% in September.

The district also noted that Black and Latino students’ scores improved on the exam. The percentage of Black students scoring at or above grade level went from 5% to 32% by the end of the year. The percentage of Latino students at or above grade level went from 5% at the start of the school year to 32% by year’s end.

However, CPS did not provide the data by school and did not release any information about how the city’s youngest learners were doing in math.

Ernest Williams, principal of Ellington Elementary School, said tests such as i-Ready are different from standardized tests administered by the state. These diagnostic tests are designed as a tool for teachers and school leaders to monitor how a student is doing in real time so they can adjust teaching practice or provide extra help.

“It gives us data on which students need urgent intervention, which students are almost there, and which students are on track,” said Williams. “It gives teachers recommendations on how to push the students further.”

Bogdana Chkoumbova, chief education officer of Chicago Public Schools, on Monday attributed some of the increases in literacy scores to the district’s investment in expanding Skyline curriculum to 400 schools, professional development for educators, diagnostic tests, and expanding the district’s Tutor Corps to 200 elementary schools to help students between kindergarten and fifth grade.

The district also highlighted an initiative funded by federal COVID recovery money to create “literacy-rich environments,” with colorful rugs, comfortable chairs, technology, and new books at 90 schools. Students at those schools were also given packs of books to take home twice a year. Officials said 50 more schools will be added to that program this year.

At Ellington, teachers and interventionists are able to look at the i-Ready data alongside other classroom tests and pull students into small groups based on their scores, Williams said.

On Monday, Chicago Public Schools officials toured Ellington, where they visited two classrooms to see how teachers were teaching students how to read.

In one kindergarten classroom, three teachers sat with three separate groups of students. One group practiced reading out loud. Another spent time matching letters and drawing pictures. And another group created sentences with cards labeled with pictures and words.

State and local school officials have been concerned about students backsliding in reading and math after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted education in 2020. Since 2021, results on national and state assessments showed significant drops in student test scores. Chicago Public Schools announced last week that more students met state math and reading standards, but the metrics still lagged pre-pandemic levels.

CEO Pedro Martinez said Monday afternoon at the press conference that proficiency in reading is important for students to be successful in their academic careers and throughout their lives.

“Our ultimate goal is for students to be literate by third grade,” said Martinez. “Proficiency by third grade is essential for being ready for high school, graduating from CPS, being prepared to succeed in college, career, and community.”

Chicago’s standardized tests shift post-pandemic

The district previously used the Northwest Evaluation Administration’s Measures of Academic Progress in second through eighth grade and a mix of other assessments for kindergarten, first, and second grade students. In 2021, the district announced it would no longer use MAP to monitor student growth and measure school performance. And in April 2022, the school board approved a three-year, $6.75 million contract with Curriculum Associates, the company that makes the i-Ready test.

Now, most kindergarten through second grade students take i-Ready and most third through eighth grade students take a similar test known as Star360.

Not all schools are required to take the i-Ready, but according to data obtained by Chalkbeat earlier this year, 424 of the district’s 500-plus elementary schools used the assessment during the 2022-23 school year.

Given the recent switch, it’s difficult to compare how Chicago’s youngest students are doing compared to before the pandemic. A national report on i-Ready scores released last fall indicated young readers were struggling.

According to data from the NWEA MAP test in 2019 — the last time CPS published results from that test to its public data page — 56% of the district’s second graders were at or above the national average in reading.

Data from the i-Ready beginning and middle of the year tests obtained by Chalkbeat in March did not break down data by grade level, but overall district numbers indicated growth between the beginning and middle of the year.

In a presentation given to principals around the same time, district officials said Chicago’s middle-of-the-year scores tracked closely with other urban districts, with roughly 53% of kindergarten students at or above grade level for reading, 33% of first graders, and 37% of second graders. All three groups saw double-digit growth in reading from the beginning of the year.

Chicago Public Schools is moving away from using these types of tests to rate and measure school performance. During the pandemic, the district paused and eventually scrapped a controversial school quality rating policy that partly relied on NWEA MAP scores.

Last April, the school board approved a new system for measuring school performance that will no longer assign a numerical rating to schools. Instead, parents and the public will get a dashboard with a variety of metrics to explore — including state test scores, attendance, graduation rates, college enrollment, and a host of other information about curriculum and the student experience on campus.

Mila Koumpilova contributed reporting.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago Public Schools is asking the public’s input in hiring the next special education chief

2023-09-15T22:37:57+00:00

Issalma Franco knows what she wants from the next chief of the Chicago Public Schools’ department that manages special education services.

The Belmont Cragin resident is the legal guardian of her brother, a high school student with an Individualized Education Program, and said communication will be important in the future.

Her brother is doing well in school because he works with a good special education classroom assistant — something she hopes all students with disabilities have, said Franco.

“I think communication with students and the community, but also hearing what students need is really important,” said Franco. “I’m really thankful he has a SECA that listens to him and knows that he’s capable of achieving all his goals.”

Franco was among a handful of Chicago parents, educators, and community members who attended listening sessions on Thursday and Friday hosted by the Chicago Board of Education’s special education advisory committee to get the public input on a new chief. Those who attended said they want the next head of the Office of Diverse Learners Supports and Services to communicate with them, provide support for students, and offer professional development for current educators.

Asking for the public’s input in the hiring process is an unusual move that comes at a time when the department has faced state investigation and public criticism. The office of diverse learners is one of the largest departments in the district and provides services for nearly 64,000 students between 3 and 21 years old with Individualized Education Programs and 504 plans — about 15% of the district’s 320,000 students.

The department hasn’t had a leader since June when Stephanie Jones, the former chief, left amid criticism from the Illinois State Board of Education, which found that the district was not tracking restraint and timeout incidents at schools.

Jones had also come under fire by the Chicago Teachers Union, special education advocates, and parents of students with disabilities for high turnover rates in the department and lack of recovery services for students during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The next leader of the department will have to ensure that the needs of students with disabilities, many of whom are still recovering from pandemic fallout, are met. They will also confront challenges in making sure students receive services such as therapy and in hiring additional staffing to fill special education teacher and paraprofessional vacancies.

At Friday’s session, Stephanie Anderson, principal of Vaughn Occupational High School located on the city’s North Side, spoke about the need to train and provide professional development for current educators. Anderson’s school on the city’s north side serves only students with disabilities.

“I think we really need to look at how we have a really supportive structure for training and not just an online webinar here and there or going to one in-person training when you get hired,” said Anderson. “That’s not going to cut it.”

The two meetings this week were the first of four that will be held throughout September. Parents, educators, and community members can attend in person and on Zoom to tell the board what they would like to see from the next chief.

The board of education posted the job description Thursday. The special education advisory committee plans to provide the board with a finalist for appointment sometime in November or December.

The next two meetings will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 at Back of the Yards High School and at 4 p.m. Sept. 26 at Lavizzo Elementary School. There is also an online survey.

COVID relief helped Cook County child care providers stay open, but advocates say more support is needed

2023-09-11T19:13:56+00:00

Child care providers in Cook County were able to stay open during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic due to federal funding, but a new report finds that the region still lacks licensed home-care providers, spots for infants, hours in the evening, and affordable options.

For working families, having a safe affordable place to send their children during the work day is essential, but child care in Cook County continues to be expensive — on average $11,500 per year for a preschool child at a child care center and almost 16,500 a year for an infant, according to the report by Illinois Action for Children — a nonprofit organization that helps refer parents to child care providers in Cook County.

To address some of the barriers, the report recommends expanding eligibility for the state’s Child Care Assistance Program to make child care less expensive for families, increasing reimbursements for child care providers to help cover the costs of running their business, and using state funds to increase the number of licensed home-based care providers.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he wants to make Illinois “the number one” state for child care access. The state invested $250 million in early childhood education for Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois program with the hope of making child care affordable for families.

Illinois Action for Children’s 2023 report examined the state of child care in Cook County, which includes Chicago and surrounding suburbs, from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 using their database of providers. Despite a mix of child care providers and settings, such as a center or care in someone’s home, there is a shortage of child care providers.

Here are four things you should know about the state of child care in Cook County from the report:

Child care centers stayed open with help from COVID-19 funding

The coronavirus pandemic “had the potential to devastate” an already fragile child care system, the report said. While some Cook County providers did close — 2% of child care centers and 12% of home-based care providers — the $980 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds distributed by the state’s department of human services helped to stabilize the industry.

Marcia Stoll, assistant director of research at Illinois Action for Children, said that the Illinois Action for Children data reveals just part of what Cook County’s child care providers went through during the pandemic. Stoll said she learned from providers that a workforce shortage in the industry has created challenges for providers and limited access to care for families.

“We’ve heard anecdotally that some have closed classrooms because they don’t have enough staff or operate shorter hours,” said Stoll. “So, it has made finding care harder for families. It’s not all a rosy picture.”

Home care providers declined during pandemic years

Cook County saw a 12% decrease in home-based providers, or 343 homes, from 2019 to 2022. The report noted that while the drop is “concerning,” the year-to-year decrease is similar to the trend prior to the pandemic. Over the past decade, there has been a 31% decline in the number of home-based providers.

Juliet Bromer, a research scientist at the Erikson Institute — a Chicago-based higher education institution that focuses on early childhood education — said home-based providers disappear because they are expensive to run, providers often work long hours, and the state’s current child care system is hard for an individual to navigate in order to receive funding that a child care center might have. A mix of these issues create burnout causing some providers to leave.

“In every study I’ve done, I heard a version of this quote, ‘I am the cook, the bookkeeper, the psychologist, the teacher, the parent,’” said Bromer.

Illinois Action for Children recommends that the state provide funding to help providers get a state license, offer startup grants, and reimburse home-based providers at a higher rate.

Early morning, evening, or weekend child care is often unavailable

Parents who don’t work a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job often can’t find child care early in the morning, in the evening, on the weekend or overnight, the report found. An analysis of census data for Cook County found that 34% of parents with low incomes need early morning child care from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m and 16% need child care in the evening from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m., according to the report. For parents looking for child care at these times, the report found that licensed home-based child care providers are more likely to offer services.

The report says the state could create policies that would allow families to mix the type of child care they need to ensure that they have care throughout the day. For instance, the state could allow parents to use home-based care during the evenings and center care during the daytime.

Child care is still expensive for families

The federal Department of Health and Human Services says child care should only cost 7% of a family’s income according to the report. For many families who don’t meet the threshold for the state’s child care assistance program and have infants or two or more children, child care consumes a large portion of household income. In 2022, the monthly income limit to qualify for assistance for a family of four was $5,203.

According to the report, the average price for center care for a 2-year-old accounted for 15% of family income in 2021, two times higher than what’s recommended. Illinois Action for Children recommends increasing eligibility for the state’s child care assistance program to support more families.

The report also recommends that the state increase reimbursement rates for providers so they pay staff a higher salary and continue to give families high-quality care.

Correction: Sept. 11, 2023: This story has been updated to reflect that Marcia Stoll is the assistant director of research for Illinois Action for Children, not the director of research.

Illinois parent mentors kick off the school year, ready to get back into classrooms

2023-09-05T15:25:59+00:00

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Last year, Pearlie Aaron volunteered as a parent mentor at the school her 10-year-old daughter attends — McKinley Elementary in Bellwood School District 88. Aaron got a chance to work with students on classroom assignments and receive professional development with other parent mentors for about two hours a day.

Now, Aaron is a program coordinator at McKinley for the Parent Mentor Program, a state-funded initiative run by Palenque Liberating Spaces through Neighborhood Action and the Southwest Organizing Project.

On Friday, Aaron and hundreds of other parent program coordinators — mostly Black and Latino women from Chicago and the suburbs — sat in a packed auditorium at Harry S. Truman Community College on the city’s North Side to celebrate the start of a new school year.

“When we talk about growing our own from within, this is the program to do that. We have such a shortage of teachers, it’s clear to see that these parents love education,” said Aaron. “These are future teachers sitting in this room.”

The Parent Mentor Program has around 2,000 parent mentors and staff in over 200 schools, at almost 40 school districts around the state, according to a press release. The organization works with 44 community-based organizations across the state to help recruit parents from their neighborhoods.

Through the program, community organizations train parents to work in their child’s school — experience that they can later use to work in classrooms as a special education classroom assistant or toward becoming a teacher.

Some parents have worked with local organizations to obtain a GED, learn English, and receive their credentials to become a paraprofessional in classrooms. The program already has helped more than 200 parents become paraprofessionals — helping fill much-needed positions, according to the group’s press release from last week..

A state database that tracks unfilled school positions over 2,600 paraprofessional vacancies across the state. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, students with Individualized Education Programs are required to have a paraprofessional if it is included in their programs.

During the 2022 legislative session, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill that lowers the age for paraprofessionals working in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade classrooms to 18 years old — part of a state effort to get more paraprofessionals into classrooms.

State Sen. Mike Simmons, a Democrat representing neighborhoods on the North Side of Chicago, showed up at Friday’s event to show support for the parent mentor initiative. During the spring legislative session, he and his colleagues pushed for the program to get more funding. Simmons said he is invested in the program and watching it expand in school.

“I’m tired of seeing our moms, especially our Black and Brown moms, expected to do ten different jobs. They are already being underpaid in the labor force, they are expected to take care of their children in a context where there is no universal child care,” said Simmons. “We need to compensate our parents for doing hard work that goes well beyond their households.”

The Logan Square Neighborhood Association founded the Parent Mentor Program in 1995. In 2013, the program was able to secure funding from the Illinois State Board of Education and has worked to either grow or maintain that amount of funding with the help of legislators.

At the celebration on Friday, Sabrina Jackson and other parent program coordinates said they are excited to continue recruiting more parents throughout the school year.

Jackson recruits parents to help out at 10 schools in the Englewood neighborhood, located on the South Side of Chicago.

The best part of the program is watching parents realize their own leadership potential by participating in schools, said Jackson.

“We help them enhance those skills and we help them breakout of being a parent just at home,” said Jackson. “By becoming a parent that is a part of the school and becoming a change agent for their child’s education, they see that their input matters. It’s really great.”

Free meals for all Illinois students won’t be a reality this school year. Here’s why.

2023-08-31T23:34:00+00:00

McHenry School District 15, a northwest suburb of Chicago located 50 miles away, is feeling the financial strain of feeding students throughout the school day.

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the school was able to provide thousands of school meals to its 4,000 students thanks to federal waivers. This year, students who are not eligible for free or reduced lunch have to pay full price for meals — $1.60 for breakfast and $2.95 for lunch.

Kevin Harris, McHenry’s director of food services, said the district has kept the meal price the same since last year because the school board did not want to charge families more. According to the Illinois State Board of Education’s 2022 report card, 38% of students in the district are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The district is subsidizing the cost of meals without federal waivers or an increase in state funding.

In early August, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law creating the “Healthy School Meals for All Program” to help local school districts pay for the cost of school meals to all students. State lawmakers and school officials say getting the bill signed into law was a step in the right direction, but the state did not allocate any additional money to make the program a reality for districts like McHenry.

Harris, a supporter of the bill, had hoped the law would help his school district receive more state funding for school meals, so it could feed more students.

But, Harris said, “without funding, it’s a worthless law.”

For some students, school is the only place where they can access breakfast or lunch throughout the day. The Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit that advocates for solutions to hunger, has pushed for free meals in schools because studies show it improves students’ overall health and increases their academic performance in class and on standardized tests.

When COVID-19 closed school buildings around the country, the federal government gave waivers to school districts that allowed them to feed students at their homes, provide school meals to all students for free, and have flexibility on what was served to students. Illinois school districts saw a bump in their reimbursement from the State Board of Education at the time.

But the federal school meal waivers lapsed at the end of June 2022. Now families have to prove that they need subsidized school meals by filling out paperwork regarding their income.

Illinois is one of the latest states to move toward universal free meals for all students. Eight other states, including California, Colorado, Michigan, and Massachusetts, have increased funding and passed into law free meals for all students plans.

State Rep. Maurice West II, who represents Rockford and was lead sponsor of the “Healthy School Meals for All Program” bill, said it was important to take on the issue because it will reduce stigma for students who need assistance to afford school meals.

Under the new law, West said, school districts must first seek money from the federal government’s Community Eligibility Program, a federal program that helps schools that serve a majority of students from low-income households offer free meals to all enrolled students. Then Illinois will help school districts make up the difference after federal funding.

But West says when it came time to increase the budget to do just that, lawmakers didn’t add any money. In fact, the reimbursement funding level has been flat since the 2008 recession, he said.

With just $9 million going towards school meals, West said, “we need more for this to be school meals for all.”

Michael Jacoby, executive director of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials, said his organization estimates the Illinois program could cost the state around $200 million a year to fill in the gap after federal funding, when compared to other states that have a similar program. But without data from other states, he said, it is hard to estimate the exact cost.

The state will need to do a study to see how much it needs, Jacoby said.

Emily Warnecke, director of public policy at the Illinois Association of School Administrators, hopes the federal government will increase what they give to states.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering changing its rules for the Community Eligibility Program. Currently, school districts are eligible for the program if 40% of the student population can receive subsidized meals. Now, the federal government is looking to decrease that threshold to 25%.

If that happens, more federal money will come in for the program, ”which would lessen the amount of money that the state would need to fully fund the program,” Warnecke said “That’s kind of an outstanding variable.”

Warnecke expects the federal government to act on that change in April 2024.

When it comes to the state’s “Healthy Meals for All Program,’’ Illinois lawmakers could allocate money for fiscal year 2025 during next spring’s legislative session. If that happens, school districts would be able to offer free meals next school year.

As for this year, students at school districts like McHenry will have to fork over almost $5 for breakfast and lunch every day.

Correction: Sept. 1, 2023: A previous version of this story identified Michael Jacoby as the executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards. Jacoby is the executive director of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials.

Chicago Public Schools meets Aug. 21 deadline to train staff on restraint, seclusion, officials say

2023-08-21T22:04:28+00:00

Chicago Public Schools says it has met a state deadline to train school employees on the proper use of restraint, timeout, and seclusion, according to a press release Monday.

The district said it has met the Illinois State Board of Education’s Aug. 21 deadline to train two staff members per campus at 517 schools in de-escalation and physical restraint. The state board placed Chicago Public Schools under watch last fall after the district repeatedly failed to comply with state laws governing the use of restraint, timeout, and seclusion.

Over 3,000 staff members have completed training or are “in progress” at 513 district schools as of Aug. 21, similar to the district’s final count, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of the district’s public database. Of the staff members trained, about 1,300 are school security officers.

The district missed several deadlines throughout the 2022-23 school year to come into compliance. In the Monday press release, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said restraint should be the last resort in schools and thanked school officials for making sure that staff were trained.

“We are proud to start the new school year with staff appropriately trained at every school and will continue to prioritize this important training for our school staff,” Martinez said.

Over the last school year, the State Board of Education issued repeated warnings to Chicago Public Schools over the use of restraint and timeout in schools.

In an April 18 letter to the district, the state board said Chicago Public Schools is “jeopardizing the health and safety of students and staff” because staff were not properly trained in restraint and timeout.

Last school year, Chicago Public Schools reported 220 incidents of physical restraint and timeout, according to data obtained by Chalkbeat Chicago through a Freedom of Information Act request. The numbers were a slight increase over the previous school year when the district reported 205 incidents.

Prior to 2021, the district did not report physical restraint and timeout incidents to the state. The data showed that in the 2022-23 school year, 151 employees involved in incidents were not trained, while in 2021-22, 113 untrained staff members were involved.

Between school years 2021-22 and 2022-23, a majority of students involved in physical restraint and timeout incidents were identified as Black and male, the data showed.

Other issues cited in that letter included the use of outlawed methods of restraints, students placed in restraints for long periods of time, and failure to notify parents within 24 hours if their children were restrained.

Restraint, timeout, and seclusion are disciplinary methods used to prevent students from harming themselves or others in school buildings. The state defines restraint as when a school employee restricts a student’s movement. Timeout is when a student is removed from a class and seclusion involves confining a student to a room without adult supervision.

A state law passed in 2021 aimed to reduce the use of these tactics and keep students safe during incidents, but did not did not put an end to their use.

The changes in law came after a 2019 report from Chicago Tribune and ProPublica found that school employees at districts across the state were overusing these disciplinary methods on students. A majority of students who were restrained or placed in timeout were students with disabilities, but the misuse of restraint and timeout can target all students. Students with disabilities sometimes have physical restraints or timeouts written into their Individualized Education Programs under behavioral intervention plans.

In a joint press release on Monday, State Superintendent Tony Sanders said the state board will continue to work with CPS to maintain the training. “Having appropriately trained staff is critical in the rare situations when a student’s behavior puts them or others in imminent danger,” Sanders said in the release.

Chicago Public Schools also said in a release on Monday that it will continue to train school employees since training certifications expire every year. The district said it plans to train staff on timeout procedures by the end of the first quarter of the school year — which the State Board of Education noted was missing from the district’s training.

First day of school: Chicago Public Schools reopens under a new era of leadership

2023-08-21T21:28:02+00:00

Chicago Public Schools is officially back in session.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, the first Chicago mayor in recent history to send his children to public schools, kicked off the first day of classes by joining educators, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates outside Beidler Elementary School on the West Side.

Under a sweltering sun at 8:30 a.m., Johnson greeted parents and children in front of a chorus of reporters and cameras, before ringing the ceremonial bell to start the school year.

The joint appearance with Davis Gates, Martinez, and other district and union officials was unsurprising for the union-friendly mayor who came up through the CTU’s ranks, but still a break from the past when the union and City Hall officials would visit schools separately.

Despite the district facing a number of challenges ahead, including unreliable bus transportation, ongoing enrollment shifts, and an influx of immigrant students, Johnson focused on a new era of collaboration at the city’s public schools.

Later in the morning, after touring two other campuses, Johnson visited Kenwood Academy, where his son is now a sophomore.

Speaking to a history class, he likened the first-day icebreakers the teacher was doing to what he’s doing as the city’s new mayor.

“I hope that you will lean into the collaborative approach that your teacher is taking, because that is what we’re doing as a city,” Johnson told the students. “We’re building relationships, we’re collaborating so that we can make collective decisions together that ultimately can help transform people’s lives.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates, and other city hall, school district, and union officials pose for a photo inside a classroom at Kenwood Academy on the South Side.

CPS claws back from enrollment losses

Visiting Beidler was a symbolic choice for the mayor. The school narrowly escaped closure about a decade ago and is now part of a program Johnson wishes to expand: the Sustainable Community Schools initiative, which aims to provide wraparound services and more programming for students and families.

But Beidler is among several other schools in the program that have lost at least a quarter of their enrollment since the initiative started.

The official enrollment count will not be known until after the 20th day of school in September. But last year, 80,000 fewer students were enrolled in Chicago Public Schools than there were a decade ago and it is now the nation’s fourth largest school district. Chicago’s declining enrollment predated the emergence of COVID-19, but continued during the pandemic.

And for many parents and kids arriving at Beidler Monday morning, more pressing thoughts — like wishing for a great year — were at the forefront. Dondneja Wilson hoped that her daughter, who started preschool, would “grow, and learn, and have fun.”

“She likes kids a lot, so I feel like that’s going to be her favorite part,” Wilson said.

Dondneja Wilson and her daughter pose for a picture outside of Beidler Elementary School.

Last year, data from the last day of school in June obtained by Chalkbeat showed little change in overall enrollment. However, the number of English learners grew by more than 5,000 students. District officials have pointed to the increase as an approximation of how many migrant students have arrived on buses in the past year.

Chicago is seeing an influx of newcomers, many of whom are seeking asylum, arriving by bus from the southern border in Texas.

The number of bilingual teachers in CPS has dipped since 2015, even as the English learner population has grown, according to a recent Chalkbeat analysis. While 6,900 teachers have earned bilingual education endorsements — more than ever before, according to the district — it’s unclear how many are actually assigned to teach bilingual education.

Educators and immigrant advocates have expressed concerns about whether schools can properly support these new students. Jianan Shi, president of the Board of Education, said the city’s new welcome center for migrant students on the West Side has enrolled “hundreds” of newcomer students. He’s requested more information on the system’s overall strategy for supporting newcomers.

A classroom door welcomes students in Spanish at Kenwood Academy in Hyde Park.

Outside Beidler, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez told reporters that “the biggest challenge” is ensuring that all newcomers are registered in school, but he said the district is well-positioned to serve them, noting that Chicago has one of the largest bilingual and dual language programs in the nation. About one-fifth of the city’s students are English language learners.

“The challenge we have right now is, again, keeping up with all the new asylum-seekers that are coming in, going to them, making sure that we’re able to register them, assess them,” Martinez said. “But we’re doing that as we speak now.”

Transportation woes continue on first day

Transportation woes that have plagued the district for the last few years also cropped up on the first day, as parents reported problems with bus routes and trips that took more than an hour.

Laurie Viets, a CPS parent of three children – two of whom have transportation written into an Individualized Education Program – said the district promised to have all transportation issues resolved by last Friday.

However, Viets found out on Friday that one of her children, a seventh grader, was not going to have transportation and another child, a first-year high school student, would have a long bus route. Today, it took 70 minutes to get to school; it’s normally a 12-minute car ride, Viets said.

Viets said she wished Chicago Public Schools would have given her more time to prepare for changes in the transportation plans. Now, she won’t have transportation for one of her children for up to two weeks and she is concerned that her other child will be on the bus without air conditioning in extreme heat until they shorten his route.

The district’s bus problems stem back to 2021, the first year back to full-time, in-person school after COVID forced CPS to close buildings in March 2020. Students were left waiting on the first day and beyond for buses that never showed. In emergency mode at that time, the district began offering $1,000 stipends for rideshare services such as Lyft and Uber. But the transportation troubles continued well into the school year.

Last year, some 365 students were waiting for bus routes the first week of school and in September, district officials said they were still working to reduce 90-minute rides for some students.

The district has blamed and continues to point to a nationwide bus driver shortage as causing the transportation troubles. It signed a $4 million contract with a longtime vendor and bus-routing software company to try to fix the issues.

But last month, on July 31, district officials announced that it would not be able to transport roughly 8,000 students on the first day of school. They offered $500 monthly stipends to families of CPS students with disabilities or those in temporary living situations. Both groups are legally entitled to transportation. The district said at the time that 3,000 students had chosen the stipend option.

Davis Gates called the transportation troubles “a disaster” and a “failure of privatization.” CPS contracts with private bus companies to provide students with transportation. Davis Gates said she would like to see the district bring busing “in-house” and experiment with having its own fleet of buses that could start small by covering field trips and sporting events and then grow.

“These are Band-Aid approaches. I have not seen anything transformative or revolutionary in this space. And again, three strikes you’re out,” she said. “This isn’t a good way to start the school year with respect to transportation.”

The district has previously increased pay rates for bus driver companies, and is hoping to do so again this year. Martinez said he hopes that will help fill the driver shortage.

Viets, the parent worrying about her children’s transportation, said more needs to be done.

“Next year, if CPS is going to start by Aug. 21, by Aug. 1 they should know what the routes are,” said Viets.

If Chicago finalizes plans the Friday before the start of school, she said, the district is “not giving parents any kind of respect at all. They’re not giving us an opportunity to make other plans when they mess up.”

As Viets noted, the extreme heat also adds to worries about long bus rides. The weather also raises concerns about conditions inside buildings once students arrive.

Air-conditioning, aging buildings prompt push for green schools

With temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees this week, Martinez said his team worked “around the clock” to ensure classrooms are equipped with air conditioning this week.

Martinez said every classroom has at least a window unit, a key union demand during the CTU’s 2012 strike that was implemented a couple of years later by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Still, in some cases, hallways are not air-conditioned, Martinez said.

Johnson has touted “climate justice” as a key focus of his administration and reiterated Monday that includes schools.

“Having buildings that are retrofitted, as well as an economy that’s built around green technology, some of that is top of mind,” he said.

Davis Gates used this week’s weather forecast to illustrate climate change’s impact on the city and why it underscores the urgent need for a new CPS facilities master plan, which hasn’t been updated since 2018. She added that building greener schools will be one issue the union will bargain over ahead of its contract expiration in 2024.

The school calendar’s pre-Labor Day start is an issue Davis Gates would immediately bargain over, she said. The late August start date began in 2021, matching up with many suburban districts.

The union was not able to bargain over the school calendar in 2019, Davis Gates said. But the passage of a 2021 state law reinstating some of the CTU’s bargaining rights could allow the calendar to be back on the table. The union’s contract expires next June and it’s likely the district and new mayor will begin negotiations with the teachers this winter.

The larger issues that officials highlighted were likely not top of mind for many students, such as 5-year-old Pierre, who started kindergarten at Beidler.

Asked what he was most excited about this school year, Pierre replied, “Playing.”

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

More early childhood workers are attending colleges and university, report says

2023-08-18T22:45:29+00:00

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More early childhood workers in Illinois are pursuing higher education degrees — moving closer toward a goal set out by state officials two years ago, a new report found.

The Illinois Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity’s first annual report, released on Wednesday, found that since 2020 about 500 additional students who already work in early childhood education have enrolled in bachelor’s degree and applied associate programs, an increase of about 18%. The report also found an increase in the number of Latino and African American child care professionals who enrolled in college since 2020.

Ireta Gasner, vice president of Illinois Policy at Start Early, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that advocates for early childhood education, said it is important for child care professionals to get degrees to understand child development and to get higher wages.

“A lot of folks want to go back to school, but it’s difficult to do so because there’s a lot of systemic barriers between two-year and four-year schools,” said Gasner. “There is a lack of financial support that fits the needs of adult students like paying for transportation, child care, tuition, and books.”

A March 2020 report from Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies said “an estimated 28,000 early childhood education teachers and assistants would benefit from an opportunity to seek postsecondary credentials.”

The Illinois legislature passed a law in 2021 creating the consortium to pressure public universities and community colleges to create faster pathways for current child care professionals to earn college degrees. According to the report, over $200 million in funding for the consortium comes from the Illinois Department of Human Services’ federal COVID relief funds.

In order for the consortium to reach its goal of enrolling almost 5,000 members in higher education programs, it will need to complete this task by September 2024 when emergency funding expires.

Christi Chadwick, ECACE co-project director, said that when the legislation was passed in 2021, the consortium knew some funding for the work would expire in three years, so the group’s focus has been on building infrastructure to make sure that students have access to pathways in institutions of higher education.

“A lot of work has been happening in institutions around program redesign. So that pathways are smooth at two-year institutions or four-year institutions and between the two, and also working to put systems in place within institutions to better support the workforce,” said Chadwick.

For years, child care professionals and advocates have raised alarms about low wages and note that early childhood educators often have to work multiple jobs to make a living wage

A report from the Chicago Early Childhood Workforce Partnership Employer Council last fall found that Chicago’s early childhood educators are paid $18,000 less on average than elementary school teachers in Chicago Public Schools, despite having the same degrees. The gap is even wider for early childhood educators of color compared to white educators.

In addition to the consortium, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois initiative includes $130 million for an effort called the Childcare Workforce Compensation Contracts, which is aimed at increasing the salaries of child care workers and bringing more educators into the field.

According to a press release from the state on Wednesday, state agencies and universities who are a part of the consortium have worked on several initiatives to ensure that finances are not a barrier for current early childhood workers, the majority of whom are women and people of color.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission launched the ECACE Scholarship in 2021. In the first year of the scholarship, over 400 students were awarded $5.7 million. In the first six months of the second year of the program, $7 million was awarded to over 1,000 students.

Colleges and universities that are a part of the consortium have created their own initiatives to tackle financial barriers preventing workers going to school and to support them once they are on campus. According to the press release, some universities have given students laptops, academic tutoring, and test preparation to help them pass early childhood education licensing exams.

The report from the consortium shows a lot of promise, but figuring out how to expand the program will depend on whether it is sustainable after federal coronavirus relief funds expire in 2024, said Gasner.

“Once people feel like this is going to be here in four years or in two years, they’re going to be more likely to continue to engage,” said Gasner. “We’re going to be able to talk more about whether the scholarship needs to be further further tweaked. But all of that growth and progress is going to rely on sustainability.”

Correction: Aug. 23, 2023: A previous version of this story said $7 million had been awarded during the second year of the ECACE Scholarship. The story has been updated to reflect that $7 million was awarded during the first six months of the second year of the program.

Chicago Public Schools scales back COVID guidance

2023-08-16T23:15:53+00:00

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Nicole Abreu’s daughter Alexis is excited about starting sixth grade at Friedrich L. Jahn Elementary School next week. It will be the medically fragile 12-year-old’s first time back to school in person after being homeschooled last year and she can’t wait to meet other kids.

But her mom is concerned that Chicago Public Schools had yet to announce COVID-19 guidance when the start of school is only a few days away.

“Do kids even still have to report if they have COVID? Is there a quarantine period?” said Abreu. “It is unsettling to be a few days from school and not know.”

Parents like Abreu, who decided to homeschool her immunocompromised daughter and two other children last year, say they have heard little from the district about COVID-19 mitigations for the coming school year.

But during a school board committee meeting Wednesday, Jamie Tully, the district’s director of Health Information and Response, outlined a pared-down approach: The district will no longer do in-school COVID testing, but will provide at-home rapid tests to students and staff when an exposure occurs and ahead of breaks around Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Quarantine requirements and care rooms in schools are now gone, but close contacts will be encouraged to mask for 10 days, Tully said. CPS will also continue to collect and report data on cases and vaccinations.

The looser guidelines reflect a shift for Chicago since the height of the pandemic when the district struggled to reopen during the school year 2020-21. Once schools fully reopened during the 2021-22 school year, the district ramped up testing and vaccinating students across the city.

“I think the most important thing that we can communicate, particularly right now around COVID-19, is please stay up-to-date on your vaccinations and stay home when you’re sick,” Tully told board members on Wednesday.

The scaled-down mitigations come as cases are ticking up across the nation and at a time of uncertainty for the city’s public health department after Mayor Brandon Johnson fired Chicago’s Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady late last Friday. The move seemed abrupt, but Johnson committed to firing Arwady while on the campaign trail, stating that the two have different views on public health.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, the Illinois State Board of Education updated public health guidance for schools on a monthly basis. After federal and state emergency orders were lifted in May, wearing masks, weekly testing, vaccinations, and social distancing were no longer required for students across Illinois.

Coronavirus cases increased in late summer across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported last Friday to the CDC that Illinois had a low level for COVID-19 hospital admissions as of the end of July. The department said that it will continue to monitor for COVID-19 data and other respiratory diseases as the fall and winter seasons start.

As of Aug. 15, Chicago Public Schools reported that 85 adults and 11 students have self-reported coronavirus cases.

Students are encouraged to get vaccinated

Chicago is hosting several back-to-school events this week where students can get vaccinated for COVID-19 and required childhood vaccinations for diseases such as measles, mumps, and chickenpox before heading back to classrooms.

As of the end of last school year, around 48% of eligible students had been fully vaccinated against COVID. Those numbers could backslide as they did last year with a new group of incoming kindergarten and pre-K students entering and high school seniors graduating. All ages are eligible for vaccination and boosters.

The federal government announced that an updated COVID vaccine that will target the latest variants responsible for a majority of new cases will be available in the fall.

Chicago shifts away from school-based testing

Last school year, just over 13% of Chicago Public Schools students opted into school-based COVID testing and the district also distributed about 1 million rapid tests.

CPS has 650,000 rapid tests in storage that can be distributed this year, Tully said. The district is asking the Chicago Board of Education to approve a contract with Fisher Scientific worth up to $5 million to purchase 500,000 more at-home COVID tests for students and staff to be distributed based on demand at schools during the 2023-24 school year.

The proposed contract for next school year would be a tiny fraction of the company’s previous contracts with the district to provide COVID testing to students and staff. Publicly-posted invoices show the company billed Chicago Public Schools $62 million from July 2022 to May 2023. The previous school year, the company billed the district $78 million for COVID testing.

In the fall of 2021, the University of Illinois’ Shield testing program was at over 1,700 K-12 schools and tested almost 113,000 school employees and about 900,000 students. The program gave Illinois school districts the ability to test students for the coronavirus by taking a sample of saliva and results would come back in less than 24 hours. The University of Illinois decided to end this COVID-19 testing program in June.

Expert urges schools to take safety measures

In July, the Illinois State Board of Education and the state department of public health adopted CDC guidelines for schools that were updated in May. The guidance says students should stay up-to-date on vaccinations for COVID-19 and other illnesses. When feeling sick, students are encouraged to stay home and schools can use COVID-19 testing to confirm or rule out COVID-19.

Daniel Johnson, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, said schools are a place where children can pick up COVID-19, which they could then share with their households.

“It’s incumbent upon all of us to be thoughtful about how we minimize the risk of getting COVID in a school setting while recognizing the importance of children going to school,” said Johnson “So children to conduct their lives, both socially and educationally, in as much a normal way as they possibly can.”

Johnson recommends that everyone gets vaccinated or get a booster if they have not been vaccinated in the last six months. If a child is sick, they should stay at home and get tested to confirm whether or not they have the coronavirus.

He recommended that schools should have good ventilation to circulate fresh air in classrooms and allow students to wash their hands or use sanitizer.

For immunocompromised children such as Abreu’s daughter Alexis, Johnson said he would recommend that students go to school, but they should be vaccinated.

Parents should encourage children to wear masks in the classroom and parents should tell their schools that they want to be informed if their child is exposed to COVID-19.

“Everything should be done to try and keep children in school and as safe as possible,” Johnson said.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago will get smaller share of state’s increased K-12 education budget for second year in a row

2023-08-09T19:28:21+00:00

Chicago Public Schools will once again get less state education money than officials anticipated, according to new data released by the state on Tuesday.

Although Chicago will still see an increase in state education funding, a drop in the percentage of students considered low-income and a bump in property wealth in the city means the district is not getting the largest share of the new money.

In May, state lawmakers passed a $50.6 billion state budget that allocated $10.3 billion to education. That included a $350 million increase to be distributed to K-12 school districts through an evidence-based formula.

Chicago was expecting to get $27 million of that increase. But new calculations posted on the Illinois State Board of Education website show that the state is allocating $23.3 million of the increase to CPS.

The largest share of the state’s new K-12 funding – $35 million – will go to Elgin U-46, Illinois’ second largest district. Plainfield School District 202, the state’s fifth largest district, will receive $13.1 million of the increase.

In all, Chicago will get $1.77 billion in K-12 funding, up from $1.75 billion last year. The amount doesn’t include millions it gets for things such as pre-K and transportation. The new state data indicates CPS is now getting more than $17,000 per student from the state and is considered 80% of the way to “adequately funded.”

A district spokesperson did not say how the change might impact the already-approved $9.4 billion budget. In a statement, they said the district is “eager to work with the General Assembly toward increased and targeted State funding that more equitably supports the students most in need in Chicago and across Illinois.”

Last year, Chicago Public Schools planned on getting $50 million in new state money, but instead received a little more than $27 million after losing 10,000 students and seeing an increase in property wealth.

Funding for public education has been steadily increasing in Illinois since 2017, when state lawmakers overhauled the formula used to distribute tax dollars to school districts. The goal was to add more money over time to bring all districts to a level of “adequacy” and shed Illinois’ reputation as a state that ranked near the bottom when it came to support for public education.

“When you consider how much progress Illinois has made in the last five years, it’s nothing short of remarkable,” said Robin Steans, president of Advance Illinois, a nonprofit advocacy and policy organization based in Chicago that focuses on public school education. “But that does not mean our work is done.”

Steans said the latest calculations make her hopeful that the state can fully fund schools in the next five years, but there is still a need to increase state funding for schools by at least $550 million a year to reach that goal.

Lawmakers have increased education funding every year since 2018, with the exception of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

State education officials calculate how much each school district gets based on a number of factors, including the needs of the students enrolled and a local district’s ability to fund schools using local resources such as property taxes. For example, districts that serve more students from low-income families or English language learners get more state money.

Chicago Public Schools is facing a looming deficit when federal COVID recovery money runs out next fall. District officials and school board members have said they hope for more state funding to fill the gap.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Ready for school? Here’s what five Chicago teachers are doing to prepare for the new year.

2023-08-07T19:00:03+00:00

With just a couple of weeks left until summer vacation is over, more than 20,000 Chicago teachers are getting ready to welcome students into their classrooms on the first day of school, Aug. 21.

Teachers are stocking up on supplies during back-to-school sales, holding meet-and-greets with students and parents, putting together lesson plans, and decorating their classrooms.

Schools have bounced back since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered school buildings in 2020, and students learned remotely. Now, mitigation measures have eased, many school-age children have received vaccinations, and schools are fully functioning.

This year, there’s a new normal for schools and teachers. Schools are about to face a financial cliff as emergency federal relief funds will dry up in 2024. And some educators have cited that more students are coming to schools with mental health concerns and behavioral issues.

Five Chicago teachers spoke to Chalkbeat Chicago about their preparations for the first day and what they expect this year. Overall, they say they are excited and are looking forward to what this school year will bring.

Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Cornelius Bellamy, a ninth grade teacher at Intrinsic Schools Downtown Campus, is seen working with a group of students.

Cornelius Bellamy

Intrinsic Schools Downtown Campus

Favorite school item: Flair pens

Bellamy will be teaching ninth grade students, guiding them through their transition to high school, and introducing them to college and career aspirations. Bellamy says that he is one of those teachers who gets really excited when stores bring out their back-to-school supplies so he can catch a deal on Paper Mate Flair pens, “I always keep a Flair pen in my pocket. They’re a must-have for teachers.”

What are some activities you are planning to do during the first week of school to get to know your students?

My favorite activity to do during the first week of school is called “missionaries and cannibals.” There are three missionaries and three cannibals. The objective is to get both groups of people from one island to the other without the cannibals eating the missionaries. It’s a very challenging game and it requires a lot of problem-solving, but it helps to build grit and perseverance. As a teacher, it helps me to see how students will react when a problem is too hard to solve. Some students are able to solve the problem while others give up. Those who give up give me a challenge to figure out why they gave up? What support do they need? What can I do when they give up in class? How can I help them persevere throughout the school year and the next four years of high school?

This school year, you’ll be a mentor to new teachers on campus. What has been a lesson you’ve taken from your mentors?

I’m lucky to have a strong support system at my school and through Golden Apple — an organization that supports future and current educators in Illinois. My mentors at Intrinsic and Golden Apple taught me to be kind to myself. I think as somebody who is very critical of myself, it was challenging to accept that there was a mistake in a lesson, but that I did well overall. Highlighting your successes is super-important, rather than focusing on what went wrong and what needs to change because that’s a part of teaching. You’re learning and growing just like your students.

Charese Munoz, a middle school teacher at Spencer Technology Academy.

Charese Munoz

Spencer Technology Academy

Favorite school item: Colored pens

This school year will be a new beginning for Munoz. She will be teaching at a new school, a different grade level, and a different subject. Munoz will be teaching English language arts to seventh and eighth grades at Spencer. Previously, Munoz worked for eight years at Stagg Elementary School, where she taught fifth grade math and English to middle school students. She said that she is looking forward to a new start. “Change is good.”

Munoz plans to focus on her students’ social-emotional health this school year. Munoz will be working with students who have experienced the trauma of the pandemic and who are growing up in Englewood — a neighborhood on the city’s South Side impacted by gun violence. She said, “Our students are surviving through trauma; whether it’s trauma within their house, within their families, or trauma within the community.”

You received professional development on social-emotional learning over the summer. How do you plan to implement what you’ve learned this school year?

Getting students to advocate and provide justice. I want them to question what is justice and accountability. I want my students to come up with a system that’s going to work for our middle school classroom. Usually teachers say, “these are the rules.” I know I’m not doing that. This is our classroom. What are the rules? You’re going to tell me what we’re going to implement.

What do you want students and parents to know about you this year?

I am not going to follow the traditional classroom expectations with my students. Some of the traditions in classrooms I question. Times have changed, people have changed, and behaviors have changed. I feel like we’re still using archaic methods in our school system. I’m not trying to make students rebel, but I want them to question why these practices are in place. I want my students to question the status quo and leadership. I feel that when you start with that type of mindset, you will see progress within yourself and your environment.

Grace Negron, a eighth grade teacher at Helen C. Peirce Elementary School of International Studies.

Grace Negron

Helen C. Peirce Elementary School of International Studies

Favorite school item: Expo dry erase markers

Negron is an English language arts teacher. This school year will be her first year teaching eighth graders; last year, she worked with sixth grade students.

Negron said her favorite first day-of-school memory was last year during her first year of teaching when she saw the excitement on her students’ faces when they entered her classroom for the first time. “I really loved when students asked questions that day about the space, including why I have a record player or commenting on the various pieces of art in the room. It showed their curiosity and foreshadowed their own involvement and comfortability they had in my class.”

Adding a record player and decorating your classroom with art seems like you want to create a welcoming environment for your students. Why is that important to you?

I think it’s one of those underrated things that you go through during a teacher preparation program. But, I found it to be one of the most impactful elements in my classroom because I was making a space that students felt cozy, comfortable, and respected in, and that starts with how you decorate the space.

This school year, you will be teaching eighth graders instead of sixth graders. What do you expect to be different this school year?

In my first year of teaching, I worked with sixth graders. That was interesting because it is their first transition from elementary school into middle school. I had to deal with a lot of drama — very petty drama. So, I hope that my eighth graders will come more mature with how they operate their relationships and in the classroom.

Janelle Brown, special education teacher at George W. Tilton Elementary School.

Janelle Brown

George W. Tilton Elementary

Favorite school item: Pencils and erasers

Brown is a special education teacher at Tilton Elementary. Unlike most teachers, she does not know what grade level she’ll be teaching this year because she finds out which students she’ll work with in the first two weeks of school. In previous years, she’s worked with students between third and seventh grades. She plans to arrange the chairs and desks in her classroom a week before school starts. With the back-to-school sales, she gets excited to get a box of 12 pencils for 10 cents at Walmart.

How do you plan lesson plans for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) throughout the school year?

In the first week of school, special education teachers are placed into regular education classrooms all week. Once I figure out who the students are, I go look at their IEPs and decide from there next steps. It’s not difficult, but it’s not like having a second grade class and knowing what the curriculum is going to be, so you can plan ahead.

What is one thing that you want students and parents to know about you?

I want them to know that my main concern for their child in my classroom is that they get what they came for. School is for learning. I want to give them what they need to be successful moving forward. The biggest problem is the students are not on grade level. So, I’m trying to cram everything I can into them in this one year. You know, I’m trying not to make it overwhelming, but it is because they are behind.

Mark Franklin

Burnside Scholastic Academy

Favorite school item: Whistle

Franklin has been a teacher for the past 30 years. Now, he is a physical education teacher who works with students from kindergarten to eighth grade. When he was younger, Franklin was involved in football, wrestling, and track. While he teaches the students how to play all sports, he said that he favors football. Franklin said that he is excited to get the new school year started because he’ll get a chance to see returning students and hear about their summer vacations.

As a physical education teacher, what kind of activities do you have planned this year?

The first activity is a fitness assessment which consists of cardio, pushups, sit-ups, and a flexibility test. Then, we’ll move into sports. Most elementary students start off with soccer, flag football, basketball, track and field. So, I take them through those units to get them familiar with fundamentals.

What are your hopes and fears for this school year?

My hope is that we get more parental involvement. I would like to see more parents involved in parent-teacher night at school as well as more parents involved in decision-making within the local school council meetings throughout the school year.

8,000 Chicago Public Schools students won’t have bus service on first day of school, district says

2023-07-31T23:43:11+00:00

More than 8,000 Chicago Public Schools students will not have bus service on the first day of class on Aug. 21, a problem the district blames on an ongoing bus driver shortage.

With only half of the 1,300 drivers needed to transport students who require bus service, Chicago said it will instead prioritize transportation for students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness. Both groups are legally required to receive transportation to school.

For some students with disabilities, bus service is a requirement on their Individualized Education Programs. More than 7,100 such students have signed up for bus service so far, officials said. (Siblings of students with disabilities can still receive bus service if they attend the same school.)

This is the third year in a row in which the return to class has been marred by transportation woes that have left thousands of students without transportation or with long commutes. The district, which contracts with outside companies to provide transportation, has attributed bus service snarls in previous years to nationwide driver shortages.

In an effort to help fix ongoing transportation problems, the district in March approved a $4 million contract with Education Logistics Inc., known as EduLog, to schedule bus routes, determine start times for summer school and assign bus vendors during the school year. The contract is set to run through June 30, 2026.

This year, in the face of continued bus service troubles, the district will instead offer Ventra cards to general education students and one companion, such as a parent, “for as long as they are without school bus transportation,” according to a news release from Chicago. These families may have the option to get bus service “at some point” in the school year but the timing for that is not yet clear, said Charles Mayfield, chief operating officer for Chicago Public Schools.

Last year, Chicago provided bus service to 17,275 children, or about 5% of students.

“There’s been a nationwide shortage, and I think that is not an easy thing for any K-12 [district] right now,” Mayfield said Monday in an interview with Chalkbeat. “Even if you Google search bus driver shortage, you get a number of school districts that have the same issue that we’re having today and they are making adjustments similar to where we are, to try to provide alternatives.”

As of Friday, the district said it could guarantee bus service on the first day of school for students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness, after Chicago twice extended a sign-up deadline this summer, Mayfield said. But it can’t guarantee immediate service for families who sign up now. The district is required to link those families to bus service within two weeks of their request for transportation.

As an alternative, CPS is offering families of students with disabilities and those in temporary housing up to $500 in monthly stipends to cover transportation costs. So far, 3,000 students have chosen this option, officials said.

The continuing transportation issues have Chicago parent Laurie Viets bracing for yet another chaotic start to the school year. Two of her three children have district-provided bus service written into their Individualized Education Programs.

This year, she said the district has been more proactive since parents have raised concerns about bus services issues over the past few years. Over the summer, Viets received a couple of phone calls from the district asking if she would like to take the $500 stipend, but she declined. She said she prefers that the district provide bus service for her children.

Viets only learned the district had yet to figure out routes for students when she talked to a district representative last week.

“I have no hopes at all that transportation will show up,” said Viets. “I’ve got three kids, three separate schools in three different parts of the city. We’re going to be scrambling to get the two that need transportation to school because I guarantee we will not have transport on that first day.”

It is a familiar scenario for Viets – last year, she said she couldn’t get transportation for one of her children for about six weeks – and for thousands of other CPS families.

In the 2021-22 school year, when students returned to classrooms after COVID shuttered buildings, the district did not have bus services for 2,100 students on the first day of classes. At the time, the district provided families with $1,000 to help with transportation and even reached out to ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft for support.

At the start of the next school year, the district was able to route 15,000 Chicago Public Schools students to classes but hundreds of students with disabilities dealt with long commute times. At the time, the district reported that 365 students with disabilities had to deal with commute times of 90 minutes or longer and could not arrange transportation for 1,200 students.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

It’s a new school year in Illinois. What education story needs to be told?

2023-07-27T17:34:00+00:00

As Illinois’ almost 2 million students head back to school, Chalkbeat Chicago is looking for input from parents, students, and educators on topics to write about this school year.

Three years ago, school looked very different as students weren’t able to sit in classrooms, enjoy lunch, or in some cases participate in coming-of-age activities such as homecoming, prom, or graduation because the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered school buildings. In the years since, schools have undergone some significant changes.

To help students return safely to classrooms and recover academically from the pandemic, the federal government gave Illinois a total of almost $8 billion as part of a COVID relief package. Local school districts were allowed to use the funding for face masks, after-school tutoring programs, mental health programs, existing staff salaries, and technology.

Throughout the last school year, Chalkbeat Chicago covered a range of topics, including student mental health, academic recovery, how reading is taught, Chicago’s looming shift to an elected school board, and how federal COVID recovery money is being spent.

This year, Chalkbeat Chicago is keeping an eye on student learning, the deadline to use federal COVID money, and new Chicago leadership with a new mayor and school board. The stakes are high as federal COVID relief money is set to expire in 2024, which could mean the end of vital programs for students still recovering from the pandemic’s disruption.

The Illinois State Board of Education reported last fall that students from third to eighth grade who took the Illinois Assessment of Readiness lagged in reading and in math when compared to scores from 2019.

We want to hear from you before the school year takes off. What topics do you want to learn more about? What questions do you have about your local school?

Fill out the survey below to let us know what you think we should report on this year.

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Will Chicago meet an Aug. 21 deadline to train staff on how and when they can restrain students?

2023-07-21T13:28:27+00:00

Chicago Public Schools has until the start of school on Aug. 21 to train at least two employees at each of its over 600 schools in the use of student restraint and timeout or miss another deadline set by the state to comply with a 2021 state law.

If Chicago does not follow state law, the Illinois State Board of Education warned that the district could be placed under probation in a letter dated April 18. If the district does not comply, Chicago could lose state recognition meaning that it could lose state funding.

“CPS is jeopardizing the health and safety of CPS students and staff” by allowing the continued use of restraint, timeout, and seclusion by untrained staff, the state board said in the April letter to Chicago. “Students continue to experience escalating events, and staff need to be trained in the appropriate ways to de-escalate these students.”

On Monday, July 17, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Education said they continue “to meet regularly with CPS to support the district’s compliance,” by the first day of classes.

Restraint, timeout, and seclusion are disciplinary tactics historically used to stop students from harming themselves or others. The state board of education defines physical restraint as when a school employee holds a student or restricts their movement, timeout is when a student is removed from a classroom for part of the school day, and seclusion is when a student is confined to a room without adult supervision. In recent years, as documented by a ProPublica and Chicago Tribune investigation, schools were found to be abusing and overusing these tactics putting children in danger and, in 2021, prompting changes to state law.

Chicago banned the use of seclusion years ago, but continues to allow restraint. Since last summer, the district has been under state watch for violating state laws governing the use of restraint and timeout in classrooms.

The letter from the state board detailed several examples in which staff who were not trained, were partially trained, or were not up-to-date with training were involved in restraint and timeout situations:

Untrained school employees were involved in 21 incidents involving physical restraint reported between Feb. 1 and March 8. In 13 of those, at least one staff member was not properly trained and in eight incidents, none were.
Staff at Prussing and Nixon elementary schools who were involved in incidents of restraint lasting 45 minutes did not meet training requirements.
It is not clear if any staff members were trained in seven incidents in which students were placed in physical restraint for over 15 minutes or in timeout for over 30 minutes between Feb. 1 and March 8. The April 18 letter said the district told the state that staff were trained, but the state said they could “not corroborate those reports.”

Students with disabilities are the most likely to be restrained or put in timeout. Physical restraint can be written into a student’s Individualized Education Program under the Behavioral Intervention Plan section.

How many staff members are trained?

As of July 20, about 2,400 staff members have either completed training or were listed as “in progress,” according to a Chalkbeat analysis of a public database posted by the district. The Chalkbeat analysis found no records in the database of trained or in-training staff at 147 schools, many of which were charter schools.

In May, the district told Chalkbeat that there were 3,546 staff trained and about 422 still to be trained. Chicago Public Schools said the numbers fluctuate due to the ongoing annual training cycle, staff departures, new hires, medical leave, and other personnel reasons. The district refused to reconcile the difference between the numbers provided in May and those in the database now. A spokesperson would not say how many staff still need to be trained in order for the district to be in compliance by Aug. 21.

“Chicago Public Schools has prioritized training to ensure appropriate personnel at every school receive instruction on the use of physical restraint by the fall,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement.

A document from Chicago Public Schools obtained by Chalkbeat says that schools with up to 300 students, must have at least two staff employees trained in physical restraint and timeout. The document indicates that larger schools must have additional staff trained.

The state initially asked CPS to complete training at a subset of 77 priority schools by Feb. 17. In the April 18 letter, they requested all schools have trained staff by June 9. Spokespeople for both the district and the state confirmed the new deadline is now Aug. 21.

Trained staff are often security officers

Chalkbeat’s analysis of Chicago Public Schools’ public database shows that most staff who have been trained are school security officers. On July 20, Chalkbeat found that 1,282 security officers had completed training and 29 are “in progress,” according to the district’s data. Chicago Public Schools said security officers have been trained on restraint since before the state’s requirements were in place.

Special education teacher Katie Osgood is concerned about the number of security officers overrepresented in the database because students will have to interact with officers who might not know them or their needs like their classroom teachers.

Osgood would like schools to have trained teams — including all special education teachers and classroom assistants, school clinicians, security guards, and at least one administrator. She believes it would be better for a group of staff to perform restraint or timeout instead of one or two people.

“It needs to be a big enough team of folks so that there’s enough people in the building that can come when called to help deescalate,” Osgood said. “To make sure that other kids are kept safe, make sure adults are being kept safe, and that we’re holding ourselves accountable.”

What training looks like

Physical restraint training takes place over two days. The first day focuses on how to de-escalate a situation, or calm a student down, while the second provides hands-on training on physical restraint. School staff have to complete training annually to continue to use physical restraint.

Chicago Public Schools has contracted with QBS LLC, a crisis prevention company that trains school employees using its Safety-Care Crisis Prevention Training. The contract was approved by the school board for up to $190,050 during fiscal year 2023. Invoices obtained through an open records request and posted to MuckRock show the district has paid QBS more than $700,000 since June 2022, with nearly $500,000 being paid in March and April 2023.

The bid documents obtained by Chalkbeat indicate the company is expected to train over 2,500 school employees on how to use de-escalation techniques and physical restraint, know when restraint is needed, understand how physical restraint can affect students, and report incidents when a student is restrained.

Special Education Teacher Natasha Carlsen said she was first trained in how to use physical restraint in 2018 by QBS. At the time, she was in her eighth year of teaching students with disabilities at Camras Elementary School on the city’s Northwest Side.

Carlsen found the district’s two-day training to be useful. She said she was “incredibly impressed and felt empowered.”

Now, Carlsen is concerned that other staff members are not having the same experience. Carlsen, who also sits on a district and teachers union joint committee on special education, said she’s heard from colleagues who have yet to receive any training. Osgood also noted that most staff weren’t offered the second day of training — hands-on physical restraint training. Osgood said she has only received the first day training about de-escalation.

During the pandemic in the 2020-21 school year, Carlsen said certifications lapsed because teachers and school-based staff could not receive training in school buildings. Staff are supposed to be trained in-person annually — which the state board called “unsustainable” in its April 18 letter.

“There’s just no support, or support is out of reach, for people having significant behavioral issues with general education or special education students,” said Carlsen. “There are schools that are still using prone restraint and putting students’ lives in jeopardy of death and it is incredibly heartbreaking.”

Illinois gives a first look at a literacy plan for schools. Here are four things to know.

2023-06-23T21:58:48+00:00

The Illinois State Board of Education has released the first draft of a plan designed to help public school districts improve the way they teach reading — a goal that has taken on a new urgency since the coronavirus pandemic.

The 54-page document provides a roadmap emphasizing methods backed by research that educators can use to teach reading to students from birth to 12th grade, at a time when students across the state are not meeting national or state standards in reading.

“Equitable access to high-quality literacy instruction is not afforded to many of our students,” the state board said in the report. “A significant number of our students’ literacy needs are not being met, with some students disproportionately impacted.”

The state’s plan cites the 2022 results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a national exam that tests fourth, eighth, and 12th graders on subjects including reading, math, and science, which showed that about 40% of Illinois students lack “basic” reading skills. Children in third through eighth grade performed similarly on the state-mandated Illinois Assessment of Readiness exam in 2022.

For years, literacy advocates have been calling for the state board and lawmakers to encourage school districts to move away from “balanced literacy” — a now-debunked philosophy that says reading is a “natural process” — towards teaching phonics — an approach that teaches students the relationship between sounds and letters. Since 2019, states around the nation have been changing how schools teach reading to move away from balanced literacy.

This spring, the state’s general assembly passed a bill that requires the state board to create a literacy plan by Jan. 31, 2024 and to provide training opportunities to teachers that focus on teaching reading differently by 2025. This bill is currently waiting for Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature.

Starting next week, the Illinois State Board of Education will host listening sessions around the state to get feedback from educators, school officials, parents, and literacy advocates. It plans to release a revised draft in the fall.

Here are four highlights from the state’s draft literacy plan:

The Illinois literacy plan is a guide

The literacy plan provides schools with an evidence-based framework — called the Illinois Literacy Instructional Framework — to help educators teach students the relationship between sounds and words, expand their vocabulary, and master comprehension based on students’ age and grade level. The plan doesn’t give districts a curriculum to use in classrooms, but districts are encouraged to use the state’s curriculum evaluation tool, which will help them decide if the curriculum is high-quality and uses reading strategies backed by science.

The plan says “universal screening for literacy skills is essential” because it can help teachers figure out where gaps are in a student’s reading skills. However, universal screening is not currently required by the state. A bill in the spring that would have required screening to test for reading difficulties and disabilities such as dyslexia for children in kindergarten to second grade did not pass.

Reading is ‘not only an elementary school problem’

The state’s literacy plan emphasizes the importance of students learning how to read in elementary school, but it also notes that literacy development starts at birth.

The state board recommends parents, caregivers, and child care providers work with children from birth to three years of age on literacy to help them bond with caregivers and develop skills early. With young children, parents can use sounds like “ma” or “da,” pretend to have a conversation with infants when they make sounds, point out colors and shapes, and talk to babies during bath or feeding times, says the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The recommendation is backed by years of research showing that children exposed to a literacy-rich environment in their earliest years often perform better in school.

Once children are in preschool, they can begin to connect sounds to letters and words and begin to learn how to write.

As young children transition to elementary school, educators should focus on deepening students’ understanding of reading, writing, and words across subjects. Third grade is when Illinois students begin taking state-mandated tests, meaning that schools have to lay a strong reading foundation in kindergarten to second grade.

In middle schools, students should have a solid foundation for reading. The board recommends that if students struggle to recognize words, educators should intervene by assessing what skills they are missing and work with the students outside of class — although such assessments can be used any time in a student’s education.

Once students reach high school, the state plan says that students should be able to read and speak fluently, comprehend what they are reading, and be able to analyze what they are reading. While literacy skills are only explicitly taught in English language arts classes, the draft plan says reading should be incorporated into different subjects throughout the school day.

The state’s literacy draft says that high school teachers of all subjects play a role in developing students’ literacy skills.

Educators need training, support to teach literacy

Amanda Mullarky, a teacher and a parent of a student with dyslexia, told the State Board of Education at its monthly board meeting on Wednesday that in order for educators to support students in reading, teacher preparation programs need to adopt evidence-based practices.

Mullarky was a primary school teacher for eight years with a master’s degree in reading and is a certified reading specialist, but she struggled to help her son learn how to read.

“The balanced literacy methods I, along with his teachers, use aren’t effective for kids with dyslexia or in fact the majority of children,” Mullarky told the board. “Despite my reading specialist endorsement, I was left underprepared to help my own child.”

In a report released earlier this month from the National Center for Teacher Quality that examined how well teacher prep programs across the country are teaching reading instruction, most of the Illinois programs studied received failing grades. The report, which studied 700 programs around the country, looked at 15 programs in Illinois: Three received a D and nine programs were given an F for failing to teach the five core components of reading — phonemic awareness (learning sounds), phonics (the relationship between sounds and letters), fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Few programs focused on how to teach reading to students with disabilities or English language learners, the report found.

The draft literacy plan suggests that teacher preparation programs should help prospective teachers learn about the science behind reading, understand national and state standards for reading, find ways to help students learn how to read, and use assessments to find where students are struggling to read.

Although the goal of the literacy plan is to change how reading is taught for all grades, in a time of strained budgets and staffing shortages, districts should consider providing professional development to elementary school teachers, the state’s plan says.

English learners must learn literacy in two languages

The state’s literacy plan includes guidance for how teachers can support English learners in the classroom — which was a key concern for advocates who wanted to ensure that the needs of those students were included in any literacy plan developed by the state.

Since many English learners already know a language and its grammar rules, it’s important for teachers to provide instruction in both languages in preschool through fifth grade, according to the draft plan. Speaking, reading, writing, and listening should be taught in both languages with a larger amount of time spent in English, the plan recommends.

The State Board of Education provides other recommendations for English learners, such as making connections between languages by pointing out the differences and similarities between English and their native language and teaching students how to write in English. Teachers should use signs, charts, and books in the classroom to help students master vocabulary and grammar in English.

What education bills did Illinois lawmakers pass? Student mental health help, book ban prohibition, Native American history

2023-06-12T21:35:06+00:00

Illinois lawmakers passed a number of education bills at the end of the legislative session that will directly impact what children learn in classrooms across the state and what services they can access.

Lawmakers dedicated more state funding to early childhood education, pushed for a plan to change how reading is taught, and passed policy aimed at increasing access to mental health services for students. The general assembly also approved a $50.6 billion budget for 2024 that touted an additional $570 million for K-12 education and more funding to help students pay for higher education. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the budget into law last Wednesday.

Among the education bills passed this session are one that prevents libraries from banning books, which Pritzker signed Monday, and another that will require school districts to teach Native American History — a contrast to pushes in other states to restrict what books can be used in classrooms and to limit teaching about race.

Two other bills headed to the governor’s desk are one that will require the Illinois State Board of Education to create a literacy plan for schools and require districts to offer full-day kindergarten by 2027. Many other education-related bills didn’t make it to the finish line.

Here’s where some education-related bills landed at the end of the spring legislative session.

Bills improve access to dual credit, mental health services

Career and Technical Education and dual credit opportunities for students with disabilities: House Bill 3224 will require school districts to provide a student and parent with information about career and technical education opportunities and dual credit courses. If the student is enrolled in a dual credit course, it must be included as part of the student’s transition Individualized Education Program activities.

Task force on children’s mental health: Senate Bill 0724 will make it easier for families to access mental health services across several of the state departments, including the Illinois State Board of Education. This bill will create the Interagency Children’s Behavioral Health Services Act and require the state to establish a Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Officer who will lead the state’s effort to work across state agencies to help families get services. This bill unanimously passed both chambers of the general assembly with bipartisan support.

Establishing a home visiting program for families: Illinois has appropriated funding for the state Department of Human Services’ home visiting programs for over 30 years, but Senate Bill 1794 writes the program into law to protect it in the future. The goals of the program are to improve maternal and newborn health, prevent child abuse and neglect, promote children’s development and prepare them for school, and connect families to community resources.

Expanding dual language programs: House Bill 3822 will require the Advisory Council on Bilingual Education to create a report for the Illinois general assembly on how to incentivize dual language programs. The report will look at expanding dual language programs and instruction. It will also explore possible public-private partnerships, funding for programs, how to increase the number of qualified bilingual teachers for dual language programs, and standards for measuring student progress in programs.

Migrant youth, dyslexia screening proposals didn’t pass finish line

Supporting school-age migrant youth: Since the fall, Texas officials have bused thousands of people from the U.S.-Mexico border to Illinois — many are school-age children. Currently, many of recently arrived migrants are being sheltered at police stations across the state. The city of Chicago has committed $51 million to help migrants. House Bill 2822 would have required the Illinois State Board of Education to create a new grant program for public schools. This bill didn’t make it past committee.

Reporting informal removals of students with disabilities: House Bill 3600 would have required students’ schools to send a written notice to parents if students are sent home during the school day, given in-school suspension, or told not to come to school. Although this bill did not pass, Access Living, a nonprofit based in Chicago that advocates for people with disabilities and pushed for the bill, got a commitment from the Illinois State Board of Education to provide guidance to schools on documenting informal school removals.

Screening young children for dyslexia: House Bill 1124 would have required public schools to screen students for dyslexia in grade K-12 starting with the 2023-24 school year. The bill would have required the State Board of Education to require guidelines in the dyslexia handbook on how to screen children for dyslexia and other reading difficulties. The bill picked up steam earlier in session after passing a key committee in the House, but failed to get on the floor.

Chicago special education chief steps down amid reports that the district violated state law governing restraint, timeout

2023-06-09T17:46:54+00:00

Stephanie Jones, the chief of Chicago Public Schools’ special education department, left the district on Friday, amid criticism for her role in the district’s failure to fix violations involving the use of physical restraint and timeout on students.

Jones’ leadership has faced scrutiny from the district’s teachers union, parents, and advocates for students with disabilities over concerns about high staff turnover on her team, recovery services for students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and other issues.

The Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body passed a vote of no confidence in Jones in late May and called on the district to fire her for “dismal failures to protect the district’s most vulnerable students, continued violation of special education laws and the creation of a toxic workplace.”

Chicago named Richard Smith as interim chief while the district conducts a nationwide search for a new department lead, according to a spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools. Smith is a former CPS school principal, chief network officer, and chief officer for the Office of Special Education and Supports (now known as the Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services).

This week, Chalkbeat Chicago reported that Chicago Public Schools is under watch by the Illinois State Board of Education because the district has been violating state laws governing the use of restraint and timeout in classrooms.

In a letter dated April 18, the state board cited Jones for not properly fulfilling her role as the designated official responsible for restraint and timeout policies and incidents. The official is supposed to maintain a copy of records, be notified of every incident by the end of the school day on which it occurred, and receive documentation or any evaluation of any incident that exceeds 15 minutes of physical restraint or 30 minutes for timeout.

Jones told the state board on Dec. 23, 2022 that she had delegated the responsibility to another person on her team but that person left in March 2023. Without anyone monitoring restraint and timeout incidents across the city’s public schools, the state said the district was not in compliance with state law.

“We sincerely thank Dr. Jones for her commitment to serving students in Chicago with diverse learning needs, and we wish her well in her future endeavors,” a spokesperson for Chicago said in a statement on Friday.

Earlier in the week, at a Wednesday press conference, CEO Pedro Martinez said in response to a question about the state’s restraint and timeout concerns that improving services for students with disabilities is a top priority for his administration. He vowed that the district will meet all state requirements around training and compliance with restraint rules before the start of the school year in August.

He noted that the district is increasing funding for disability services by $100 million in the next school year’s budget and said schools will staff more teachers and aides working with students with disabilities.

“This is an area that has been a challenge in our district for the last two decades,” he said. “But we’re going to fix it.”

At the Wednesday event, Martinez sidestepped a question about who will be held accountable for the restraint issues.

In recent months, Jones has emerged as a candidate for leadership jobs in other districts, including Kalamazoo Public Schools in Michigan, where she was named finalist for the superintendent position. Another candidate was selected for that role.

Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago Public Schools violating state law on use of restraint, timeout in school, state says

2023-06-07T16:25:45+00:00

This story has been updated to include additional comment from Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.

Chicago Public Schools has put students — especially those with disabilities — at risk by not training staff on the proper use of physical restraint and timeout as required under state law, a nearly-yearlong investigation by the Illinois State Board of Education has found.

Documents obtained by Chalkbeat Chicago show that untrained staff restrained or secluded students for long periods of time, used outlawed methods of restraint, and restrained students who were not a threat to themselves or others.

The state has repeatedly warned CPS since the fall that it is not complying with state law on restraint and timeout. In multiple letters sent to the district this school year, the state cites the district for not properly training staff and not notifying parents within a legally required 24-hour time frame when a child has been restrained at school. The state defines physical restraint as holding a student or other methods to restrict a student’s movement.

In a letter dated April 18, the state board outlines a number of violations by the district. Among them:

CPS failed to report 15 incidents involving restraints that took place between Feb. 1 and March 8. Four incidents were not reported to the state board’s reporting system, and in 10 of 23 incidents reviewed, parents were not notified within the required time frame.
From Feb. 1 to March 8, the district reported seven incidents of either physical restraint over 15 minutes and timeouts or isolated timeouts over 30 minutes. But CPS did not clarify if licensed educators or therapists were involved to conduct an evaluation. The district also did not provide evidence that the staff involved were trained.
In some reported incidents, students were restrained for even longer periods of time: 45 minutes at Prussing Elementary School and Nixon Elementary School, one hour at Jones College Prep, and one hour and 15 minutes at Peterson Elementary School.
The district reported two incidents of prone physical restraint — when a student is placed face down and pressure is applied to their body to keep them in that position — on Jan. 30 and Feb. 9 at Roosevelt and Fenger High Schools, respectively. The state outlawed prone physical restraint at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.

In the letter, the state warns that the continued use of physical restraint, timeout, and isolated timeout “by untrained staff demonstrates that CPS is jeopardizing the health and safety of CPS students and staff.”

Terri Smith, a Chicago parent and advocate for students with disabilities, said the state findings echo her concerns about the district’s practices.

“Just when I think I’ve seen the worst, I see something worse like this,” said Smith. “They’re putting children at risk knowingly, wantonly, and maliciously. Everyone can see that they have made a conscious decision not to keep our children safe.”

Over her time as a parent at Chicago Public Schools, Smith said, she has lost confidence in the district to do right by students with disabilities — and believes many of the parents she works with feel the same.

When asked about the violations Wednesday at an unrelated press conference with Mayor Brandon Johnson, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said complying with state law is a “top priority” and the state’s requirements will be met “this summer before the school year starts.”

“We will make sure that this is corrected. Not only that, we’re going to make sure also that the programs get strengthened,” Martinez said. “This is an area that has been a challenge in our district for the last two decades, but we’re gonna fix it.”

State investigates Chicago in effort to reduce restraint in schools

The state opened a “systemic complaint investigation” in October after the district reported numerous instances of restraint performed by untrained staff, according to a letter dated Nov. 30, 2022. The use of restraint, seclusion, and timeout to discipline students in Illinois schools has been under scrutiny for several years.

In 2019, ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Tribune published a joint investigation that uncovered how districts around the state were secluding students in isolated rooms, or quiet rooms, as a form of discipline. A majority of students featured in the investigation were students with disabilities.

In 2021, the Illinois general assembly passed a law that prevents school staff and educators from locking students in isolated seclusion rooms and limits the use of restraint and time out on students.

During a compliance check with Chicago Public Schools in August 2022, the state board found the district continually reporting violations to the 2021 state law — many included incidents where students were restrained or put in timeout by untrained staff and the use of restraint took place when students were not a threat to themselves or others.

In late November, the state board sent CPS a list of action items to complete to comply with the state’s law.

The district was required to notify all Chicago Public Schools parents of the violations contained in the November letter and findings in the April 18 letter.

On May 26, the district sent an email to parents and guardians — after 4 p.m. the Friday before Memorial Day weekend — to notify them that the district is working with the State Board of Education to address violations for restraint and seclusion.

The state also required the district to set up an email address where parents can submit concerns about restraint and timeout incidents. Parents can look up who’s trained in restraint and timeout at their schools and submit concerns to PRTO@cps.edu.

As of May 26, CPS officials said, 3,546 district staff had been trained in de-escalation and physical restraint training through a contractor called QBS LLC. But 422 still need to receive training. The state board requires two staff members per school building to be trained — a requirement that had not been met as of the April 18 letter.

The state board is still working with the district to comply with state laws for restraint and timeout, according to Jackie Matthews, a spokeswoman for the State Board of Education.

“Student safety and well-being is our number one priority, and these requirements were put in place as essential precautions to protect students,” she told Chalkbeat.

In an emailed statement to Chalkbeat, a CPS spokesperson said the district remains “committed to continually reviewing and improving our services, working closely with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and all partners, including parents and advocacy groups, to co-design an improved system that not only is in compliance with all State and Federal education requirements, but meets our own high goals for excellence.“

If Chicago does not come into compliance, the state could put the district on probation. If the school district still fails to comply after at least 60 days, it could lose state recognition, resulting in a loss of state funding and blocking sport teams from participating in state athletic associations. In 2021, some districts were placed on probation for not complying with the state’s mask mandate during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Matthews said putting a district on probation is the last resort and the state board will continue to provide assistance to help students.

Students with disabilities are often restrained in classrooms

In one case cited in the state’s April 18 letter, a student with disabilities was restrained on three days within a 30-day period and the staff involved in the restraint — security officers, a special education classroom assistant, and a school counselor — were not invited to attend the student’s Individualized Education Program meeting.

Such incidents can reinforce the mistrust that students with disabilities and their families have in Chicago Public Schools, which has a history of failing to meet their needs. In 2016, Chicago was found to be denying services to students with disabilities leading to state oversight, fell behind on creating or updating Individualized Education Programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and failed to offer transportation to students when school buildings reopened in 2021.

Frank Lally, an education policy analyst at Access Living — a nonprofit organization that advocates for Chicagoans with disabilities — said one of the major victories from the 2021 law limiting the use of restraint and timeout was ensuring that parents would be notified if a child was restrained.

But in Chicago, that is not happening, the state found.

“That struck me because there is a lack of trust between the district and parents of students with disabilities going back several years,” Lally said. “It’s kind of disheartening.”

Students have legally binding documents spelling out what supports and interventions they should receive, including which staff should support them when behavioral issues arise. In many cases, these are in the student’s Individualized Education Programs or Behavioral Intervention Plans. However, staff must be trained in de-escalation and physical restraint to intervene when a student has a behavioral issue.

Teachers union calls for firing top district leaders

Last week, the Chicago Teachers Union called for the firing of Stephanie Jones, the district’s top official overseeing services for students with disabilities. The union’s House of Delegates took a vote of no confidence in Jones last Wednesday for her “dismal failures to protect the district’s most vulnerable students, continued violation of special education laws and the creation of a toxic workplace.”

“Tonight our members said, enough. Enough with the lack of services and support, enough with ignoring the needs of our students, and enough with violating state law,” CTU president Stacy Davis Gates said in a statement.

Chicago Public Schools reported to the state board that Jones was the designated official responsible for restraint and timeout policies and incidents, according to the April 18 letter. Designated officials should maintain a copy of records, be notified of every incident by the end of the school day on which has occurred, and receive documentation or any evaluation of any incident that exceeds 15 minutes of physical restraint or 30 minutes for timeout, according to the state board.

Jones told the state board on Dec. 23 that she gave this authority to her team and to Erin Miller, then a manager at the Office of Diverse Learners and Support Services.

Miller left Chicago Public Schools on March 3 and her team set up a rotation, with each staffer taking one day of the week to review restraint and timeout data.

According to the board’s April 18 letter, Jones doesn’t meet the “requirements that the designated official must complete and is not acting as the designated official” and no other CPS staffer has taken on the duties.

As a result, the state board said, “CPS does not have a designated official who is informed and maintains RTO data as required.”

A group of teachers who challenged CTU leadership during its last internal election has also called for the ouster of other top district leaders, including CEO Martinez. In a statement, they said the violations extend “far beyond” Jones’ office.

The group of teachers — the REAL caucus — also called on the district to remove all police officers from schools, a decision currently left to Local School Councils. There have been instances of school resource officers using restraint on students in the past, such as a high-profile 2020 incident at Marshall High School. The teen whom officers dragged down a staircase sued the city of Chicago and was eventually awarded a $300,000 settlement.

A spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools responded to the teachers’ call for removing Jones and Martinez in a statement, “Our top leadership at CPS has been committed and transparent about the need for improved systems, strategies, and services to support our most vulnerable students through our Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services.”

Becky Vevea contributed to this story.

Illinois passes 2024 budget with increased funding for K-12, early childhood education

2023-05-27T15:52:57+00:00

Early Saturday morning, Illinois lawmakers passed the 2024 budget with increases in funding for K-12 public schools, early childhood education, and college-bound students. The House pass the budget with a vote of 73 to 38.

State legislators passed the $50.6 billion budget with a $570 million increase in K-12 spending, $250 million more for early childhood education, and over $100 million to support students heading to college and those who want to become teachers. The 2024 overall Illinois State Board of Education budget will be $10.3 billion, a 6.2% increase over last year’s $9.7 billion budget.

The budget looks similar to the proposal that Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced during his State of the State address in February. The budget leaves out the tax-credit scholarship known as Invest In Kids, which Pritzker supported during his re-election campaign, and trims back funding the governor requested for early education facilities.

Early childhood education gets a boost

Smart Start Illinois, announced by Pritzker in February, will invest $250 million in early childhood education in the 4-year initiative’s first year, and that funding was also approved by lawmakers.

Of that $250 million increase, the state’s Department of Human Services early intervention program, which supports young children with disabilities, will receive an increase of $40 million. The Child Care Assistance Program, which helps low-income families access child care and early childhood education, will get an additional $70 million, and the home-visiting program that supports pregnant people and families with children between birth and 5 years old, will receive an additional $5 million.

The state board’s early childhood block grant, which supports establishing early childhood education programs, gets an additional $75 million.

“This budget makes transformative investments in the children and families of Illinois while building on our record of fiscal responsibility,” Pritzker said Friday in a statement.

Latino Policy Forum senior education policy analyst Rosario Hernandez said in a statement that the group applauds the general assembly for creating a budget that adds more funding for early childhood programming.

“We are especially excited about the $75 million increase to the Early Childhood Block Grant that will expand preschool access throughout the state, which stands to benefit the fastest growing group of students in Illinois: English Learners,” said Hernandez. “Recent research from the University of Chicago demonstratively shows that when English Learners have access to full-day bilingual preschool beginning at age three it yields positive outcomes in third grade.”

K-12 gets $350 million for funding formula

The state board’s evidence-based funding formula, which distributes money to K-12 public schools, received an increase of $350 million.

Education advocates had wanted lawmakers to give an additional $550 million to school districts under the state’s evidence-based funding formula, but that didn’t happen this year. They say more money is needed to put the state on track to fully fund schools by 2027 — which was the targeted timeline when the formula was created in 2017.

Rep. William “Will” Davis, a Democrat who represents suburbs south of Chicago, filed a bill that would have required the state to increase the minimum for evidence-based funding from $350 million to $550 million. But Davis’s bill did not move out of the House rules committee.

The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a nonpartisan budget watchdog and one of the key architects of the formula, found in March that the evidence-based funding formula is working as intended. Over the past five years, funding for public schools has increased by $1.6 billion with 99% going to historically underfunded districts, closing the gap between wealthier and underfunded districts.

The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability also agrees with advocates that the formula is severely underfunded and needs more than $350 million added annually.

Center Executive Director Ralph Martire said that there should have been at least $550 million put towards the evidence-based funding after 2020, when nothing was added.

“It will take them until 2038 to fully fund the evidence-based model. So we lose another generation-and-a-half of kids to an underfunded system, which is really unfortunate,” Martire said in an interview with Chalkbeat. “It would have been nice if the state could have made an additional investment to shorten this period of time and get the educational system the resources it needs to educate students.”

The state board will also receive $45 million for the first year of a three-year pilot program to help school districts that have a large number of teacher vacancies.

Funding to support students in higher education

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship, which provides scholarships to students of color and bilingual students who want to become educators, received an increase of $3.8 million instead of the $2.8 million increase proposed by Pritzker earlier this year. The program has grown to $8 million this year.

Funding for the commission’s Monetary Award Program, a grant program that provides funding to students from low-income families for college, received an increase of $100 million and the annual budget for the 2024 fiscal year will be $701 million.

Invest In Kids not in budget

Excluded from the budget this year is the controversial Invest In Kids program, a tax-credit scholarship that provides financial assistance to students from low-income households to attend a private school and makes available a tax credit for individuals who donate to the program. Public school advocates pushed lawmakers to not include it in the budget this year.

Illinois Families for Public Schools was a key opponent to the program and asked lawmakers to allow it to sunset. Cassie Creswell, the group’s director, said that the organization is happy to see the private school choice program is not in the budget and hopes that it will end soon.

“We shouldn’t be handing over public dollars to very weakly or completely unsupervised private schools that are discriminating and teaching low-quality curriculum,” said Creswell. “And there’s no evidence that they’re being helpful because there’s no data yet on the schools and we are finishing the fifth school year.”

While it is not included in this year’s budget, Invest in Kids could be considered later in the year. A spokesperson for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch previously said that lawmakers could approve an extension during fall’s veto session.

Illinois has a budget deal. Here’s what we know about proposed education funding for 2024.

2023-05-24T22:37:19+00:00

With the Illinois legislature in overtime to pass the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, along with leadership from the general assembly, announced Wednesday that a deal had been made.

Pritzker, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, and Senate President Don Harmon said a budget will be filed in the Senate Wednesday, and once voted on in that chamber, will be sent to the House with the hopes of passing by Friday. The state’s fiscal year starts July 1.

The proposed budget appears to be similar to the one Pritzker put forward during his budget address in February — and mostly maintains a key second term initiative aimed at early childhood education. According to a document released by Pritzker’s office, the deal includes the governor’s requests for bigger investments in K-12 schools and initiatives aimed at solving the state’s teacher shortage issue.

Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois would add $250 million to the Illinois State Board of Education’s early childhood block grant this year and the state’s Department of Human Services Early Intervention Program, Child Care Assistance Program, and Home Visiting Program.

In February, the governor proposed adding $100 million for early childhood education capital investment, but the document released by his office indicates that number has decreased to $50 million.

For K-12 public schools, the state board’s evidence-based funding formula would receive an increase of $350 million — keeping in line with the bipartisan promise that state lawmakers made in 2017 when the formula was created of adding a minimum of $350 million to the state’s budget each year .

The budget proposal also includes $45 million for the first year of a three-year pilot program to fill teacher vacancies in schools across the state. In February, Pritzker proposed giving $70 million per year to school districts that have a large number of teacher vacancies.

The Monetary Award Program, which provides funding for students from low-income families to get into colleges, could receive an increase of $100 million – what Pritzker asked for in February. The program’s overall budget would be $701 million.

Becky Vevea contributed to this report.

Full-day kindergarten will be required in Illinois public schools by 2027 under bill headed to governor’s desk

2023-05-23T22:07:52+00:00

Every public school in Illinois could have full-day kindergarten by 2027, thanks to a bill passed on Friday. The bill passed 84-24 in a final house vote and is heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.

Under HB 2396, school districts around the state will have to offer full-day kindergarten to families with children between 4- and 6-years-old by the 2027-28 school year. School districts can continue to offer half-day kindergarten classes for families that want the option. The bill also creates a task force that will look into how school districts should implement full-day kindergarten.

First-year state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a Democrat representing Arlington Heights and lead sponsor of the bill, applauded the general assembly for passing the bill with bipartisan support.

“I’m really proud of the work that we’ve done,” Canty said. “From the stakeholder group to advocates, to the Senate, everyone worked really hard. Not only that, I am excited because we’re helping a lot of people and that is the only reason I do this job.”

Previously, Illinois only required schools to have a half-day kindergarten program.

Early childhood education advocates have been pushing for schools to have full-day kindergarten programs. They say teachers will have more time in full-day classes to help students learn foundational skills such as the alphabet, colors, and numbers and prepare them to enter elementary school.

Canty told Chalkbeat Chicago in April that she advocated for the bill to help working families, especially working mothers who have left the workforce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to watch their young children.

While a majority of districts in Illinois report having full-day kindergarten, about 150 do not offer a full-day program. Some have only recently started offering it. School districts around the state such as River Forest School District 90 and Downers Grove Grade School District 58 — two wealthy districts in Chicago’s suburbs — are making the switch to full-day kindergarten this fall.

Even though the bill had bipartisan support in the general assembly, school district leaders voiced concern that creating full-day kindergarten would be expensive for school districts as they try to find space for more children and hire more staff.

The bill addresses those concerns by allowing school districts to waive transitioning to full-day kindergarten by two years if the district is funding below 76% according to the state’s evidence-based funding formula, is ranked in the top 25% of needing more capital funding, or meets a criteria set by the State Board of Education based on the task force’s recommendations.

Illinois set to roll out a new literacy plan aimed at changing how students are taught to read

2023-05-19T19:48:28+00:00

The Illinois general assembly has passed a bill requiring the State Board of Education to create a literacy plan for public schools with the hopes of changing how reading is taught and to help students struggling with reading.

The Senate voted 56-0 to pass the bill — SB 2243 — Friday afternoon.

Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, a Democrat who serves the city’s West Side and Western Suburbs, was a lead sponsor of several literacy bills over the years. She was on the floor Friday asking the Senate to vote in favor of SB 2243.

“Every child deserves the instruction and support that meets their needs to become a proficient reader,” said Lightford in a press release. “This initiative moves Illinois off the sidelines and into the action to fight for every student to have access to the literacy instruction they deserve.”

In 2022, only 29.9% of the state’s students between third grade and eighth grade met or exceeded state standards in reading on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness exam. That represented a 7.5 percentage point drop from 2019. Research has found that students who aren’t proficient in reading by third grade are more likely to drop out of school.

Under SB 2243, the state board must develop and adopt a comprehensive literacy plan by Jan. 31, 2024 and create a rubric by July 1, 2024. Local school districts could use the rubric to evaluate their reading lesson plans. In addition, the bill requires the state to develop training opportunities for educators by Jan. 1, 2025.

Future elementary school teachers who plan to teach students in first through sixth grade will also be tested on their knowledge of literacy on a content-area exam student teachers are required to take before they receive a license. That will begin by July 1, 2026.

The next step is for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to sign the bill into law.

The Early Literacy Coalition — a group of organizations across the state advocating for evidence-based literacy instruction — has been pushing the state to create an evidence-based reading curriculum for schools that includes teaching students the relationship between sounds and letters, like phonics. Some public schools use a now-debunked approach called “balanced literacy” which is based on the idea that reading is a natural process and mixes some phonics into “whole language” instruction. One of the leading proponents for this approach has since revised her recommended curriculum to include phonics and the science of reading.

Jessica Handy, executive director of Stand for Children Illinois, was one of the lead advocates drafting language with state lawmakers for several literacy-focused bills over the last couple of years. On Friday, Hardy said that she’s excited to see SB 2243 head to the governor’s office after negotiations with legislators.

“We can really see a tremendous amount of momentum to adopt a comprehensive literacy plan that is inclusive, that takes into account every student needs to become a strong reader and writer,” said Handy.

The State Board of Education has already taken steps toward creating a literacy plan. During Wednesday’s board meeting, the board announced plans to release a draft ]literacy plan next month. Last fall, the board held a literacy summit where many participants supported the state creating a literacy plan.

“I do absolutely see literacy as a civil right in this country that has been denied to so many,” said board member Donna Leak during Wednesday’s board meeting.

A team of educators, administrators, parents, community organizations, and experts in literacy, special education, and bilingual education are working on the draft literacy plan, state education officials said Wednesday.

After presenting a first draft of the plan during the June 21 board meeting, the state board says it will hold a listening tour during the summer, and create a second plan by the fall with more public hearings. They expect to meet the lawmakers’ deadline and finalize the literacy plan by the beginning of next year.

Illinois is not the only state revisiting how reading is taught in schools. Since 2019, over 20 states have passed bills to change how states teach literacy by requiring schools to teach phonics.

This year, states including Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, and New Mexico passed laws that require schools to teach evidence-based reading instruction, ensure that teacher preparation programs are training students on the science of reading, and require the state to create standards for literacy and create a rubric to vet curriculum.

Will Illinois tax credit scholarship end? Four things you should know about Invest In Kids

2023-05-17T17:42:30+00:00

A controversial Illinois tax credit scholarship program could end if lawmakers don’t act to extend it.

Invest in Kids — which grants tax credits to people who fund scholarships that allow Illinois students from low-income families to attend private schools — is slated to sunset Dec. 31 unless state legislators approve an extension.

Jaclyn Driscoll, a spokeswoman for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, said lawmakers still have time to extend Invest in Kids before the end of the year. The spring legislative session is scheduled to end Friday, but state lawmakers could approve an extension during a special session or the veto session in the fall.

The Invest In Kids Act became law in 2017, when Democrats and Republicans met during closed-door negotiations to overhaul how the state funded public education and ended a budget impasse that had lasted for two years. At the time, lawmakers agreed the program, which started in the 2018-19 school year, would sunset after five years. In 2022, the state extended the program by a year, with it now set to end January 2025 unless lawmakers agree to include it in the 2024 budget.

Several bills were introduced this session to extend the program, but none have been successful.

If Invest in Kids is allowed to end, Illinois will be bucking the trend of red states such as Indiana and South Carolina that plan to establish or extend their voucher programs.

Here are four things to know about Invest in Kids.

How many students currently benefit from the tax credit scholarships?

Over 9,000 Illinois students received the tax credit scholarship during the 2021-22 school year, according to a report from the state’s Department of Revenue obtained by Chalkbeat Chicago. In prior school years, enrollment numbers remained around 7,000 students.

Students who receive the scholarships come from low-income families. Under the tax credit scholarship law, students must come from households making less than 300% of the federal poverty level — which is about $90,000 for a family of four in 2023. Once the child receives a scholarship, the family income cannot exceed 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $120,000 for a family of four.

Of the students who received scholarships to attend private school in 2021-22, 57.6% were white, 29.7% were Latino, and 17.8 % were Black, according to the state’s report obtained by Chalkbeat Chicago.

Who donates and gets tax credits?

Illinois taxpayers can make a donation to one of the six grantee organizations that provide scholarships to students — also known as Scholarship Granting Organizations — and receive a tax credit of 75 cents for every dollar they donate. The amount donated is capped at $1 million per taxpayer per year. The state Department of Revenue says that taxpayers can donate their funds to a school that they would like their contribution to benefit.

Why do people want the program to end?

Public school advocates who are against the tax scholarship program argue that Invest In Kids diverts taxpayer dollars from public schools to private schools and lacks data or oversight. Some fear schools may discriminate against students with disabilities and LGBTQ students.

Illinois Families for Public Schools has been lobbying for the past few months to get state lawmakers to end the program. Cassie Creswell, director of the organization, says the state can’t afford a private school choice program because public schools are underfunded by billions of dollars.

“It should be deeply concerning to all public school supporters,” said Creswell. “Vouchers aren’t a evidenced-based policy that improve equity or education outcomes. We shouldn’t be funding them with scarce state dollars.”

What happens if Invest In Kids sunsets this year?

It’s unclear what will happen to the 9,000 students who receive scholarships to attend private schools if the tax credit scholarship program were to sunset. State law says the Invest In Kids Act will end Jan. 1, 2025, meaning students would at least have the chance to continue going to their schools through the 2023-24 school year.

School voucher advocates remain hopeful that the general assembly and Gov. J.B. Pritzker will continue to support the program — Pritzker said yes to supporting the tax credit scholarship program in a candidate survey for the Chicago Sun-Times in the fall.

Dan Vosnos, executive director of One Chance Illinois, an advocacy group involved in creating Invest In Kids, said the program has been helpful for families who cannot afford to go to a school of their choice.

“It allows families that don’t have the means to provide their child with their best fit education,” said Vosnos. “It gives families reassurance that their kids are in a loving, caring, nurturing, safe environment getting the education that they may not have received at their neighborhood school.”

Update May 17, 2023: After the initial publication of this article, a spokesperson from the Speaker of the House said the Illinois general assembly has until the end of the year to extend Invest in Kids.

Chicago elected school board draft map underrepresents Latino students, say advocates

2023-05-10T03:09:48+00:00

The first draft of a proposed map for Chicago’s forthcoming elected school board underrepresents the Latino students who make up about 46% of Chicago Public Schools enrollment, said advocates attending a virtual public hearing on Tuesday.

Advocates who spoke at the Illinois Senate’s Special Committee on the Chicago Elected Representative School Board Districts hearing wanted to see more districts that represent Latino families and to ensure that undocumented residents can vote in future board elections. The latter would require a change to state law.

“Our students need representation who understand their communities and the challenges that they face in their daily life,” said Vanessa Espinoza, a parent with Kids First Chicago. “We know that board members who have shared experiences with the communities they serve can better understand the needs of the students.”

Espinoza called the draft map “unconscionable” because she said it underrepresents Latino families in Chicago. Kids First Chicago has published a map that will create eight Latino districts and seven Black districts, she told lawmakers.

This virtual hearing came after Illinois lawmakers released the draft map last Friday. The proposed map includes seven majority white districts, seven majority Black districts, and six majority Latino districts.

Drawing voting districts and outlining who can vote will be important for the general election in 2024, when Chicago’s Board of Education begins to transition to a fully elected school board. Chicagoans will vote for 10 board members during November 2024 elections, while 10 members and the board president will be appointed by the mayor. The board will become fully elected after the November 2026 general election.

Chicagoans have voiced concerns over the last few months about whether voting districts will reflect Chicago Public Schools enrollment, and have drawn their own maps. Chicago is majority white, while the school district’s student population is 46.5% Latino, 36% Black, 11% white, and 4% Asian American.

It is unusual for lawmakers to use school district enrollment rather than city population numbers to create districts for an elected school board, but advocates say it is the only way to ensure that Black and Latino families are equitably represented.

During Tuesday’s virtual hearing, Balthazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, called for more districts representing Latino students and for allowing undocumented residents to vote for their board members.

“The Latino community has half of the population, meaning half of the seats should be Latinos. We only got six seats,” said Enriquez. “When this bill began, the Little Village Community Council was against it because it did not include undocumented families.”

It remains unclear how many maps will be drawn during the general assembly’s map-making process. State lawmakers have published a draft map for 20 districts, and have received nine map proposals from the public, Sen. Kimberly Lightford, who represents that city’s West side and west suburbs, said Tuesday.

Among the maps submitted was one from Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting. That group’s founder and leader, Valerie Leonard, asked lawmakers at Tuesday’s hearing what they planned to do for the first round of elections.

“Will the mayor appoint 10 people to fill the vacancies of 10 districts, while 10 districts will hold elections in 2024? So effectively, only half of our city will be engaged in the election of the school board,” asked Leonard. “Will the 20 districts be coupled so that we effectively have 10 districts now and then you can kind of break them out again in 2026?”

State lawmakers face a July 1 deadline to draw Chicago’s elected school board districts, giving more time for advocates, parents, students, and educators to weigh in on how the map should look.

Advocates call on Illinois lawmakers to fund after-school programs after state error

2023-05-03T20:17:52+00:00

After-school programs for 27,000 Illinois students may be in danger of running out of money after next year because of an accounting error made by the Illinois State Board of Education.

The error has caused a projected $12.4 million shortfall for 2024, according to a spokesperson with the state board. State Superintendent Tony Sanders says the state will use emergency COVID-19 funding to fill in the gap this year, but will not have new funding available in the future.

A coalition of community groups that provide after-school programming — who estimate the shortfall as much larger — are calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois lawmakers to use state dollars to fill the gap to help programs survive in the future.

If that gap is not closed, they say, programs that provide students with a safe space after school to participate in extracurricular activities, tutoring, and mental health services may not have enough funding after next year.

Afterschool for Children and Teens Now (ACT Now), a group of Illinois after-school advocates, says these programs serve mostly Black and Latino students who attend high-poverty, low-performing schools. About 66% of students in the programs qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Marie Snyder, a site coordinator at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School — an alternative school in Humboldt Park — spoke about the importance of her school’s after-school programs for students during a press conference on Tuesday outside of the Pritzker’s office in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood.

Snyder’s school offers 12 after-school programs and five summer programs where students are able to take culinary arts, tutoring, basketball, and gardening.

“Not only do our students get to build relationships with each other, but with us. We all know that our city and our young people are in the midst of a mental health crisis,” said Snyder. “Our time invested enables us to observe our students for signs of trauma and stress and through our relationships we are able to encourage them to connect with mental health practitioners.”

In the past two years alone, Snyder said she’s been able to help 50 students access mental health services based on needs they’ve expressed.

The programs at risk are funded through a federal grant called Nita M. Lowey’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. The state board says the error stems from the early days of the pandemic. In a normal year, grantees would have to give unspent money back to the state board at the end of the year so the state could fund next year’s programs. In 2020, the state allowed programs to carry over unspent funding.

Sanders wrote in a weekly message on Tuesday that the state board did not account for how the carryover funds would impact funding for 2024 until this year when it found a shortfall of $12.4 million for next year. State officials notified grantees of the error in April.

The 2019 grantees affected by the error are in 68 locations across the state, Sanders said in his weekly message, noting that 42 school districts have committed to using other funds to support after-school programming and another 13 are looking for alternative funding sources.

Chicago Public Schools, one of the grantees from 2019, said it will use other funds to continue growing after-school programs.

Susan Stanton, network lead for ACT Now, said at Tuesday’s press conference that after-school programs are vital to students and families. She called on the state legislature to put additional money toward after-school programs in the final state budget, which must be passed by the end of the session this month.

“There is no other option,” Stanton said. “We can’t let families and children pay the price for the mistake that was made by the government.”

Illinois Teacher of the Year helps students process gun violence through writing and poetry

2023-04-28T22:22:43+00:00

East St. Louis teacher Briana Morales and a group of her students at Gordon Bush Alternative Center had just started their regular morning task of making school announcements when their routine was interrupted.

State Superintendent Tony Sanders and Bush principal Darnell Spencer had stopped by with some unexpected news: Morales had been named Illinois Teacher of the Year.

Morales, who has been in the classroom only six years, teaches English at Bush, an alternative school that serves a majority of Black students from low-income families. She was recognized for using writing and poetry to help her students process poverty, personal loss, and violence.

The first thought that came to her mind after she learned of the award on April 17 was “You really, really outdid yourself with this one!” – a phrase she often says to her students.

With state funding that she will receive from winning the award, Morales will take a year off, starting in July, to work with other teachers across the state, mentor early-career teachers, and represent Illinois in the National Teacher of the Year program.

Chalkbeat Chicago spoke with Morales to talk about her time as a teacher so far.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Illinois Teacher of the Year Briana Morales and students she works with at Gordon Bush Alternative School.

Why did you want to become a teacher?

I became a teacher because I had a phenomenal middle school English teacher. In seventh grade, I was struggling with complex life changes at home and I experienced a lot of trauma as a child. My teacher at the time tried to equip me with the skills to battle everything that I was going through. She taught me how to write poetry as a way to cope. I wrote my first poetry book in her class and I never stopped writing. It was powerful to have an adult to see me for what I was going through and not just as some random kid in their classroom.

You’ve spent the majority of your career teaching at an alternative school. Why?

I think alternative education is representative of the underdog in all of us. They are the kids that you’re rooting for to turn the tide and be who they want to be with the right resources. These are kids who may have unmet needs and lagging skills, but one caring adult can break the chains for so many children. We have a moral responsibility to ensure that every child has access to equitable experiences that allow them to be their authentic selves, especially in alternative education.

Writing and poetry were a way for you to process trauma in your life as a student. How have you used those experiences to work with your students today?

I was named an early career educator of color by the National Council for Teacher of English in 2021. Along with working with a cohort of educators across the country, I was able to work on a two-year research project with our students where we focused on writing poetry. Some of the lessons that we used in class were asking students to write about group up in East St. Louis because while every kid in that community may have overlapping experiences, their lived experiences are vastly different. In order to dismantle single stories and provide counter narrative for marginalized communities, poetry allows students to decide for themselves “What am I seeing and What do I make of it?”

What’s something happening in the community that affects what goes on inside your classroom?

Gun violence. I have lost a lot of students to gun violence. We are fortunate to have a wraparound wellness center in East St. Louis that has a 24-hour on-site trauma response team for some of the adverse experiences that my students might be dealing with. However, when we think about the toll that adverse childhood experiences have not just on a student, but also their family, the community, and then the educators that serve them. Not only am I trying to support a young person through navigating what it looks like to lose a sibling or classmate, I’m trying to figure out what that looks like for me. Having to console students, take them to funerals, helping families fundraise for a headstone and other things have greatly impacted my career.

Throughout Illinois, communities are being hit hard by gun violence. It’s often difficult for teachers to talk about it with their students. How do you start a conversation with students about gun violence?

I’m Mexican, something that is important to me and sharing with my students is the belief that there is more time than there is life. We may live a different life on the other side, and the only way that we can do that is if someone keeps our memory alive. I’m big on talking about memories and the legacies that people leave behind every year. I allow my students to share memories of loved ones, think of activities to do to honor that person, and brainstorm organizations that we want to donate to in that person’s spirit, so that we can carry their life on.

As a teacher, you prioritize your students’ mental health. What else can districts or the state do to support teachers and students?

We need to honor the fact that mental health needs to be addressed by a professional who is not a teacher. There need to be changes to legislation and policy to ensure that all students have access to mental health professionals in their school building on a daily basis, at the level that they need. There need to be resources available for school districts to create partnerships with community organizations that may not be able to afford a mental health professional in schools to meet with students and their families.

What’s the best advice you’ve received in your career, and how have you put it into practice?

“Find your marigold.” Educators use the term “marigold” to think about the people you gravitate towards, get advice from, and sustain you in the work that could be a colleague or a friend. It’s really important for newer educators to find people to support you and remind you of your why. You need people to guide you through difficult times, because as high as the mountains are sometimes in education, the valleys are also very low.

As Illinois children struggle to read, lawmakers want the state to create a literacy plan

2023-04-24T22:26:50+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and statewide education policy.

Illinois may soon have to create a statewide literacy plan aimed at helping students learn how to read.

Several bills regarding literacy — backed by a coalition of education advocates, teachers, and parents — are currently moving through the state legislature. The bills would require the state board of education to create a literacy plan for school districts, create a rubric for districts to judge reading curriculum, and provide professional development for educators.

The Illinois Early Literacy Coalition has raised alarms about the lack of science of reading, which include phonics, in schools around the state. Some local schools use an approach called “balanced literacy,” which is based on a philosophy that reading is a natural process and mixes some phonics into “whole language” instruction.

That approach has come under fire in recent years, with some families and students taking action against school districts for not teaching students how to read. A group of Michigan students sued the state in 2020 for not providing them with a proper education. In recent years, a number of states, including Connecticut, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Delaware, have passed laws requiring phonics.

Members of the Illinois coalition have spoken at the State Board of Education’s monthly meetings and worked with legislators to create and push bills in Springfield this session. With just a month left of the legislative session, two of the six bills the coalition helped write are moving closer to passage.

The first bill, which has similar versions in the Senate and House, would require the State Board of Education to adopt a literacy plan for school districts by Jan. 31, 2024. The second bill, called the Literacy and Justice For All Act, would require the state board to create a rubric for districts to evaluate literacy curriculum and create professional development for educators.

The early literacy coalition and state officials spoke at a press briefing on Monday about the state of literacy in Illinois and how the bills will change how school districts teach literacy.

State Rep. Laura Faver Dias, a first-year lawmaker representing neighborhoods on the west side of Chicago, said she is sponsoring the Literacy and Justice For All Act in the House because she saw how the lack of science-based reading impacts students. Faver Dias taught high school history in Chicago Public Schools and said her students were not fluent readers. As a young teacher, she struggled with how to support them.

“There’s an ineffective reading curriculum that encourages students to guess from pictures and context clues, rather than decoding the words,” Faver Dias said. “By the time the students had come to me in high school, the words were more complex and the pictures were gone.”

Illinois test scores from the 2021-22 school year show that only 29.9% of students from third to eighth grades met state standards in reading, a 7.5 percentage point drop from 2019. Over the last year, parents, educators, and advocates have been pushing the state to focus on literacy.

If students are not proficient in reading by the end of third grade, they are four times more likely to drop out of school or fail to graduate, according to a national study.

This is a concern for parents such as Louise Dechovitz, a parent in Avoca School District 37. Dechovitz said her son has struggled with reading since kindergarten and required extra help during the school day. Still, Dechovitz said, he wasn’t improving.

When Dechovitz raised concerns, she said at the press briefing on Monday, she was often told not to worry, she just needed to keep reading to him and find books he liked. When her son was younger he loved story time, she said, but when he tried to read to himself he flipped through the books, simply reciting the words he memorized at school.

“Then he would throw the book across the room in anger,” she said. “He couldn’t decode those words”

In fourth grade, Dechovitz’s son failed his state exam and was falling further behind in reading, comprehension, spelling, and writing.

Dechovitz, whose family put in a lot of time and money to help her son learn how to read, said her son’s experience has fueled her advocacy around literacy. She wants to ensure that all children have access to effective literacy strategies.

Illinois could require school districts to have full-day kindergarten by 2027

2023-04-20T22:19:56+00:00

Illinois State Rep. Mary Beth Canty and her husband remember struggling to balance full-time jobs and picking up two children — who are currently in sixth and third grade — from their half-day kindergarten program in Arlington Heights District 25.

She also noticed that the then-kindergartners were loaded with homework because there wasn’t enough time to get through the material in the two-and-a-half-hour half-day session.

Now, Arlington Heights plans to start offering full-day kindergarten in the 2024-25 school year. Canty, a first-year lawmaker representing Arlington Heights, thinks that is the right move for all districts in Illinois.

She has introduced a bill that would mandate full-day kindergarten for school districts around the state by the 2027-28 school year. The bill, HB 2396, would also require the state to create a task force to examine full-day kindergarten in 2024.

The bill has already passed the house with bipartisan support and is in the Senate’s education committee where it will go up for a hearing on April 25.

Parents, educators, and advocates want school districts to offer full-day programs because they say teachers would have more time to help children learn foundational skills such as their alphabets, colors, and numbers, working parents would have child care covered, and students would be better prepared to enter elementary school. But some critics have concerns about additional costs, staffing, and space at local schools.

Illinois currently requires school districts to have half-day kindergarten. In 2021-22, over 700 of the state’s 852 school districts reported full-day kindergarten enrollments, but that could include students enrolled in half-day programs who are receiving other services throughout the day, a Chalkbeat analysis of data from the Illinois State Board of Education found. Districts report more full-day programs enrollments than half-day enrollments, according to the analysis.

According to the Education Commission of the States, 17 states and Washington D.C. required full-day kindergarten as of 2020.

In Illinois, Gov. J.B Pritzker earlier this year announced his Smart Start Plan to increase funding for early childhood education and child care in the state for children who are 3 and 4 years old. Canty believes that the state also needs to make sure that all 5-year-olds have access to full-day kindergarten.

Full-day kindergarten benefits students and their families — especially mothers who have left the workforce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to watch their children, Canty said.

“If we believe in our kids and we want a strong economy, this is how we do it,” said Canty. “We invest in our youngest, we invest in our families, and we make it possible for them to participate meaningfully.”

State mandate could increase full-day kindergarten enrollment

Without mandated full-day kindergarten, education advocates worry that parents will not enroll their children in kindergarten and might be forced to shuffle them around to different family members’ homes while they work.

Erean Mei, a kindergarten teacher at KIPP Academy Chicago Primary, supports the full-day kindergarten bill because she sees it as a way to create equal opportunities for children regardless of their socioeconomic status.

“I think the bill addresses an equity question of children who grow up in a home where parents are able to pick them up from a half-day program versus those who are not able to access kindergarten,” Mei said.

In Illinois, parents are not required to send their children to school until they turn 6. During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Illinois saw a drop in the number of students enrolled in kindergarten in 2021 because parents worried about their young children contracting COVID-19 or had trouble managing remote learning and work.

A study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that students in full-day programs had significant gains in reading and math and social and emotional skills. Teachers were also able to get through more curriculum with students.

Some districts without full-day kindergarten are already adding it

Until COVID shuttered schools in 2020, River Forest School District 90 leaders didn’t see the added benefits of a full-day kindergarten when they discussed it in 2011 and 2015.

Then the pandemic hit and Superintendent Alison Hawley said she saw a gap in resources between students from low-income families and those in affluent families.

“We have more dual-income earners in our district than we did previously and family needs are changing,” said Hawley. “We’re changing standards for our kindergarten students. The academic standards are designed for a full year and we have a half-day program.”

River Forest’s Board of Education decided in February to expand its kindergarten program after getting input from families, educators, and community members. To prepare for the full-day program, the 1,300-student district will need to hire a few more teachers — especially if enrollment increases, according to Hawley.

River Forest is one of several Illinois districts switching to a full-day program this fall. While a majority of districts in the state report having full-day kindergarten, about 100 do not offer a full-day program. Some are slowly making the transition to full-day kindergarten without a law in place.

Downers Grove Grade School District 58 is another school district that decided in February to switch to free, full-day kindergarten for the 2023-24 school year.

Since 2015, Downers Grove has offered families free half-day kindergarten in the morning and a tuition-based full-day program in the afternoon. Next year, the district will offer a free full-day program for 5-year-olds, after receiving more funding through local tax revenue to work on updating older buildings in the district.

According to Downers Grove Superintendent Kevin Russell, the district had considered full-day programming for nearly two decades, but it was impossible without additional funding. Both River Forest and Downers Grove serve wealthier communities.

Russell worries that without additional funding to increase space and staffing, less affluent districts will have a hard time shifting to the full-day program mandated in Canty’s bill.

“When we’re talking about full-day kindergarten in a historic teacher shortage with a lack of a funding mechanism for more staff and facilities, this is a really daunting challenge for school districts,” said Russell. “Many of my colleagues have expressed that they don’t know how they’re going to make this happen.”

Opponents say funding and space are barriers

Emily Warnecke, director of public relations and deputy director of governmental relations for the Illinois Association of School Board Administrators, said her organization supports the idea of full-day kindergarten but believes more work needs to be done first.

“We know that there are districts that want to be able to do this,” said Warnecke, “but they just do not have the space and they would need the money to fund the construction to add those spaces.”

Before the state mandates full-day programs, Warnecke believes it should create a task force to study which districts have full-day kindergarten and the barriers districts that don’t face.

Canty said she understands concerns about funding, but hopes that extending the time to shift to full-day programs to the 2027-28 school year will make the transition smoother for districts.

Under the current version of the bill, districts can waive creating a full-day program for two years after the initial date if the district is funding below 70% according to the state’s evidence-based funding formula, is ranked in the top 25% of needing more capital funding, or meets a criteria set by the State Board of Education based on the task force’s recommendations.

Urban Prep Academies could be turned over to Chicago Public Schools after state denies appeal

2023-04-19T21:44:09+00:00

Urban Prep Academies may soon no longer operate public charter high schools in Chicago after state education officials denied the nonprofit’s appeal of a decision by the Chicago Board of Education.

The Illinois State Board of Education’s ruling could mean the end of Urban Prep’s 17-year run as a nationally-recognized charter school network known for serving Black boys.

But Urban Prep officials said late Wednesday that they filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County “asserting that the Chicago Public Schools has violated state law that there be a moratorium on school closings until 2025.”

However, the district is not planning to close the schools. In October, when the Chicago Board of Education voted to revoke Urban Prep’s charter agreement to operate campuses in Englewood and Bronzeville, district officials – in a nod to the network’s unique mission and model – promised to continue operating the schools under district management.

At the time, the Chicago school board cited the charter network’s mismanaged finances and its response to a sexual misconduct investigation involving Urban Prep’s founder, which were uncovered by a report by Chicago Public Schools’ Inspector General.

That report alleged that the charter network’s founder, Tim King, groomed an underage student who later worked at the nonprofit and continued to receive paychecks and benefits after he stopped working there. King denies the allegations.

Board chair Steven Isoye said after Wednesday’s vote that “critical steps are already in motion” to communicate with current students and families about the transition. He said Chicago Public Schools will operate a new school with two campuses and an advisory group is already working on transition plans. A district spokesperson confirmed that plan and said the campuses would remain at their current locations.

Two state board members — Donna Leak and James Anderson — abstained from voting on Urban Prep’s appeal.

“As an African American woman and the mother of an African American son myself, I know there’s a need for a safe space that provides them with the chance to know your value and not how you are portrayed in the media on so many occasions,” Leak said. “We have to do better for African American young men.”

Over the last several months, parents and school leadership have fought to keep all three campuses open and under the operation of Urban Prep Academies. The school’s website also appears to still be accepting applications for new students.

“We trust that the courts will rule in favor of justice and Urban Prep students and families,” the statement from Urban Prep read.

The state board had also voted in November to revoke a charter it held with Urban Prep for a third campus — which the state took over in 2019 after the charter network appealed a decision by Chicago’s school board to close that campus. That campus is slated to close at the end of this school year.

Dennis Lacewell, Urban Prep’s chief academic officer, told state board members their decision will impact 400 current students and “hundreds of elementary and middle school black boys” who will “lose the Urban Prep option.” He called the Chicago school board’s October decision “erroneous” and accused the district of “moving the goalposts” as the network tried to address concerns about financial mismanagement.

“A decision to close our schools would eliminate this black institution which almost 20 years ago took on a challenge to successfully educate the most neglected demographic of students: Black boys,” Lacewell said prior to the vote. He also said the decision could result in roughly 100 people losing their jobs, 85% of whom are Black.

Isoye said Chicago Public Schools is committed to retaining as many current Urban Prep staff as possible.

As part of the appeals process with the state, a hearing officer issued a full report for each school in February and recommended the appeals be denied. The reports outlined concerns about Urban Prep’s financial management, noting “extensive borrowing practices via credit cards and predatory lenders.”

It also highlighted a finding by Chicago Public Schools Inspector General that the charter network obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the federal government that “made significant misrepresentations regarding the cost of its operations leading to the receipt of a loan larger than what it would have otherwise been qualified to receive.”

Last fall, Chicago school board members acknowledged that Urban Prep’s academic model has been successful for the Black teenage boys it serves. In the past, Urban Prep has received national recognition for graduating Black students at high rates and steering them into college.

The school’s leadership decided to appeal to the Illinois State Board of Education in November to prevent Chicago from taking over the schools.

After the vote, Isoye said the decision to deny Urban Prep’s appeal — effectively ending the once-lauded charter network — was “not an easy one to make.”

“Supporting the success of Urban Prep students through the transition and beyond is a top priority of all of us here,” Isoye said.

Mauricio Peña contributed to this report.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

How are education bills doing as Illinois’ legislative session hits the halfway point?

2023-04-10T21:36:27+00:00

With the Illinois legislative session at its midway point, bills targeting literacy, full-day kindergarten, and the informal removal of students with disabilities from school appear to have gained momentum in Springfield.

Lawmakers, who are off for spring break this week, have debated hundreds of bills over the last couple of months. Some have moved from one chamber to the next, while others have not been brought to a floor vote in either the House or Senate — which means that they don’t have a pathway to Gov. J.B Pritzker’s desk.

Chalkbeat Chicago has been following bills related to school funding, early childhood education, and teacher training during this session. But other issues also have gained traction, including an anti-book banning bill, a requirement to teach Native American history in schools, and a bill to require full-day kindergarten.

Here is an update on what Chalkbeat Chicago is tracking:

Bills that are moving:

Anti-book banning bill: Amid a conservative-led push to challenge books about race and LGBTQ issues, House Bill 2789 stands out. It would prevent libraries and library systems from banning books, or risk losing state grants. This bill has moved from the House to the Senate.

Native American history curriculum: House Bill 1633 will require schools to teach Native American history in every social studies course related to American history or government. Students in sixth to 12th grade will study genocide and discrimination against Native Americans as well as tribal sovereignty and treaties made between tribal nations and the United States. This house bill is currently in the Senate.

Task force on children’s mental health: In February, Pritzker spoke about the need to bring together state agencies that focus on children’s mental health to make it easier for families to navigate and access state resources. To address this concern, Senate Bill 0724 would create the Interagency Children’s Behavioral Health Services Act and require the state to establish a Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Officer who will lead the state’s efforts to work across state agencies to make it easier for families to access services. This bill has moved from the Senate and is in the House.

Decreasing transfers to alternative schools: To ensure families are aware of a student’s rights when being transferred to an alternative school, Senate Bill 0183 would require school districts to create an “Alternative School Bill of Rights.” The bill of rights would include information about the alternative school program, such as the curriculum, number of students, a typical daily schedule, and extracurricular activities. The bill also requires a transition meeting at least 30 days prior to a student transferring back to a traditional public school. This bill is currently in the House’s rules committee.

Full-day kindergarten: Illinois allows school districts to provide either half-day or full-day kindergarten programs for young learners. If passed, House Bill 2396 will require school districts to provide full-day programs by 2027-28 school year — instead of 2023-24 in an earlier version of the bill. The bill will also create a task force to conduct a statewide audit of kindergarten programs and offer recommendations to the state board of education. This bill passed through the House and is currently in the Senate.

Creating a statewide literacy plan: Senate Bill 2243 will require the state board of education to develop and adopt a comprehensive literacy plan for the state between Oct. 1 and Jan. 31, 2024. This bill sailed through the Senate with no opposition and is currently in the House.

Reporting informal removals of students with disabilities: House Bill 3600 will require schools to send a written notice to parents if students are sent home early during the school day, given in-school suspension, or told not to come to school. If a student with disabilities is removed from school 10 times during the school year, the school must hold a meeting with the student’s individual education program team or Section 504 plan team to discuss or create a behavioral intervention plan. This bill is currently making its way through the Senate after passing the House.

Bills with uncertain futures:

Supporting school-age migrant youth: In the fall, Texas officials bused hundreds of people who crossed the U.S-Mexico border to Illinois — many are school-age children. To support migrant students, House Bill 2822 would require the state board of education to create a new grant program for public schools. This bill did not make it out of the House’s appropriations for elementary and secondary education committee.

Screening children for dyslexia: Companion bills in the House and Senate would require public schools to screen students for dyslexia in grades K-2, starting with the 2023-24 school year. The bill would have also required the state board of education to create guidelines in the dyslexia handbook to screen children for dyslexia and other reading difficulties. While the House bill moved out of committee, it was not called for a vote on the House floor. The Senate version of the bill has also not moved out of committee.

Other bills supporting students’ mental health: There are several bills focusing on students’ mental health that have not moved in Springfield. House Bill 3361 would have required the state board of education to establish a new grant program for schools. House Bill 1234 would have required all schools to post information about mental health resources offered by the school and state. House Bill 1243 would have created a mental health course for students in grades K-12 during the 2024-25 school year. And House Bill 1107 would require schools to develop and implement a plan to support students who have experienced traumatic events. None of these bills have moved out of committees in the House.

How will Chicago’s next mayor shape early childhood education? Advocates warn of challenges ahead.

2023-03-31T19:00:16+00:00

Chicago’s youngest residents cannot vote for the city’s next mayor, but their parents can.

As Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas face off in an April 4 runoff election to become the city’s next mayor, both have promised to support early childhood education and provide families with accessible and affordable options for high-quality child care. Johnson said he would focus on affordable child care and increasing wages for staff, while Vallas’ plan would support children from birth until they reach the classroom.

But experts, advocates, and child care providers say both candidates have given few details about how they would help the city’s over 200,000 youngest learners. They hope whoever is elected will increase funding for early education, address current staffing shortages, work across several agencies, and make child care more affordable.

Chicago Public Schools currently offers full-day free preschool for 4-year-olds. Community-based organizations also offer pre-kindergarten with full and half day programs for 3- and 4- year-olds. Head Start, which is federally funded and administered by the city’s Department of Family and Support Services, also offers child care and preschool for low-income families. In addition, some parents pay for private child care centers.

Kyrsten Emanuel, senior policy manager at Start Early, a nonprofit organization in Illinois that advocates for early childhood education and child care, said the mayor’s office is influential in shaping the city’s early childhood education and child care landscape, especially as community-based organizations and public schools are competing for students.

“Every time Chicago Public Schools expands pre-K, it impacts enrollment and staffing in community-based programs,” said Emanuel. “To mitigate that impact, there really needs to be intentional coordination happening both at the city and the community level.”

Johnson, a Cook County commissioner, has proposed “child care for all.” He says he would focus on making child care affordable for families and wants to increase wages for child care workers. In a statement to Chalkbeat Chicago, Johnson said he will work with Gov. J.B Pritzker and the general assembly to increase state funding for early childhood education.

“I will advocate in Springfield to end the system of giving wealthy corporations tax breaks at the expense of working families who desperately need safe, reliable child care,” Johnson said.

Vallas, former Chicago Public Schools CEO, wants to expand support for young children from birth until they enter the classroom — with a focus on teen mothers and their children. In February during an early childhood education mayoral forum, Vallas said he wanted to use under-enrolled school buildings for child care centers and create tax incentives for private centers to make child care more affordable for families.

Chalkbeat Chicago reached out to both campaigns for details on their early childhood education and child care plans. As of publication, Vallas’ campaign had not responded.

No matter who wins the election, Chicago’s next mayor will face a series of challenges while shaping the city’s early childhood education and child care landscape.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has continued rolling out universal preschool to families with 4-year-olds in the city, continuing the work of her predecessor Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Under Lightfoot’s administration, the city’s early learning chief stepped down in the second year of the rollout and the early days of COVID-19 slowed down the city’s efforts.

Bela Moté, president and CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning, who has seen the expansion of universal preschool under Emanuel and Lightfoot, hopes the next mayor has a dedicated team working on early childhood education issues. This is especially important, she added, because in Chicago early childhood programs are run by a mix of agencies, including Chicago Public Schools, the city’s Department of Family and Support Services, and community-based organizations.

“The machine doesn’t work if these three pegs aren’t moving together,” Moté said.

There are also challenges when it comes to staffing. Child care providers are struggling to attract and retain workers, who are often paid less than their elementary school peers. The early childhood education workforce is mostly women of color, who are often paid less than their white colleagues.

Meghan Gowin, a postdoctoral researcher at the Erikson Institute, said that as the city grows capacity for more 3- and 4-year-olds to enter pre-K in Chicago Public Schools and community-based organizations, the next mayor needs to look at what resources are currently available and the needs of the workforce.

“What are some of the supports and resources that are going to be provided to those centers and educators to make sure that as they’re getting in more children, they’re able to actually support those children in ways that are culturally sustainable and inclusive?” Gowin said.

Earlier this year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed a four-year plan called Smart Start Illinois that would increase funding in order to serve more children. In the coming fiscal year, the governor is proposing an additional $250 million that would add 5,000 seats statewide in preschool classrooms for 3- and 4-year olds.

The state board of education’s early childhood education block grant would receive an additional $75 million — of which 37% would go to Chicago Public Schools. Pritzker’s budget still needs approval by the legislature.

Even with the state increasing funding to early childhood education, the city should look for additional ways to boost revenue, said Emanuel of Start Early. She also recommends addressing the staffing shortage through increased funding for Chicago Early Learning Workforce Scholarship, a program that supports Chicagoans who want to become early childhood educators in schools or community-based organizations.

Correction: March 31, 2023: This story has been updated to correct Bela Moté’s title from founder and CEO to president and CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning.

Illinois students are required to learn Black history. But what’s being taught varies.

2023-03-13T23:02:22+00:00

Ashley Kannan, an eighth grade history teacher at Oak Park Elementary School in District 97, had long thought about piloting a Black studies course. He even created a lesson plan during the summer of 2020. Then, a conversation with a student convinced him to take the leap.

The student liked his lectures, she told him, but thought the history class that Kannan normally teaches was boring.

That inspired Kannan to run with the course that fall. Students in his Black Studies course learn about topics such as the Black church, the Great Migration — when Black Americans migrated from the South to the North for jobs and other opportunities — and Black political figures such as Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist from Mississippi.

Not long after he started to teach the class during the 2020-21 school year, Kannan said, he noticed his students were more engaged with the material.

“I have much more buy-in. I love how my Black students, in particular, can’t tell the difference between my African American studies class and my American history class,” said Kannan, who teaches a diverse group of students. “Like they just see it as one in the same and it’s so beautiful.”

In Illinois, a 1990 state law requires schools to teach a unit of African American history. But more than 30 years after the Illinois law passed, gaps in the teaching of Black history remain. The law lacks an enforcement mechanism, and does not include a way to track when Black history is taught during the school year and what students are learning about it; there are no required textbooks or curriculum.

All that has left teachers like Kannan to create their own lesson plans and to push their districts to strengthen the curriculum to include key points in Black history.

Still, the Illinois law represents a sharp contrast to what is happening in Republican-led states such as Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, where legislators have passed so-called “anti-critical race theory” bills that limit how race and gender issues are taught in classrooms.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, has spoken out against the College Board’s new Advanced Placement course on African American studies, calling it “indoctrination.” DeSantis has labeled plans to incorporate topics such as Black queer studies, the abolition of prisons, and intersectionality “a political agenda.”

In his State of the State address in February, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker pushed back against DeSantis and others seeking to limit the teaching of African American history. Pritzker said a virulent strain of nationalism across the country is leading to pushes for censorship and attacks on school board members and librarians.

“It’s an ideological battle by the right-wing hiding behind the claim that they would protect our children,” said Pritzker, “but whose real intention is to marginalize people and ideas they don’t like.”

Illinois requires Black history in schools

In Illinois, the teaching of Black history has been encouraged rather than limited. In 2021, the state updated its law on Black history to include topics such as the history of Black people before enslavement, the reasons why Black people were enslaved, and the American civil rights movement.

The Black History Curriculum Task Force — created by the Illinois general assembly in 2018 — also recommended in 2021 that Black history be woven into U.S. history courses, and asked for clear guidelines on what should be included in a mandated curriculum.

In addition, the task force asked the state to find a way to enforce the mandate without standardized tests, and to set up a committee of educators from every grade level to create an assessment.

Task force member Bryen Johnson, the state affiliate political organizer with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said ensuring that districts comply with curriculum mandates has to be a priority.

The report from the task force in April 2021, features survey results asking districts to report how they are teaching Black history. Out of the 617 districts in the state that completed the survey, 77% reported complying with the state law requiring a unit on Black history.

“The topics included in history courses shouldn’t be dependent on where you live or what district you attend,” said Johnson. “Complying with this law isn’t optional and those tasked with making sure districts are in compliance should reflect that.”

Champaign teacher turns to The 1619 Project

For Kim Tate, a fifth grade teacher in the Champaign Unit 4 school district in central Illinois, the importance of teaching Black history came into greater focus in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the uprising against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.

As a Black woman watching the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020, Tate felt people devalued Black life because they do not understand the history of Black people in America.

During 2020, Tate had informal conversations with her colleagues about developing a Black studies curriculum for her students; while the state requires a unit of study, there isn’t a guideline for what students should know. One of their main debates: “What should Black studies include?”

The uprisings against police brutality that took place across the country, and Tate’s district’s plans to update social science curriculum in the fall of 2020, motivated her to apply to write a unit on Black history. She applied to be a part of The 1619 Project Education Network by the Pulitzer Center in 2022.

During Tate’s time in the program, she wrote a lesson plan based on The 1619 Project, an examination of the legacy of slavery by New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones.

The project, which takes its name from the date the first enslaved African arrived in the British colony that is now Virginia, has become a flashpoint in the conservative attacks on the teaching of race and Black history.

“I really thought her work was so powerful for really offering a different narrative than we had typically heard about history and the importance of black people to this nation’s story,” Tate said.

Tate started to teach the curriculum to her fifth grade class early this year. The unit she developed is called “No Longer Silent: The Genius Within Us.” In the unit, Tate’s students read books by Zora Neale Hurston, a Black American writer, anthropologist, and filmmaker who wrote about issues facing Black people, and became a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

Hurston’s work especially resonated with Black girls in Tate’s classroom.

“My Black girls last year connected with Hurston’s work during the Harlem Renaissance and her colorful personality,” said Tate.

But Tate has noticed all of her students engaging more in the material.

“I’ve noticed that the students’ ability to engage in perspective-taking and to have empathy has increased,” Tate said. “So I have fewer conflicts and personal conflicts and fewer behavior issues.”

Chicago teacher struggles to use district’s history curriculum

While Tate had a smooth transition teaching Black history, some Illinois teachers struggle to incorporate Black history into a strict district curriculum.

The National Teachers Academy in Chicago had a robust Black history curriculum for several years, according to sixth grade social science teacher Jessica Kibblewhite. The curriculum examined Black history in America and across the globe by including topics such as how African explorers contributed to the creation of currency in the Middle East.

However, after Chicago Public Schools rolled out the $135 million Skyline curriculum in 2021 and created new standards for each grade and subject, Kibblewhite said her school’s lesson plans have taken a back seat.

Kibblewhite, who sits on the district’s Skyline social science review committee, said she thinks Skyline’s Black history unit lacks depth and breadth.

As a white teacher who works with Black students, Kibblewhite said it’s important for students to see themselves in history books.

“Students don’t learn anything unless they’re deeply engaged,” said Kibblewhite. “If students don’t see themselves in characters in text or historical figures that look different from them, they’ll be less likely to be engaged.”

In a statement to Chalkbeat Chicago, Chicago Public Schools said it is committed to providing a culturally responsive social science education throughout the school year. The district said Black history is taught across all subjects, not just in history.

“This work is also at the core of CPS’ Three-Year Blueprint which aims to ensure that CPS students are not only academically prepared to succeed after high school, but also socially, emotionally, and culturally prepared to be successful members of our Democracy,” said a spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools.

What’s next for Black history in Illinois

Next year, Oak Park and River Forest High School will be one of the first high schools in Illinois to pilot the AP African American studies course, as part of the College Board’s national rollout of the program.

But in the meantime, teachers such as Kannan are finding ways to teach Black history in their classrooms.

Kannan, in his 26th year as a teacher, said it was easier for him to create a curriculum than other teachers because of a supportive school district and his lengthy experience. However, he said it would be more difficult for younger teachers who lack professional development and mentoring.

“The state needs to make a considerable financial commitment to investing in induction paths that lead to mentoring and that allow our teachers of color to not only be not only be recruited but to thrive,” said Kannan. “I don’t think there’s any other way for this to happen.”

Tate, the teacher in Champaign, has heard from white colleagues who feel uncomfortable teaching Black history. Since the state’s teacher workforce is over 80% white, Tate said that the state will need to find a way to support teachers in educating students about Black history.

“We got to figure out a way to bridge that gap, because each year we’re not teaching students about Black history and about the legacy of Black people in this country,” said Tate. “We are really robbing all students of important knowledge that can help them be better citizens.”

Illinois school funding formula is closing funding gaps for students of color, says report

2023-03-09T23:34:30+00:00

Six years after Illinois overhauled how the state funds K-12 public schools, a new report has found that the evidence-based funding formula is working as intended to reduce funding gaps.

The formula has increased funding to public schools over the last five years by $1.6 billion, with 99% going to historically underfunded districts, found a report by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability — one of the key architects of the formula. The additional money is helping close funding gaps between wealthier districts and underfunded districts and increase funding for districts serving more students of color and students from low-income families, which was the goal of the law passed in 2017 that created the new formula.

That formula calculates a target funding level for every district based on the characteristics of the students they serve. For example, districts get additional money for English language learners, which can be used to hire bilingual teachers. The goal was to get each district “adequately funded” by 2027.

The evidence-funding formula distributes funding based on tiers, which determine the level of need for state funding. Tiers one and two receive a larger share of state funding, while tiers three and four receive a smaller amount of state funding, Local property tax revenue and the number of students from low-income families attending the district can impact the tier a district is in and the amount of funding it will receive in the next fiscal year.

Every year, a complex calculation is run to determine how much state money a school district will get. Last year, Chicago Public Schools unexpectedly got less state money than it anticipated under the evidence-based formula. That was partly due to an increase in local property tax revenue, a drop in enrollment, and a dip in low-income students.

When the evidence-based funding formula started in fiscal year 2018, 657 of the state’s 852 districts, or 77%, were underfunded. In six years since, the number of underfunded districts has declined to 597, or 70%, according to the report.

The report found that when the formula overhauled the state’s education funds in 2018, Black students and Latino students received more funding per pupil — decreasing the racial funding gap between white students and students of color.

The change in the state’s funding formula has improved funding for schools across the state. The average annual per pupil distribution of new funding made to districts located in Downstate Illinois was $183, the highest for any region across the state.

Despite gains from evidence-based funding, the formula is still underfunded, said report author Allison Flanagan.

“The next step for the state is to increase the amount of new funding that goes into the formula,” Flanagan told Chalkbeat. “It’s unlikely that they’re going to get full funding by the statute limit at the end of fiscal year 2027. Increasing funding to $550 million each year is going to help get us there sooner.”

The report does not include an analysis of student academic achievements based on state funding because it takes about 10 years to see the impact of long-term policy changes, Flanagan said. However, she noted that if the state fully funds the formula faster, the impact on students may become clearer.

Since 2018, the state has added new funding into the formula every year, except in 2021 when the coronavirus pandemic rattled the state’s economy and Gov, J.B. Pritzker decided to keep the education budget flat. At the current rate of funding, it could take until fiscal year 2038 before the formula is fully funded, according to the Center on Tax and Budget Accountability’s press release.

A House bill currently in committee in the Illinois general assembly would require the minimum funding to be $550 million instead of $350 million.

Pritzker proposes $70 million program to hire and retain teachers amid Illinois teacher shortage

2023-03-03T20:36:30+00:00

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed a three-year, $70 million pilot program in the state’s 2024 budget that would help school districts hire and retain educators amid the state’s ongoing teacher shortage.

Pritzker’s plan, called The Teacher Pipeline Grant Program, identifies 170 school districts across the state with the most vacancies; these districts account for 80% of unfilled teacher positions in Illinois. Pritzker estimates that 870,000 public school students would see an improved teacher-to-student ratio in the future under the initiative.

“Parents and children deserve schools that are fully staffed with quality educators,” Pritzker said at a press conference to announce the new grant program on Friday morning.

Pritzker said districts can create their own plans for how funding from the initiative should be used to attract new teachers. Schools could use the funding for sign-up bonuses, housing stipends, tuition assistance, professional development, and other approaches to address the teacher shortage in their districts, he said.

Pritzker said he hopes the program will attract teachers from abroad and surrounding states to join the teacher workforce in Illinois.

Some school districts have also used federal emergency coronavirus relief funds for programs to attract more teachers, since the COVID-19 pandemic heightened staff shortages in schools.

In January, the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools released a survey showing that the teacher shortage has worsened. A majority of school leaders from 690 districts said that the shortage is as bad or worse than last school year and applicants who apply aren’t qualified for open positions.

School districts across the state struggle to fill openings for special education, bilingual education, STEM courses, and support positions. The survey found that districts in towns and rural areas in east-central and west-central Illinois had more vacancies.

State Superintendent Tony Sanders applauded Pritzker for creating a plan to support teacher hiring.

“The experience of teaching is incredible,” Sanders said. “It is not teaching itself that’s causing the teacher shortage but the systemic inequalities present in our most under-resourced districts.”

The State Board of Education last year created a $4 million grant to support teachers who wanted to get a bilingual educator endorsement. The state has also expanded the Minority Teacher Illinois Scholarship, which is aimed at increasing the number of teachers of color and bilingual educators, to $4.2 million. Under Pritzker’s recent budget plan, he proposed another increase to the scholarship to a total of $7 million.

The general assembly will have to approve Pritzker’s new initiative in the 2024 budget at the end of the current legislative session.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the grant program would target 170 schools rather than 170 school districts.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker releases roadmap for Illinois agencies to better address youth mental health

2023-02-24T23:57:42+00:00

Illinois should respond more quickly and broadly to its youth mental health crisis, according to a report that Gov. J.B. Pritzker, mental health care advocates, and researchers released Friday highlighting how the state can better assist young children and teens.

Pritzker pledged to follow its recommendations.

“I refuse to let our youth fall through the cracks,” he said at a press conference on Friday.

Mental health crises among youth spiked during the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 40% of all young people in Illinois who experienced major depressive episodes were not able to receive mental health services last year, the report said.

The report provides a roadmap to provide better and accessible care for young people. Currently, families have to navigate mental health services from six different state departments which makes it harder for families to get services quickly. Recognizing the roadblocks, Pritzker created the Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative last year to evaluate solutions for families in need.

The initiative’s report, “Blueprint for Transformation,” makes 12 recommendations for the state to follow. These include creating a central resource for families, improving coordination between departments, increasing capacity to serve more children and families, offering universal screening in schools and doctors’ offices, and offering incentives to mental health support staff to earn professional credentials.

Incoming state schools Superintendent Tony Sanders applauded the recommendations.

“Any student in need of behavioral health treatment deserves access to quality care, and it is essential that parents, educators, and school districts know how to help them receive that care,” Sanders said in a statement.

For more than a year, the coronavirus pandemic isolated children from their peers and schools. Even after schools reopened in fall 2021, students still had to worry about catching COVID-19. Many lost loved ones and family security, and endured gun violence, food insecurity, and homelessness.

While Illinois ranked 13th among states in providing mental health services to youth according to the Mental Health America, nearly 40% of its young people who have experienced major depressive episodes were not able to receive mental health care. The U.S. surgeon general reported that it takes an average of 11 years for a young person with an identified mental health condition to receive treatment across the nation.

Illinois spreads its mental health services across several state departments, including Human Services, Healthcare and Family Services, Children and Family Services, Juvenile Justice, Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education. The state suffers from a worker shortage and does not provide services in certain areas. As a result, patients experience significant wait times in emergency rooms and for psychiatric inpatient units.

Recently the state took steps to improve mental health services for youth. The Department of Healthcare and Family services introduced its Pathways to Success initiative in December to help guide families through new services for mental health. Pritzker’s recently released budget proposal included $10 million toward comprehensive community-based youth services for youth ages 11 to 17 who are at risk of being directed to the child welfare system or the juvenile justice system.

In the initiative’s next step, the state will produce a plan in October to guide work on statewide mental health services for children and adolescents.

School funding, literacy, migrant students: Education issues to watch in the Illinois legislative session

2023-02-24T16:43:04+00:00

Funding for K-12 schools, early childhood education, and student mental health will be key issues during the Illinois general assembly’s spring session.

State legislators returned to the capitol in late January and have been holding committee meetings, filling hundreds of bills, and working on the state’s budget for fiscal year 2024, which starts on July 1, 2023.

Here are six education issues Chalkbeat Chicago will watch during session:

Illinois could increase funding for early childhood education, K-12

In the $49.6 billion operating budget Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed last week, he pushed for increased funding for early childhood education, K-12 school, and access to college and universities. Now legislators must decide where funding goes in the state’s budget.

If the state legislature goes with Pritzker’s proposal to put $250 million into early childhood education and child care workers, it would push the state closer to universal pre-kindergarten for the state’s youngest learners, make it easier for low-income families to get affordable child care, and increase pay for early childhood educators and child care workers to promote recruiting and retention.

The general assembly could increase the Illinois State Board of Education’s budget by $571.5 million, including $350 million toward the evidence-based funding formula for K-12 schools and $75 million for the Early Childhood Block Grant, as proposed by Pritzker. State education advocates say there needs to be a larger investment in K-12 schools and are calling for $550 million.

State Rep. William Davis, who represents suburbs that are south west of Chicago, has introduced a bill, HB 2792, that would require the state legislature to add a minimum of $550 million toward the state’s evidence-based funding formula. If passed and signed into law, it would take effect July 1, 2023.

Will kindergarten be expanded?

Currently, school districts are allowed to provide either half-day or full-day kindergarten for young learners. Research shows when schools switched from a half-day to full-day program, more children enrolled and attendance improved. Under HB 2396, a bill currently assigned to the House’s Child Care Accessibility & Early Childhood Education Committee, school districts would be required to create full-day kindergarten beginning with the 2023-24 school year.

According to the State Board of Education, districts do not report what type of kindergarten program they offer. In 2021-22, over 700 districts reported full-day kindergarten enrollments, but that may include students enrolled in half-day programs who are also receiving other services for the remainder of the day.

In some cases, the lack of full-day kindergarten is due to financial constraints. But Illinois also does not require students to attend school until age 6, or first grade. A separate bill, HB3143, would lower the required age to 5, but that bill does not currently have any co-sponsors.

Literacy advocates want evidence-based reading programs

The Right to Read Act was a major issue before it hit a snag in negotiations last year. The original bill would have required the State Board of Education to create a list of evidence-based reading programs, offer grants and professional development to schools, and require teacher preparation programs to give teacher candidates a reading assessment for licnesure.

This year, lawmakers have divided up the tenets of last year’s bill into three new bills. Each one has been introduced by State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, who represents northwest suburbs outside of Chicago, and sponsored the Right to Read Act last year.

The first bill, SB 2243, would require the State Board of Education to create a literacy plan for the state on or before Oct. 1, 2023. SB 2244 would outline how districts use state funding from the Reading Improvement Block Grant Program to provide evidence-based literacy curriculum to students. SB 2245 would create the Literacy and Justice for All Act and require the State Board of Education to create a rubric for school districts to evaluate reading instruction programs and develop literacy plans and guidance on evidence-based practice. The bill would also require the state board to create training opportunities for teachers and require teacher candidates to take a test in reading foundation before receiving a license.

Schools would be required to report informal removals

A bill that would collect data on students with disabilities who are removed from school buildings during the school year has been revived this session after hitting a roadblock last year.

State Rep. Michelle Mussman, a Democrat who serves Schamburg, a northwest suburb of Chicago, has introduced HB 3600 which would require any school removal to be documented with a notice to parents about the reason a student has been removed. The bill would also require the school to hold a meeting with a student’s Individualized Education Program team or Section 504 plan team if the number of days removed exceeds 10 days in a school year.

Special education advocates such as Access Living have advocated for such a bill over the past year because parents of students with disabilities are often called to pick up their child during the school day for informal removals. Since this action isn’t a formal removal — such as a suspension — there may not be a record of how many times a student has been removed from school.

Schools would get resources to educate migrant youth

Since the fall, thousands of people who migrated to the U.S. by crossing the Mexico border have been bused to Illinois by Texas officials. Many of the migrants are seeking asylum. Roughly 425 are school-aged children, state officials told Chalkbeat Chicago last fall. That number has likely grown since then. This week, WBEZ reported that the Chicago Teachers Union estimates that 1,200 school-aged children have arrived since the fall.

HB 2809 would support those migrant students by requiring the State Board of Education to create New Arrivals Student Grants for schools. Before awarding grant money to schools, the state board can consider the number of new arrival students enrolled in pre-K to 12th grade schools, the needs of the students, and the ability of the school to meet those needs.

Bills center on student mental health needs

The coronavirus pandemic had a major impact on student’s mental health. In 2021, 42% of high school students felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row and stopped doing their usual activities, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 60% of girls and nearly 70% of LGBQ+ students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, the report found. More than 20% of LGBQ+ students and 10% of girls attempted suicide, the CDC found

Several bills before the general assembly would address the mental health needs of students.

HB 3361 would require the State Board of Education to establish a School-Based Mental Health Services Grant program to help schools provide extra mental health services to students. HB 1234 would require all schools receiving public funds to post information detailing mental health resources provided by the school and state. That information must be posted somewhere students can easily access it.

HB 1243 would create a course in the 2024-25 school year on mental health to help students identify signs of anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental illness. Students between kindergarten and 12th grade would take the course every year for at least one semester,

HB 1107 would require schools to develop and implement a plan to support students who have experienced traumatic events.

Gov. Pritzker wants to increase Illinois education funding by 6.2% in 2024

2023-02-15T21:47:11+00:00

This story has been updated with reactions to Pritzker’s speech.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday revealed his 2024 budget proposal — laying out a vision for a second term in office that includes ambitious funding plans for early childhood education and higher education.

Pritzker wants to increase the state’s funding for pre-K-12 education by 6.2% next year. His overall 2024 proposal would boost the state’s operating budget to $49.6 billion, an 11% increase over last year.

Throughout his first term in office, Pritzker said, he worked to balance the state’s budget and increase the state revenue — even when COVID-19 shook the state’s economy. With the state in a better financial position, Pritzker is recommending an increase in funding for early childhood education and child care programs.

His proposal still needs the approval of state lawmakers.

“I ask you to partner with me once again,” Pritzker said to the general assembly Wednesday in his annual State of the State address. “This time on the long-term investment that has the greatest return for taxpayers with the most positive social and economic impact that I have ever come to you with.”

Pritzker was referring to his four-year plan called Smart Start Illinois for early childhood education and child care that will create 20,000 seats for young learners. In the first year, the governor plans to increase funding to the state’s child care programs by $250 million and create 5,000 seats in preschool classrooms for 3- and 4-year-olds.

For K-12 education, the State Board of Education’s general funding would increase by $571.5 million, a 6.2% increase, for a total budget of $10.3 billion. That includes a $75 million increase to the Early Childhood Block Grant and a $350 million increase to state’s funding for K-12 schools — keeping in line with the state’s bipartisan promise in 2017 to add at least $350 million a year to the evidence-based formula.

The State Board of Education would also receive an additional $86.4 million for special education and transportation grants, and money for two new initiatives that will support computer science and ease the teacher workforce shortage. The latter would fund the first year of a three-year pilot program that would give $70 million per year to school districts that have a large number of teacher vacancies.

To help more students from low-income families access higher education, Pritzker wants to add $100 million to the Monetary Award Program, increasing the program’s overall budget to $701 million.

Funding for the Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship would go from $4.2 million to $7 million for the program that aims to bring more teachers of color — especially men of color and those in bilingual education — into the educator pipeline.

Pritzker’s plan falls in line with the recommendation the State Board of Education made in January during its monthly meeting. Former State Superintendent Carmen Ayala requested $516 million, with $350 million for K-12 schools and a $60 million increase to early childhood education. The rest of the funding would go to transportation, special education, and free school meals.

However, education advocates are pushing the state to add at least $550 million to the evidence-based funding formula to support K-12 schools and get the state back on track to fully funding schools by 2027.

Advocates also wanted an increase of 20% across all early childhood education programs through the State Board of Education and the state’s Department of Human Services to make early education affordable for low-income families and increase pay for early childhood educators, who are often women of color and work multiple jobs to make ends meet.

The general assembly will debate the 2024 budget before voting on it at the end of the spring legislative session in May.

The Illinois Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the state, said it shares Pritzker’s concerns about staffing shortages from preschool to higher education and will work with the governor to implement his $70 million pilot program.

“The teacher and school staff shortage is having a dramatic impact on states across the nation and Illinois is no exception,” said Dan Montgomery, president of IFT, which also supported Pritzker’s proposal to increase higher education funding.

Start Early, a nonprofit organization that focuses on early childhood education throughout Illinois, commended Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois Initiative.

“This is a banner day for early childhood in Illinois, and Start Early looks forward to working with the Illinois General Assembly to enact a budget that does right by infants and toddlers across the state,” said Ireta Gasner, Start Early vice president of Illinois policy.

PEER Illinois, a statewide advocacy group, applauded Pritzker’s proposal to expand child care and urged the state to put more than $350 million toward the evidence-based funding formula.

“To do less diminishes one of the state’s most highly regarded tools for advancing equity while reducing Illinois’ stated commitment to equity in funding K-12 education to rhetoric,” PEER Illinois said in a statement. “At its current rate of EBF funding, nearly two more generations of Illinois children will receive an inadequately funded education.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker renews pre-K expansion push with 2024 budget proposing $250 million increase

2023-02-15T10:00:00+00:00

Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised in 2019 to bring universal preschool to all Illinois children after being elected. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Today, he’s picking up where he left off with a budget proposal that adds $250 million to early childhood programs.

“I would have done it in year one if the dollars had been available to do it,” Pritzker said Tuesday in a briefing with reporters. He said enhancing early childhood care and education is a “win-win” that will remobilize the workforce and boost the state’s economy “now and in the decades ahead.”

Pritzker is proposing a four-year plan he’s calling Smart Start Illinois that will create 20,000 additional seats for 3- and 4-year-olds in preschool programs. Just over 76,000 students are currently enrolled in pre-K in Illinois public schools.

Pritzker is seeking a $75 million increase to the Illinois State Board of Education’s Early Childhood Block Grant to create 5,000 new preschool spots for children this coming school year. The Illinois Department of Human Services will receive a $40 million increase for early intervention programs that support children with disabilities under the age of 3, $5 million more for the home visiting program, and $70 million more for the Child Care Assistance Program — which didn’t see an increase in the state’s 2023 budget. That department will also receive $20 million to upgrade its payment system for providers.

Smart Start Illinois includes two entirely new initiatives. The first — a $130 million effort called the Childcare Workforce Compensation Contracts — is aimed at increasing the salaries of child care workers and bringing more educators into the field. The other is a $100 million Early Childhood Construction Grant Program to help child care providers improve building and facilities that they use.

After being re-elected in November, Pritzker said he wanted to make Illinois the number one state for child care access during his second term in office. With the spring legislation session in full swing in Springfield, Pritzker has signaled that early childhood education and child care access for families is his top priority.

Early childhood education advocates are pushing the state to increase funding for early education and child care by 20% — or $120 million — to help increase compensation for workers, who are predominantly women or color, and to address access gaps around the state. The State Board of Education proposed a 10% — or $60 million — increase for the early childhood education block grant in January during a monthly board meeting. Pritzker’s plan would fall in between the two figures.

While some have forecast that a recession or economic downturn will hit the nation’s economy this year, Pritzker said the state’s finances are in a better position to make a larger investment in early childhood education.

The proposed expansion comes amid declining birth rates and after a decrease in enrollment for early learners in preschool and kindergarten in the state. Many parents couldn’t keep their children home because they had to work or didn’t see the need for remote preschool.

Illinois law doesn’t require parents to start sending their children to school until they’re 6 years old, which allows families to keep children at home until they enter first grade.

Pritzker said the state will continue to work with private providers and school districts to create additional seats in preschools and help them market their services. The state also has a bilingual public campaign to attract families with young children.

On Wednesday afternoon, Pritzker will give a budget address and State of the State speech that will highlight his entire budget proposal, including what he wants to spend on K-12 and higher education.

The general assembly must approve a final budget for 2024 by the end of the legislative session later in May.

Correction Feb. 15. 2023: This story has been updated to correct one instance where Smart Start Illinois was referred to as Start Smart Illinois.

Five Illinois early-career teachers speak about entering education during the COVID-19 pandemic

2023-02-14T15:06:53+00:00

Kayla Metcalf started teaching middle school science in the fall of 2020 just as the COVID pandemic upended education. Nathaniel Joseph had made a career switch from line cook to special education teacher when he was thrust into the world of remote learning. Jhaianne Cooper, now in her first year of teaching dance, is still figuring out what support her students need to succeed after a couple of school years not performing on stage.

They are just three of the hundreds of Illinois teachers who began teaching during the pandemic. These educators not only had to learn the basics of lesson plans, classroom management, and the needs of students and families, they also had to navigate a constantly changing education landscape.

Over the past three years, teachers of all experience levels had to switch between different modes of instruction — from virtual to hybrid with some students in class and others at home and then to in-person learning when classrooms finally reopened. They have also had to help students adapt to a return to the classroom, learn again how to socialize with their peers, deal with mental health, and handle concerns around COVID-19.

It hasn’t been easy. Some teachers are struggling to overcome burnout, with others resigning or changing careers. Illinois has a teacher shortage and school districts around the state are struggling to attract and retain teachers.

But some novice educators are excited to head into classrooms despite the challenges. Chalkbeat Chicago spoke with five early-career teachers about going from student to professional, teaching during the coronavirus pandemic, their challenges and successes, and why they love being teachers.

Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Nathaniel Joseph, 38, Chicago Public Schools

Nathaniel Joseph, a special education teacher at Al Raby High School, started his teaching career in the fall of 2021.

Start: Fall 2021.

High school special education teacher at Al Raby High School.

Joseph was a line cook at different restaurants around Chicago before becoming a teacher. He said that his experience was similar to Hulu’s original show “The Bear” — a comedy-drama about a chef coming back to Chicago to work in a family-owned restaurant after working in fine dining restaurants.

What was it like to go back to in-person learning and teaching in your own classroom? What were you feeling?

I think mostly excited because it’s a huge step in a new direction for me, coming from a totally different field. There’s always going to be nerves working with young people. You just don’t know what to expect. But I felt really supported by other teachers. There’s a mix of young teachers who have a lot of experience and older teachers who’ve been at the school for a while. I felt like I was entering a situation where people had a lot of experience and support. It felt like being welcomed into a family. So a lot of those nerves subsided. Within the first couple weeks, and obviously with how present the pandemic was last school year, there was a lot of emphasis on taking things slow and not feeling like we’re going to catch up on everything we missed on day one. My principal kept saying give each other grace and don’t feel like you have to solve it today. This is a long process. So I felt really good.

What were some challenges that your students faced when coming back to school?

Last year there were so many different protocols in place for health and safety because of COVID-19. Certain things just kind of shut down. For instance, there was a school store where students could buy snacks and get stuff after school and even during lunch. That hasn’t been opened since I’ve worked here. The kids will wax poetic about it like, “The school’s store was almost like a candy shop.” It was a part of the school’s fabric. I feel like a lot of those unique things that schools have, at least at my school, haven’t started back up.

Kayla Metcalf, 26, Horizon Science Academy McKinley Park

Kayla Metcalf, a science teacher at Horizon Science Academy McKinley Park in Chicago, started teaching in Fall 2020.

Start: Fall 2020.

Seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Horizon Science Academy McKinley Park in Chicago.

Metcalf comes from a family of teachers. Her grandmother and dad were educators. At first she pursued a degree in microbiology to go into medicine. During the pandemic, she decided to switch to teaching. After two years in the field, she says she loves being a teacher. “I think the best part honestly is seeing how much of a difference I can make in a student’s life even if it’s just for a moment.”

How did your students respond to the COVID-19 vaccine as they were rolling out?

Teaching in a science class, a lot of students were very curious about how the vaccine worked. We all took this as a teaching moment to encourage students to go get vaccinated. The thing that caught me by surprise was that a lot of students wanted to go get vaccinated, which really surprised me. To see their own activism around vaccines really surprised me in a positive way.

What advice would you give to other early-career educators?

Take time to understand your students and their needs. If you see that a student learns one way, you should try to tailor the lesson to how they learn. I find that it helps a lot because students pay attention to teachers who put in the effort. I became a teacher to make a difference and when students see that they think “Oh, this teacher is actually trying to help me learn.” It motivates them to do better. That’s, at least, what I’m seeing.

Ashley Tyler, 38, Decatur Public Schools District 61

Ashley Tyler, an elementary school special education teacher at Dennis Lab School in Decatur Public Schools District 61, started working in a classroom in fall 2021.

Start: Fall 2021.

Second and third grade special education teacher at Dennis Lab School.

After getting married and becoming a mother, Tyler decided to switch careers and become a teacher. She started working as a paraprofessional at her local school district and then decided to join the Golden Apple Accelerators Program to become a teacher.

What was it like to transition from student teacher to full-time educator during remote learning?

So I feel comfortable in the classroom, in this district and I love these kids and their families. I will say that teaching during a pandemic was difficult for a lot of reasons. You don’t get to build those one-on-one relationships like you do in a classroom, especially teaching special ed. Everything was over a computer. So, sometimes it was hard to read body language, expressions, and tones. So, there were a lot of challenges and a lot of growing that had to be done. But, there were also some really amazing things that happened. Teachers were in all of our students’ homes. Where parents were getting to hear us teach and getting to hear their children learn. We were building relationships with families, not just students.I think that kind of carried into my teaching in person, where I realized the importance of that relationship to teachers and families.

Once your students came back into the classroom, did you notice any skills they were missing?

My kids in second and third grade, the only time that they were in school was maybe preschool or kindergarten. They didn’t have time in those really formative education years where we’re learning the alphabet, sounds, letters, numbers. So we’re seeing a lot of students that are not even near grade level because of things they have missed.

Jhaianne Cooper, 25, Chicago Public Schools

Jhaianne Cooper, a dance teacher at Hamilton Fine Arts and Performance School in Chicago Public Schools, started her career in summer 2022.

Start: Summer 2022.

Dance teacher at Hamilton Fine Arts and Performance School.

Cooper has been dancing since she was 3 years old and started teaching at dance studios during her time in high school. However, she didn’t think she would become a dance teacher. In fact, she majored in rehabilitation services and minored in dance in hopes of becoming a chiropractor.

But when the pandemic hit, she started teaching dance classes virtually and fell in love with teaching. She decided to get her master’s in education in 2021 and joined Chicago Public Schools’ Teacher Residency Program.

What has it been like to become a teacher during the coronavirus pandemic?

It has been a challenge, but beneficial at the same time. Using technology when we were virtual was beneficial in my dance classes. Right now, I’m teaching a dance media class, where we’re integrating technology in class. We’re learning how to create videos as well as doing photo shoots. Now technology is still inside of my classroom every single day.

What have been some of your challenges and successes during your first year of teaching?

It has been a challenge to create my own scope and sequence that I have for the dance program at my school. Taking the time to create and build that while being a first year teacher, it can be a lot. But you know, you just take the time to figure it out. I would say a huge success is seeing every student perform. We have 444 students and when we have a showcase to see everybody come together and perform and no one is shy, it’s always a huge success for me because they got out on stage and went for it.

Brandon Pease, 24, Elk Grove Township Community Consolidated School District 59

Brandon Pease, a middle school math teacher at Elk Grove Junior High in Elk Grove Township Community Consolidated School District 59, started teaching in spring 2021.

Start: Spring 2021.

Middle school math teacher at Elk Grove Junior High.

Pease always wanted to be a school teacher. He would make his friends play school in the afternoon during his childhood years, even though they were exhausted by the school day.

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit, many educators have been concerned about learning loss. Have you noticed that your students have gaps in their learning?

What I’ve noticed is that in math students have been at least three or four grade levels behind. Some students have even been five grade levels behind. Students in eighth grade are at a second grade level. Although I have to teach my seventh grade math standards, I’ve been working a lot more with building confidence in math and making sure that students are able to be comfortable with being wrong. Disrupting those thoughts that they have to get the right answer to make someone happy or “I’m supposed to do this and I’m not doing it so I’m gonna shut down and not talk to anyone.” I know that getting students confident in school again will help improve their math skills.

What advice would you give to other early-career educators?

As an early-career educator, the only advice I can really give is to get through that first year or that second year. That’s when you’re really going to learn who you are as a teacher.

Chicago mayoral candidates promise to raise wages for early childhood educators, but differ on how to do it.

2023-02-09T23:03:53+00:00

Chicago’s mayoral candidates say the city needs to increase wages for early childhood educators, make child care affordable for families, collaborate with local providers and state agencies to make funding easier, and even allow child care providers to move into public schools that are underenrolled.

The candidates detailed how they would reform child care and early childhood education at a forum organized by Child Care Advocates United — a professional organization in Illinois that supports early childhood educators and providers — on Wednesday night. All of the mayoral candidates except incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot attended the session.

Art Norman, a newscaster at NBC5 Chicago, and Tia Ewing, from FOX 32 Chicago, moderated the panel.

The mayor and City Council play a critical role in licensing and funding child care providers. Many candidates have promised to make child care more affordable, with few promising universal preschool for 3-years-olds.

Lightfoot continued rolling out universal preschool to families with 4-year olds in the city, expanding the plan promised by her predecessor Mayor Rahm Emannuel. However, the initiative hit bumps when the city’s early learning chief stepped down in the second year of the rollout and the early days of COVID-19 slowed down the city’s efforts.

Across Illinois, childcare providers are struggling to attract and retain workers, who are often paid less than their elementary schools peers. Parents of young children also struggle to find affordable child care, often comparing the cost to college tuition. The state has increased funding for early childhood education, but advocates say that more can be done.

At the Wednesday forum, candidates offered plans for early childhood education that included increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour for child care providers, taxing cannabis sales and gambling for additional revenue, and working with state agencies to make it easier for all child care providers to receive funding.

All eight candidates in attendance agreed that child care providers need to be paid more.

Ald. Sophia King, who represents Chicago’s south lakefront neighborhood, proposed increasing pay for child care providers and offering incentives such as zero-interest loans for mortgages and dollar lots to prevent educators and child care providers from leaving the city.

King was a part of the push to get the city to increase minimum wage for workers to $15 an hour. Child care providers with more than three employees already have to comply with the city’s rules.

State Rep. Kam Buckner, who represents the city’s South Side in Springfield, said he doesn’t believe there is just a workforce shortage in early childhood education and child care, but an issue of where the city is putting resources. In addition to raising wages, he said the city needs to collaborate with Chicago Public Schools and the city’s community colleges to streamline a pipeline to get more workers into child care centers.

Forum moderators asked the candidates how they would work with state agencies to make accessing funding easier for child care providers and prioritize additional money for community-based organizations. Currently, child care providers in Chicago and across the state get funding from the Illinois State Board of Education, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Child and Family Services.

U.S. Rep. Jesús Chuy García, whose district includes the city’s south west sides and surrounding suburbs, proposed creating a new city agency to look into early childhood education.

“There isn’t an overarching structure monitoring the status and effectiveness of those services,” García said at the forum. “That is how you wound up last year with the Department of Family Services cutting 4,000 slots that community providers had.”

Neighborhood advocate Ja’mal Green said there is a disconnect between city hall and providers. To fix this, he said he would hire more people from local communities, put mobile city halls throughout neighborhoods, and create resource centers in communities across the city so child care providers could be directed to available resources.

The candidates agreed that the city needs to collaborate with different organizations to ensure families know what options are available for child care.

“It’s about streamlining processes and creating collaboration. We’ve said this a few times tonight, but way too often we’ve created spaces for competition and we need to be creating spaces for collaboration,” said Buckner. “ I think the city has to lead that process and has to lead the conversation.”

Most candidates also said they would use cannabis and casino tax revenue for additional funding to support early childhood education and child care providers who are dependent on state and federal funding to survive.

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who released his education plans earlier in the day, said he supports using revenue from cannabis and casino tax revenue and finding ways to tax the wealthy Chicagoans.

“From a corporate head tax to a real estate transfer tax to a financial transfer tax, the ultra rich get to put skin in the game,” said Johnson. “Over 70% of Chicagoans said that the wealthy have to pay their fair share. My budget plan articulates that.”

King and Ald. Roderick Sawyer, whose district covers the city’s south side, agreed that cannabis and casino tax revenue should be used toward education, but noted that the revenue has been marked for other funding.

The city’s gambling and entertainment tax revenue will go to the city’s pension fund for city workers, while the state’s cannabis tax revenue will go to state agencies and community-based organizations to address substance abuse, mental health, legal aid, and housing. Any remaining funds go to the state’s general fund. Sawyer said that if he becomes mayor he would look into changing where the revenue goes.

In the last two questions of the night, the moderators asked mayoral candidates how they would work with the state to address accessibility for families and ensure that they understand their choices for child care and early childhood education.

Former Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas proposed using underenrolled CPS schools as community centers in addition to tax revenues and tax incentives for private child care centers to make child care more affordable for families.

“Give community organizations access to schools,” Vallas said. “You see stories about schools at 20%, 30%, 40%, or less than 50% capacity, and we don’t have room to provide early childhood centers?”

Correction: Feb. 10, 2023: The story has been updated to reflect State Rep. Kam Buckner’s comments.

Teacher shortage is making it harder for Illinois schools to find qualified educators, says new survey

2023-02-02T20:23:31+00:00

Teacher and staff shortages exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic are making it harder for Illinois school districts to find qualified teachers – especially for special education and bilingual positions, according to a new survey.

Of the Illinois school leaders from 690 school districts surveyed, 73% say they have a teacher shortage problem, 93% say the shortage is as bad or worse than last school year, 95% report receiving the same or fewer applicants for vacant positions, and 92% say they have a substitute teacher program. School leaders also said those who do apply for open roles aren’t qualified for the position.

The Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools partnered with Goshen Education Consulting for the sixth annual Educator Shortage Study, which was conducted in the fall of 2022.

In previous years, the survey focused on issues schools face to hire and retain educators and support staff while understanding what positions and geographic areas saw the most shortages. This year, the study asked school leaders what state officials could do to help schools increase staffing.

Across the state, the study found that 2,728 teacher, special education, and support staff positions were either vacant or filled with someone less qualified. While schools across Illinois are struggling to fill positions, towns and rural areas especially in east-central and west-central Illinois had more vacancies.

John Meixner, regional superintendent for the Regional Office of Education 26, said his office supports small districts in rural communities in west-central Illinois. The report reflects what he has seen on the ground, Meixner said, noting that one of the main issues for the school districts his office serves is finding applicants for vacant positions.

“I’d say 10 to 15 years ago, if an opening happened in an elementary education position a school district would have 20 applicants,” said Meixner. “Now they’re lucky to get maybe two. There are some positions where they don’t get any.”

To fill in gaps, Meixner said school districts have found retired teachers to come back to the classroom. However, retired teachers can only work for a limited amount of time to keep their pension. Districts have moved current teachers to different subject areas to fill positions, whether they have a license to teach that grade level or content area.

School leaders around the state are dealing with similar issues and would like the state to step up to help districts hire more teachers.

The survey found that 68% of school leaders believe incentivizing teachers to get additional endorsements will have a positive effect on recruiting and retaining teachers. To get students into the teacher pipeline and into classrooms, school leaders suggested scholarships for students, additional compensation for staff in high-need areas like special education, and increased funding for pension plans.

Last year, the State Board of Education created a $4 million grant to support teachers who wanted to get a bilingual educator endorsement. The state has increased the Minority Teacher Illinois Scholarship, which is aimed at increasing the number of teachers of color and bilingual educators, to $4.2 million..

In addition to a staff teacher shortage, school districts across the state are dealing with a substitute teacher shortage — which also has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey found that school leaders want state policymakers to allow retired teachers to substitute without harming their pensions, make it easier to become a substitute teacher, and increase substitute teaching days to 120 each year.

At a press conference on Monday, Mark Klaisner, president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, said the state has made investments to deal with school staffing shortages, but more funding is needed.

Klaisner and other education advocates are asking the state to invest $550 million in the state’s evidence-based funding formula “to give schools the money they need for professional development for additional education.”

“If the base funding minimum goes up, it allows us to address teacher and paraprofessional salaries,” said Klaisner. “This will help keep people where they are and make it a viable profession given the income levels.”

Tony Sanders named next Illinois State Superintendent of Education

2023-01-31T17:35:49+00:00

This story has been updated.

Elgin’s U-46 Superintendent Tony Sanders has been named Illinois’ next State Superintendent of Education. He will begin his term on Feb. 23.

Tony Sanders.

After a nationwide search to replace outgoing superintendent Carmen Ayala who is retiring after 40 years in education, the Illinois State Board of Education announced Sanders’ appointment during a special board meeting on Tuesday.

“Dr. Sanders’ breadth of experience as superintendent of School District U-46 and his entire background have prepared him to take on this role,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement. “His focus on innovation, social emotional development, and academic excellence make him an extraordinary pick. I can think of no better person to lead the Illinois State Board of Education as we continue to invest in, support, and elevate our students and educators.”

Sanders has been superintendent of Elgin’s U-46 since 2014. It’s the second largest school district in Illinois serving over 35,000 students.

In a statement to U-46’s school community, Sanders said leaving the district is bittersweet because his family lives in the community, his children graduated from the district, and he enjoyed his time working with teachers and support staff who dedicated their time to improving the lives of students.

“While I have such a strong connection to U-46, I have always set my sights on serving in the role of state superintendent,” Sanders said in a statement. “It is the only position that I would consider leaving U-46 to accept, and the fact that I was selected is an honor that I cannot decline.”

As the next state superintendent, Sanders will be responsible for helping schools, educators, and students recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as federal relief funds are expected to expire by 2025. The State Board of Education recently recommended a $350 million increase for the state’s evidence-based funding formula and a 10% increase to the board’s early education block grant.

But education advocates have said that’s not enough. They want the state legislature to increase funding for K-12 schools by $550 million and increase early education funding by 20%.

As U-46 superintendent, Sanders was a part of the push to enact the state’s evidence-based funding formula in 2017. That formula provides more money to districts if they serve higher percentages of students living in poverty, English language learners, or students with disabilities. About half of U-46 students are low-income, 40% are English language learners, and 16% are students with disabilities.

As superintendent, Sanders managed U-46’s $660 million budget. Sue Kerr, president of U-46’s Board of Education, said in a statement that Sanders eliminated the district’s structural deficit and built up cash reserves.

Pritzker, who had a hand in selecting Sanders, recently promised to provide free preschool to all Illinois families in his second term. In Illinois, children are not required to attend school until age 6 and many districts, including U-46, only recently added full-day kindergarten. Sanders oversaw the 2016 rollout of a play-based, full-day kindergarten in Elgin, which the state board touted in announcing his appointment.

Sanders comes to the state’s top education job at a time of great need. The COVID pandemic wiped away a decade of academic progress and left students, parents, and educators grappling with broader social and emotional issues beyond school.

During Ayala’s time in office, the board of education added social-emotional learning hubs through the state’s regional offices of education and expanded high-impact tutoring to catch students up academically. As superintendent at U-46, Sanders created a new alternative high school to reduce expulsions and provide students with trauma-informed care.

For a while, the state board seemed interested in overhauling how it measures academic progress, shifting from the annual state test at the end of the year, known as the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, to an interim assessment taken multiple times a year.

That issue is still unresolved, but the State Assessment Review Committee presented a list of recommendations on improving the state assessment during this month’s board meeting. Ayala led the charge on this issue during her time in office.

Over the past four years under Ayala’s direction, the State Board of Education has worked to increase the number of teachers throughout the state. While the state had a teacher shortage prior to COVID-19, the pandemic exacerbated the need for more teachers in classrooms.

The state launched initiatives to get more bilingual teachers into classrooms and increase the number of students of color in teacher preparation programs. Some school districts have invested in Grow Your Own programs that support new educators while they are getting licensure.

During Sanders’ time as superintendent in U-46, he invested in the same program and the initiative supported 60 employees to receive full tuition reimbursement as they work on getting a license.

Kerr, president of U-46’s Board of Education, said in a statement that the district’s board of education will deeply miss Sanders.

“He has been active in numerous community organizations, has been a constant presence in school buildings, and districtwide events, and has never hesitated to reach out to state legislators and the media to advocate on U-46’s behalf,” Kerr said.

One of the state’s largest teacher unions, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, congratulated Sanders in a statement and said they hope to work with him to “achieve policies that center and engage our students and teachers, especially our Black and Brown students who are still recovering from the pandemic.”

“During Dr. Sanders’ tenure leading Elgin District U-46, he was a strong advocate for equitable policies for Black and Brown students,” said Dan Montgomery, president of IFT. “His visionary leadership helped improve district assessment data collection to better the student and teacher experience.”

Until Sanders begins his term as superintendent, Krish Mohip, the State Board of Education’s deputy education officer, will serve as interim state superintendent starting Feb. 1.

Illinois public school enrollment continues to drop, preliminary numbers show

2023-01-23T20:12:54+00:00

A first glimpse at public school enrollment in Illinois shows continued declines in the overall student population, but an uptick in the number of students learning English.

Preliminary data released last week by the Illinois State Board of Education shows overall enrollment dropped by about 31,000 students — or 1.7% — between last school year and the current one, according to numbers as of Dec. 14. Chicago Public Schools accounts for at least a quarter of the decline. The district lost 9,000 students and its place as the third largest school district in the country.

The overall enrollment decline for students between pre-kindergarten to 12th grade across the state matches the trend prior to the pandemic. After the pandemic hit, state data showed about 69,000 students leaving public schools – about a 3.5% drop – during the 2020-21 school year.

Even as overall enrollment is down, the number of English learners continues to grow. The enrollment of English language learners also held steady during the pandemic, with a less than 1% drop during school years 2019-20 and 2020-21. The preliminary data for the 2022-23 school year indicates a 4% jump — from 255,000 last school year to 266,000 students this year.

Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro, director of Education Policy and Research at the Latino Policy Forum, said that as the state continues to see an increase in English learners there is a need to ensure those students are being taught by qualified teachers.

“Illinois has a good track record serving English learners and valuing bilingual education,” said Vonderlack-Navarro. “We need to maintain and grow our commitment to quality bilingual education and grow the future teacher workforce.”

She noted that the state has dedicated additional funding to increasing the number of bilingual teachers. The State Board of Education created a $4 million grant from federal coronavirus relief funds to help school districts pay tuition for current teachers who have a bilingual endorsement but want to earn professional licensure and for current educators who want to earn a bilingual endorsement.

The state also increased the Minority Teacher Illinois Scholarship by $2.3 million for a total of $4.2 million, which is aimed at increasing the number of teachers of color and especially bilingual educators.

The preliminary data released last week also shows that more Asian American students and students who identify as more than one race are attending Illinois public schools. However, the number of White, Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander students dropped, though not as much as it did during the 2020-21 school year.

Among students from low-income families in Illinois, there was a slight increase in enrollment after major declines during the past three years. State officials said that may have been because free meals were offered to all students during the pandemic, regardless of whether districts collected income paperwork from parents.

The State Board of Education said it will have a better picture of enrollment for the 2022-23 school year when it publishes the annual Illinois report card data in October.

Illinois superintendent proposes $516 million education budget increase; advocates want more

2023-01-17T22:18:39+00:00

State Superintendent Carmen Ayala is proposing a $516 million, or 5.3%, increase to the state’s education budget next year, a request that education advocates say falls short of what Illinois school districts need.

Ayala’s budget proposal calls for a $350 million boost for K-12 schools, or about 4%, plus a $60 million increase to early childhood education. The rest of the requested increase relates to transportation, special education, and free meals.

The proposal, which surfaced on the board’s monthly meeting agenda Friday evening, drew pushback from some education advocates who say a $550 million increase in K-12 funding is needed to fully fund all districts under the state’s evidence-based funding formula.

Getting a budget request approved by the Illinois State Board of Education is Ayala’s final order of business before she retires from education. If her request is approved by the Legislature later this year, the state’s total education budget will grow from $9.8 billion to $10.3 billion.

The board discussed in December how much money to recommend for the state’s education budget. While Illinois’ finances have improved since taking a hit in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are still concerns about an economic slowdown or recession in 2023, Ayala noted in her proposal.

The state approved $350 million increases for K-12 public schools in 2021 and 2022, the minimum promised by lawmakers in 2017 when the evidence-based funding formula was created. Advocates are concerned that continued funding increases at the minimum level will not be enough to adequately fund schools by 2027.

Funding for IL’s Future, an organization representing districts, school leaders, and community and faith-based organizations, said on Twitter that “too many students, disproportionately those from urban and rural communities, are still in districts below 75% of full funding.”

Aimee Galvin, government affairs director for Stand for Children Illinois, said in a statement that “the current pace of funding is far too slow.”

“By adding $550 million to the formula, we can close that gap in less than 10 years,” Galvin said. “A generation of Illinois children looks for leadership to support the school funding they need to get the education they deserve.”

Robin Steans, president of Advance Illinois, said in a statement that the state should not only include $550 million more in the evidence-based funding formula, but also increase early childhood education funding by 20%, rather than the 10% Ayala proposed.

“The 10% incremental increase in early childhood is simply not enough to address the gaps in access to high-quality learning programs that persist in communities across Illinois, or to provide needed increases to compensation for early childhood educators,” Steans said, adding that “parents, educators and community members were loud and clear during the ISBE budget hearings — more resources are needed now.”

The board will vote on Ayala’s proposal during its monthly meeting on Wednesday. If approved by the board, it will head to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office for consideration as he develops a budget to present to legislators for their approval.

Departing State Superintendent Carmen Ayala looks back at her tenure, COVID challenges

2023-01-17T12:00:00+00:00

State Superintendent Carmen Ayala was one of the key players helping guide Illinois’ 852 school districts during the pandemic. Now, she is retiring after 40 years in education, and just as schools are starting to recover from the fallout of COVID-19.

Just one year after being named superintendent, Ayala found herself standing next to Gov. J.B. Pritzker as he announced the closing of over 3,000 schools to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. With Ayala at the helm, the State Board of Education quickly responded to the pandemic.

Now, with schools reopened, classrooms buzzing with activity, and districts flush with federal dollars to help schools deal with the fallout from the pandemic, Ayala said she feels that “It’s time to rest.”

“I’m excited in a way, because I am going to be able to do more yoga, take golf and singing lessons, and enjoy my children,” said Ayala. “It’s a little bittersweet, because the agency is at a certain point right now and there are so many exciting things coming down the pike.”

Ayala spoke with Chalkbeat about her time in office during the pandemic and what’s next for the Illinois State Board of Education.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Carmen Ayala

When schools shuttered in March 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, what were you feeling?

The pandemic was very difficult on everyone at all levels. At the classroom level, with teachers and students trying to pivot to remote learning. At the school level, trying to organize everything that is needed like buses and delivering food to children. District level board meetings were quite contentious, because there were differences in opinions. Then at the state level, we worked very closely with the state’s Department of Public Health and relied on their expertise. We wanted to make sure that the decisions we made to keep people safe and save their lives was based on data and science.

What were your concerns for the state’s almost 2 million students at the time?

We were dealing with a pandemic where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives, so I was worried about students’ safety and well-being. Remote learning was another concern. Our most vulnerable children — low-income children, children of color, children living in poverty and children with disabilities — were negatively impacted by remote learning. Also, I was concerned about students’ mental health, because they were not able to engage with peers and have social activities.

What would you say is the biggest unfinished business from your time in office?

One of the biggest things that is unfinished, but on the right road, is recovery. We’re not where we need to be in terms of health, wellness, and academics. We have to keep pushing forward and supporting our students. We have some great things available, like the six social-emotional hubs across the state providing trauma-informed services and supporting partnerships between schools, health professionals, and counselors.

What efforts are you most proud of over the past four years?

I am very proud of the equity work that the agency has done over these last four years. Our strategic plan has an equity statement and goals that really permeate throughout the plan. The equity journey continuum is now posted on every district’s report card, and provides the community and district with information about how they are doing. That’s important because of the 852 unique districts that we have across the state. At the State Board of Education, we’ve developed, implemented, and are working with an equity impact analysis tool. All of the decisions and activities that we do are filtered through an equity lens.

As school districts work to deal with educator shortages and diversify the teacher workforce, what efforts will the state need to continue or create to improve the situation?

We still have a teacher shortage that impacts specific areas like early childhood, special education, bilingual education, and in rural areas. To help get more teachers in certain fields, we started the career and technical education pathways where you provide grants and give designation on students’ diplomas that they have completed a particular pathway. This program provides students with dual credit and early teaching experiences to help them move on towards getting a teacher license. We’re preparing for potentially more than 10,000 teachers across Illinois.

What do you think is the best way to assess students for learning loss? What should the state do next?

Federally, we’re required to have a summative type of an assessment that is directly aligned to our Illinois Learning Standards. It can’t be an assessment that we just simply buy off the shelf. We have a state assessment review committee that is advisory and makes recommendations. We had one of the most robust stakeholder feedback engagements that we’ve had in quite some time and got great feedback. The state’s assessment review committee has provided the beginnings of a roadmap to guide us throughout our next steps. One of those steps is being clear on what is the true role, function, and purpose of our required Illinois assessments.

Students with disabilities struggled to get services written in their individualized education plans throughout the pandemic. What do you think went wrong and could have gone better? What would you say to families who did not get what they needed?

It was difficult to provide services that required face-to-face interaction. Some services could not be provided through Zoom. That’s one of the major reasons probably why some of the services were not able to be provided. Once we were able to come back to school, schools were trying to meet the requirements of the students’ individual education plans. We also experienced some loss in staffing due to the pandemic. But I hope that students are getting the services that they need.

What is your advice for the next state superintendent?

My advice to the next state superintendent is to communicate. It’s important to the field that they are aware and have information about what may be coming down the pipe. Also, communication is two-way street, providing information but also seeking and listening. The field will let you know where their greatest struggles are and where their greatest needs are.

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education, and the State Board of Education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois lame-duck legislative session: Education bills you might have missed

2023-01-11T22:32:59+00:00

Illinois lawmakers focused their short lame-duck session on passing an assault weapons ban, expanding reproductive rights, and increasing their salaries. But several important education bills are also headed to the governor’s desk for approval.

Lawmakers returned to the state’s capitol last week to push through several major bills before new and returning lawmakers were inducted into office Wednesday afternoon.

Legislators passed an assault weapons ban that would immediately prevent the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity ammunition magazines, and switches that convert handguns into assault weapons once signed into law; a bill expanding reproductive rights by protecting abortion providers and out-of-state visitors seeking abortion; and a bill that included a 16% salary increase for lawmakers, raising wages to $85,000.

Among the education bills passed was one that focused on the state’s bus driver shortage. When students returned to the classrooms during the 2021-22 school year, many districts struggled to hire bus drivers to transport students to and from school. In Chicago, students with disabilities were hit the hardest. Throughout Illinois, students in rural communities or areas that do not have a public transportation system struggled to get to school.

Sen. Karina Villa’s bill, D-West Chicago, HB 1688, will establish an initial training and annual refresher course for drivers providing transportation to students in vehicles that can carry 10 or fewer students. The measure calls on the Secretary of State and the Illinois State Board of Education to develop the training.

“Accessible transportation to and from school is important to provide to our students,” Villa said in a press release. “This bill will help provide transportation to our students by clarifying confusing training requirements for bus drivers of vehicles or different sizes.”

Sen. Cristina Pacione Zayas, D-Chicago, advocated for a bill passed during session that will increase transparency between Chicago Public Schools and local school councils when filling a principal vacancy at a school. Currently, local school councils are responsible for hiring and evaluating principals. Pacione Zayas’ bill will allow local school councils to have access to the district’s hiring pool, ask the district to create criteria for why a candidate is not eligible, and allow due process for principal candidates who do not advance to the next hiring stage.

A bill that will give Chicago principals and assistant principals collective bargaining rights but prohibits them from going on strike awaits Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s approval. For years, Chicago principals could not negotiate over workplace concerns because state law considered them managerial employees. HB 5107 changes the state definition to district employees who have significant roles in bargaining union contracts or creates management policies and practices.

With new and returning lawmakers taking office and the spring legislative session starting today, there is already buzz around addressing literacy in Illinois, creating voting districts for Chicago’s elected school board, and increasing funding for early childhood and K-12 schools in the state’s budget.

Chicago principals a step closer to unionizing as bill moves to Illinois governor’s desk

2023-01-06T21:00:41+00:00

Chicago Public Schools may soon have to bargain with principals and assistant principals — if Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs a bill passed by the Illinois legislature Friday morning.

The bill, which will give Chicago principals and assistant principals collective bargaining rights but prohibit them from going on strike, passed the state Senate by a 45-7 and heads to the governor’s desk for approval. If the bill becomes law, Chicago will join school districts such as New York City , Los Angeles, and Newark.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office said in an email Pritzker “looks forward to reviewing the bill now that it’s headed to his desk.”

Chicago’s principals have been unable to unionize because they were considered managerial employees under state law. HB 5107 changes the definition of managerial employees to district employees who have a significant role in the negotiations of collective bargaining agreements or who create employer-wide management policies and practices.

The Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, a professional membership organization that advocates for issues affecting principals and administrators, has fought for years for this change.

“We’ve gotten further than we’ve come before,” said Troy LaRaviere, president of the association and a former Chicago school principal, noting Friday in an interview that he’s worked on this for four years.

LaRaviere said his association is already part of the American Federation of School Administrators, an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization, and members pay voluntary dues. If signed, the bill would give the group more teeth.

The association wants to make sure that they are protecting a principal’s time to focus on what impacts students, rather than dealing with one district mandate after another, LaRaviere said.

Chicago principals have said in the past that they often don’t have a say in their working conditions and have to pick up numerous tasks to keep their schools running. This means that principals’ responsibilities vary across the city depending on a school’s needs and resources, creating long days and uncertainty for some principals.

Principals assumed more responsibilities during the pandemic to ensure that their school’s communities were protected from COVID-19, including telling families about COVID mitigations, organizing vaccine clinics, and identifying close contacts.

The stress has caused some principals to leave the profession. Chalkbeat Chicago found retirements and resignations — especially among principals and assistant principals — increased since the pandemic began in March 2020. Staffing data shows that there are more than 1,100 principals and assistant principals in Chicago Public Schools, but 50 of those positions were vacant as of Sept. 30, 2022.

If the governor signs the bill, the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association will use “our place at the table to improve conditions for principals and their schools,” LaRaviere added.

Chicago Public Schools did not support the effort to unionize principals in the past, arguing that principals are classified as managers and not subject to unionization under state law.

But following the passage by the Senate, a district spokesperson said in an email statement that Chicago Public Schools would work with school leaders as they “become eligible for possible unionization.” She added the district is committed to collaborating with school leaders to meet the needs of students, families, teachers, and staff.

“We support statewide implementation of this legislation as the tenets hold true for all school districts,” the statement said.

In a separate statement, a spokesperson for Mayor Lori Lightfoot commended the passage of the bill and encouraged the expansion of collective bargaining rights to school leaders. “CPS will continue to work hand-in-hand with principals to achieve academic excellence — a goal that should be implemented statewide,” the mayor’s spokesperson said in the email statement.

Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, who championed the bill said in a statement on Friday that Chicago principals should have a voice in their working conditions, especially at a time when the district faces staff shortages.

“CPS is not only the largest school district in the state, but one of the largest in the nation,” Peters said. “With its size and staffing shortages come unique challenges that need to be addressed. I believe we should trust its principals to help create solutions to build a better work environment.”

The co-sponsor of the bill, Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago, said in an interview with Chalkbeat that she is thrilled HB 5107 cleared the Senate Friday morning because being a principal is a thankless job and principals haven’t had much say in their workplace.

“The unionization bill now affords them some type of seat at the table, when policy is being formed,” said Pacione-Zayas. “It ensures that there’s some salary parity and representation when there are grievances. That is like a game-changer for our schools.”

Pacione-Zayas is also advocating for a companion bill that would give local school councils more transparency on who is eligible for a principal position. The councils are currently responsible for hiring and evaluating principals. Pacione-Zayas’ bill would give local school councils access to the entire eligible pool of candidates, make the rubric and scoring system from the district public, and allow due process for principal candidates who do not advance to the next stage of evaluations.

Becky Vevea contributed to this report.

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago Public Schools’ watchdog flags unchecked overtime pay, lost students, sexual misconduct

2023-01-05T06:05:00+00:00

Chicago Public Schools’ watchdog is raising red flags about sharply increasing extra pay for school staff in recent years, rising sexual misconduct complaints, and a troubling practice of schools mislabeling students as transfers when they’re missing school.

The district’s Office of Inspector General detailed these and dozens of other instances of fraud, misconduct, and wrongdoing in a sweeping 120-page annual report released Thursday.

Inspector General Will Fletcher said his office received 1,825 complaints and opened investigations into 725 — or about 40% — of them. Hundreds were allegations of sexual misconduct taken up by a special unit of investigators created in 2018, which also is investigating complaints received in previous years.

In response to the annual report, Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Mary Fergus said in an email that the district supports the inspector general’s work.

“As a District, we take seriously our responsibility to serve our families with integrity and to address individuals who breach CPS policies and the public’s trust — and hold them accountable,” Fergus wrote. “CPS will continue to ensure our District policies and procedures support the highest ethical standards to ensure our valued team members act in the best interest of our students.”

Here are five highlights from the inspector general’s 2022 report.

Truant students have been mislabeled as transfers

Chicago Public Schools has a “chronic problem” of mislabeling students who are not showing up to school, according to the inspector general’s latest report. Since 2014, there have been five other investigations into the issue. This year, the inspector general found “extensive evidence” schools across the district are mislabeling students as transfers when they are truant, lost, or have dropped out.

Fletcher said the district’s own Office of Internal Audit and Advisory Service audited dozens of schools in 2019 and 2020. His office’s review of those audits found a “districtwide problem of schools failing to document transfers and lost children as required by law and CPS policy.”

More troubling, Fletcher said, is the district’s lack of follow-up to correct these problems.

“We have not been able to confirm or see any evidence that CPS is taking adequate corrective actions even when these audits bear out that schools are not in compliance with what they’re supposed to be doing to verify transfers or missing students,” Fletcher said. “When you have the information, by way of an audit, then you need to correct the problem.”

When students are mislabeled as transfers, they are removed from data used to measure how well schools are doing — including their attendance and graduation rates. Besides compromising data quality, this miscoding also means students may not receive support to get back into class and on track with learning.

The inspector general’s report outlined one case at an elementary school, where 20 students were incorrectly labeled as having transferred without evidence that these students requested transfers. In emails, school staff discussed “dropping” a student who didn’t return after winter break. The report said the school’s principal retired and one of two clerks resigned during the investigation. The other school clerk received extra training and the school culture coordinator -– who the report said was “most responsible” for the issue — was suspended for one day and got extra training.

The audits reviewed by Fletcher’s office were from before the pandemic, and data shows students have been missing more school in the two years since then. The inspector general recommends that the district spot-check transfer verification data and create a process to hold schools accountable for reporting false data to the district.

A district spokesperson said they are creating a new team within the Office of Student Support and Engagement to “address the improper use of leave codes and the documentation of transfers and dropouts.”

Surge in overtime pay, stipends raises red flags

The Inspector General is calling on the district to increase transparency and overhaul how it tracks the way staff earn extra pay beyond their salaries.

The watchdog found a dramatic surge in overtime, stipends and other extra pay that staff earn for taking on extra work, including coaching and after-school supervision. According to the report, Chicago Public Schools paid $73.9 million in extra pay, overtime, and stipends in 2021 — a 74% increase over the previous five years.

Amid this increase, the inspector general’s office cited “recurring problems and a lack of internal controls” with how extra work is tracked. Investigators found payments with no supporting documentation like digital or paper time sheets. The report noted the problem is not being properly audited because the district lacks rules to limit overpayment and staffing to correct issues.

“There’s no one set of rules or directions for how some of these extra pay categories are earned,” Fletcher said. “And then after they’ve been paid out, there doesn’t seem to be any kind of central monitoring or oversight on you know, to deter fraud for certain but then also just to make certain that the district is getting the bang for its buck.”

Since 2019, investigators found staff engaged in so-called “buddy punching” where they would clock in or out for other employees. The report highlights several egregious cases of fraud, including an employee who collected $150,000 in extra pay over four years with video evidence showing they were at a casino or elsewhere.

The watchdog called on the district to implement “clear, concise, organized guidelines” that include written penalties and corrective actions for violating rules. Other recommendations include: mandatory online training sessions for staff; warning and consequences for failing to clock in and out; restrictions on stipend payments; and considering video surveillance of schools’ digital time sheet machines, biometric swipes, or other timekeeping upgrades.

A spokesperson said the district will begin training on the “Timekeeper and Supplemental Payment System” Jan. 31 and will require all school clerks to complete it by Feb. 24. The payroll department is also beginning quarterly audits of extended day pay, overtime pay, and stipends, the spokesperson said.

No preferential treatment for Lightfoot donor in emergency computer purchase

The district watchdog is closely tracking the district’s spending of $2.8 billion in federal COVID relief dollars, the bulk of which is going toward salaries and benefits for current and some new staff. The district recently has begun to spell out more clearly how it’s using these dollars — and a state dashboard allows the public to look up district spending — but the inspector general seeks more transparency.

One of the office’s investigations into spending federal COVID relief money stemmed from a 2020 report by Chalkbeat Chicago and the Better Government Association about the $1.6 million purchase of roughly 5,000 computers for remote learning from Meeting Tomorrow, a local company owned by a campaign contributor to Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Chalkbeat and the BGA found that Lightfoot personally reached out to Janice Jackson, the district CEO at the time, about the company’s interest in providing computers, calling its president and CEO, Mark Aistrope, “truly genuine and very generous.”

The inspector general’s office found that the email from Lightfoot, referred to as Elected Official A in the IG report, did not improperly influence district officials or result in preferential treatment for the company. The office found that the district was facing “an extraordinary demand for computers” amid the abrupt shift to virtual learning and its established technology vendors, CDW and Apple, grappled with delays in delivering tens of thousands of devices the district ordered that spring.

Based on Chalkbeat and BGA’s reporting, most of the used laptops and tablets the district bought from the company did not meet district purchasing standards. Officials said that the purchase was largely meant to help out charter schools, and district technology purchasing specifications do not apply to them.

The report found Meeting Tomorrow sold the used devices at reasonable prices: at a discount or “only slightly higher” than the new computers bought in bulk from established vendors; it helped set them up and delivered quickly. And although a fraction were missing cameras — an issue that district officials at the time said they discovered after Chalkbeat and the BGA’s inquiry — or had other issues, the company replaced them at no cost to the district.

According to the inspector general, the company initially cooperated with its inquiry, but its CEO Mark Aistrope ultimately declined to be interviewed, in violation of district purchasing requirements that vendors cooperate with its watchdog’s investigations. As a result, the inspector general recommended that the district bar the company from future contracts, a step the district has not initiated.

Automatic assignment to military programs ends

After a 2021 Chalkbeat Chicago investigation revealed a dozen high schools were automatically assigning students to the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, the inspector general opened an investigation into the practice.

The district signaled in May it would end the practice of automatic enrollment in JROTC programs, which disproportionately impacted Black and Latino students on the south and west sides.

The inspector general’s report confirms there’s been a sharp drop in enrollment at neighborhood schools where more than 90% of freshmen were enrolled in the military education program without parent consent or notification. The investigation found that a key factor for automatic enrollment into JROTC was the school’s lack of a regular physical education program. In Illinois, enrollment in JROTC satisfies the physical education credit required for graduation.

“I didn’t like being forced to have the class,” one student is quoted as saying in the OIG report. “JROTC is not for everyone. It should not be forced on people.”

The district said it is committed to making sure every school offers standard physical education and gives students a choice between the two. The report said the changes appear to have had an impact.

The report singles out one South Side neighborhood high school where JROTC enrollment dropped from 100% of freshmen to just 9% this fall. The report quotes the principal as saying he hired a physical education teacher and now “students are requesting physical education.”

A district spokesperson confirmed that all 37 of the high schools that have JROTC programs also have physical education teachers on staff. Across all schools, there are 911 physical education positions and 32 are vacant, the spokesperson said.

Progress investigating flood of sexual misconduct allegations

The most complaints fielded by the inspector general’s office this year alleged sexual abuse and misconduct against students. These complaints go directly to a 30-person team of investigators in the watchdog’s Sexual Allegations Unit, which was created in 2018 after a 2018 Chicago Tribune investigation that found Chicago Public Schools had failed to protect students against sexual misconduct and abuse from adults in the system.

Fletcher said the special unit in his office was “flooded with complaints” since it was created and has been staffing up and improving how it handles allegations.

Since 2018, the special investigative unit has confirmed policy violations in 302 instances and its investigations have led to at least 16 criminal charges for sex-related crimes against Chicago Public Schools students.

This year alone, more than 600 of these cases were closed — double what was closed last year.

One involved the head of Urban Prep Charter Academy, who resigned abruptly this summer amid sexual misconduct allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a student while he attended one of the school’s campuses and after he graduated. Chicago Public Schools and the Illinois State Board of Education have since revoked Urban Prep’s charter agreements.

The report also highlighted an investigation at Marine Leadership Academy, which substantiated allegations against 12 employees and a volunteer for sexual abuse, failing to safeguard students, or helping cover up misconduct.

The watchdog opened an investigation in 2019 following an anonymous tip and issued two reports in 2021. During the investigation, investigators warned district officials and child protective services of pervasive sexual abuse at a West Side school since the start of a 2019 investigation into allegations of misconduct, according to the reports.

The report describes a school employee having a sexual relationship with a student after that student turned 18. Another staffer groomed a student and began a sexual relationship after that student graduated. Another employee sexually harassed and retaliated against a student after the student filed a report. A separate employee groomed a student and crossed boundaries with others.

Seven other staffers failed to report and actively hid suspected violations including the principal, the assistant principal, head of security, a counselor, and a teacher’s assistant. They were alleged to have known about the abuses but failed to report, according to the OIG.

The OIG recommended termination, disciplinary actions for staff and administrators, and permanently blocking a volunteer. Most staff resigned and were placed on the Chicago Board of Education’s do not hire list, according to the report. Chalkbeat Chicago and WBEZ reported in October that the district’s top military officer quietly resigned over the summer in the wake of the investigation and another involving a teacher and student at Roosevelt High School.

Other recommendations include an active role by the district to correct culture, training related to mandatory reporting, and evaluate the training for JROTC staff and military instructors.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org. Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org. Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org. Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Gov. J. B. Pritzker vows to prioritize access to child care for Illinois families in second term

2023-01-04T20:51:46+00:00

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday he hopes to make Illinois “number one” for child care access during his next term.

After winning a second term in November and heading into a spring legislative session that will determine the state’s early childhood education and child care budget, Pritzker said he intends to prioritize child care to support families throughout the state and provide more funding for child care centers and their workforce.

“There is so much more that we can do to make it easier for young families to access quality child care, and early childhood education,” Pritzker said at a press conference Wednesday at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning’s site in Little Village. “But already our improvements have made a profound change.”

According to Pritzker, prioritizing child care is fiscally responsible and will result in positive outcomes throughout a child’s lifetime.

“It yields a higher high school graduation rate, a higher college attendance rate, greater lifetime earnings, lower health care costs, lower crime rates, and an overall reduction in the need for human services spending throughout the lives of these young children,” Pritzker said on Wednesday.

Access to early childhood education and child care provides children with cognitive and emotional development, improved self-regulation, and improved academic achievement, according to reports cited on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Later in life children who have had access to early childhood education also show improved health outcomes and reductions in crime rates, welfare dependency, and child abuse and neglect, the CDC notes.

Illinois has a number of ways of funding child care and early education across multiple government agencies. One of the largest is through the Illinois State Board of Education’s early childhood block grant.

The state was unable to put additional money into that block grant in the 2020, 2021, or 2022 budgets, primarily due to the economic slowdown spurred by the coronavirus pandemic However, the state was able to increase that budget line by 10% for the state’s 2023 budget.

In addition to the state board of education’s block grant, the state funds early childhood education and child care programs throughout the state’s department of human services. The department of human services supports the state’s youngest learners through its Early Intervention Program, which supports children with disabilities from birth to 3 years old and the Child Care Assistance Program, which helps low-income working families with child care costs.

Early intervention had $7 million in funding restored in the 2023 budget after a cut last year. However, the Child Care Assistance Program, which helps low-income working families with child care costs, did not receive an increase.

During the pandemic, the governor’s administration made it easier for parents who lost their jobs to receive three months of child care while searching for work or in a skills training program. Over the summer, the state increased eligibility for the Child Care Assistance Program by lowering the income limit and expanding benefits, increasing the number of families. Also, child care centers received more funding to retain staff.

Grace Hou, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, said Wednesday at the press conference that the state has invested over $1 billion in child care that has reached more than 12,000 child care providers across the state and over 50,000 child care workers.

Pritzker said the state’s investments have funded programs such as the Carole Robertson Center’s Grow Your Own Program Workforce Initiative, which trains community members to be educators. At the press conference, Bela Moté, CEO of the Carole Robertson Center, said the center has hired more than 30 people through the program over the last 15 months.

Pritzker is preparing his budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year where he will make funding requests to the legislature for everything from education to public safety. Lawmakers will ultimately approve a budget in late May or June. However, the state’s budget is uncertain as the economy could be hit by a recession or another economic slowdown.

‘Still processing’: Juarez students, staff return to class after shooting outside school

2022-12-20T23:32:37+00:00

On Monday morning, Elena Jacobs struggled to get out of bed. She’s a special education teacher at Benito Juarez Community Academy High School, where four teens were shot — two of them fatally — right after dismissal Friday.

Normally, she’s at the school building by 7 a.m. preparing for her freshman and senior students to show up.

“I really wanted to walk in with the other teachers and be there in the beginning for students,” Jacobs said. “Just showing up is a huge act and my students who are showing up, it’s a huge act of courage.”

Jacobs and her colleagues stepped back from the routine structure Monday to create space for students to share how they were feeling.

For Jacobs, that meant arts and craft supplies. One colleague purchased snacks for their students. The school brought in therapy dogs through a partnership with the Cook County’s sheriff office. Teachers encouraged the students to talk to them, peers, or even the school counselor if they needed support.

Juarez Principal Juan Carlos Ocon had held an emergency staff meeting Sunday to plan for the week. He made an all-school announcement welcoming students and explaining the additional resources available to students and staff, a district spokesperson said. The school adjusted the schedule, offered healing spaces, invited students to fill out a support form, and encouraged them to take advantage of mental health days.

Juarez has seven school counselors and two social workers for almost 1,600 students. Jacobs said that while the school has support this week, she knows that students and teachers will need longtime support to heal from what happened. Some of them witnessed the shooting or heard the gunshots.

Later in the afternoon, students gathered in the school’s courtyard to honor the lives of Brandon Perez, 15, and Nathan Billegas, 14, who were fatally shot Friday. White, red, yellow, and black balloons filled the air as “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth played on a stereo.

Benito Juarez high school students released balloons during a walkout and march to honor the lives of Brandon Perez, 15, and Nathan Billegas, 14, who were killed during a shooting outside the school last Friday.

Students exchanged hugs, wore T-shirts with photos of Perez, held up signs and huddled together to talk as community members wore green vests and created a protective circle around students as they mourned the loss of their peers. They also provided students with hot drinks and balloons as they stood in 20-degree weather.

Throughout the day, a student-created memorial outside of the school building for Perez and Billegas grew with flowers, signs, and other items giving people a glimpse into the victims’ lives.

Billegas attended nearby Chicago Bulls College Prep, a campus of the Noble Network of Charter Schools. Noble said in a statement, “We send our condolences to the families of these students and we stand in solidarity with the Benito Juarez High School Community as they grieve during this time.”

Both victims’ families are raising funds for funeral and memorial services.

“Nathan was a very intelligent, outgoing, and kindhearted young boy,” Billegas’ older sister Destiny wrote on a fundraising page. “If you knew Nathan, you knew he would go out of his way for anybody if they needed it. He had the biggest heart.”

Perez’s family wrote on their GoFundMe page that he was interested in construction and electricity and wanted to become a business owner. He even took a seasonal part-time job at a construction company to gain basic skills.

“Brandon loved being around his family, playing video games with his cousins and friends, enjoying soccer, and losing himself in movies/music,” the family wrote. “One thing is for sure, he will be missed immensely by everyone who had the opportunity to be part of his life.”

Liz Winfield, a multimedia art teacher who has been at Juarez since 1998, said that Monday was a really hard day, but being back in the building to connect with students and staff has been helpful for her to process what happened Friday.

“Staff created a list of teachers who have free periods that could cover for someone else’s class and kids if somebody needed to step out for a little bit,” Winfield said. “People have been checking in on each other during lunch or when we pass each other in the halls.”

Winfield also mentioned that staff members have been in touch with the Chicago Teachers Union to get more information on trauma-informed teaching so that teachers can have resources to guide them on how to interact with students during a traumatic time. Classroom teachers like Winfield often don’t have resources or knowledge to talk to students about trauma or, in this case, gun violence.

“As teachers we are used to just always having the solution and a plan for success,” Winfield said. “When something like this happens, there’s no blueprint, map, or special formula that you can follow that will guarantee that the student feels cared for or gets what they need.”

Chronic absenteeism went up when COVID hit. It got even worse last year.

2022-12-19T12:00:00+00:00

One in three Illinois students missed at least a month’s worth of school last year.

English teacher Briana Morales is not surprised. She notices her high school students in East St. Louis 189 missing for weeks at a time. Many are working during school hours to support their families, lack access to transportation, or need child care but can’t afford it or find someone that they trust.

“I have a lot of students who have missed 40-plus days of school at this point in the school year,” Morales said.

Her district – where 100% of students come from low-income families — had one of the highest chronic absenteeism rates in Illinois last year at 69%.

Statewide chronic absenteeism climbed to almost 30% last year, after it shot up in 2021 to 21.2%, according to state report card data. A student is labeled chronically absent if they miss more than 10% of the school year — or about 18 to 20 days — with or without a valid excuse. Illinois defines the school year as a minimum of 185 days, with student attendance required for 176 days.

Chronic absenteeism is sometimes conflated with truancy. But Illinois defines truancy, which could lead to legal consequences for families, as a student missing about 5% of the school year without a valid excuse.

Missing school — with or without an excuse — impacts student learning, especially at a time when districts across the state are dealing with the academic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. National and state test scores have shown a significant decline in math and reading scores for students.

Chalkbeat Chicago’s analysis of state data found that 228 out of the state’s 852 school districts had a chronic absenteeism rate over the state’s average in 2022. Some had rates as high as 80%. Chicago Public Schools rate was almost 45%.

School districts with larger populations of students of color and students from low-income families had higher rates of chronic absenteeism, according to Illinois’ most recent report card data. The chronic absenteeism rate was 48% for Black students, 36% for Hispanic students, 43% for students from low-income families, 35% for English learners, and 40% for students with disabilities.

Illinois is not the only state seeing chronic absenteeism soar. Michigan’s rate in 2022 was 38.5% and Ohio’s rate was 30%.

Nationally, about one in five students was chronically absent during the 2020-21 school year, which means 10.1 million students were chronically absent, 2 million more than in 2019, according to an analysis by nonprofit Attendance Works and John Hopkins University.

National data for 2021-22 is not yet available, but Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, found that in some states chronic absenteeism rates have doubled this year. As the pandemic enters a new stage, Chang says schools will need to step up efforts to get students back in class.

“The high level suggests that it’s going to take a real intentional approach to help our kids fully recover and get back into school,” said Chang. “Make sure they feel confident about being in the classroom, given how much they’ve missed.”

Rockford students did not have a normal school year

Across Illinois, many schools were looking forward to a return to normal last school year after the state shuttered school buildings in 2020 and many schools continued remote or hybrid learning for the following school year. Principals, teachers, and students looked forward to seeing each other in person every day.

But getting students in classrooms regularly was harder than expected.

In Rockford School District 205, the state’s third largest district after Chicago and Elgin U-46, students struggled to get to class. The chronic absenteeism rate in the district rose to 61% last school year, up 26 percentage points from 2019 when it was 35.4%.

Morgan Gallagher, Rockford’s chief of schools, attributes the high chronic absenteeism rate to lack of transportation for students, a spike in COVID-19 cases, and students who transfer between schools within the district due to insecure housing that makes families move around a lot. About 45% of Rockford’s students are from low-income families.

Rockford, which serves almost 28,000 students across 44 schools, struggled to find bus drivers to transport 18,000 students at a time when districts across the state and country grappled with a national school bus driver shortage, Gallagher said.

The district provided additional bus service to schools with a higher chronic absenteeism rate to ensure that students who were more likely to miss school got there, he added. But the district still had to cancel routes for students for several months.

Gallagher also noted that it is harder to increase attendance for students who live 1.5 miles within their school’s walking distance because they are not eligible for bus transportation due to a state law.

When omicron hit schools across the state last winter, Rockford’s average daily attendance rate dropped from 82% to 72%. After the surge in COVID-19 cases eased during the spring semester, daily attendance went back up to 84%, but was still below pre-pandemic rates.

Another issue for Rockford is the district’s high student mobility rate — defined as the number of students who transfer between schools. Students who transfer outside of school multiple times throughout the school year or between school years are four times more likely to be chronically absent than students who do not change schools.

When a student transfers out of a school it doesn’t mean that they transfer out one day and start at a new school the next day — they often miss days in between the process, Gallagher explained. Many factors contribute to students transferring in and out of schools, including insecure housing, he noted. Families that have to move to find an affordable place to live often move outside the attendance boundaries for their schools, requiring students to transfer schools.

While Rockford struggled last year to get students back into classrooms, Gallagher says there are signs that this school year is better. Rockford has enough bus drivers and is trying to add more bus routes to support families that need transportation.

Gallagher believes that the chronic absenteeism rate should be lower on next year’s state report card because the district’s average daily attendance rate is 6% higher than last year.

Illinois dedicates money to bringing students back to classrooms

As the state and local school districts, such as Rockford, start to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, they are taking steps to encourage students to come to class every day.

The Illinois State Board of Education provided $12 million to the state’s 38 Regional Offices of Education and Intermediate Service Centers and Chicago Public Schools to hire more staff to connect with families through home visits and phone calls.

In Rockford, district officials have allocated $27 million to schools to use for any services that would help students in academics or with social-emotional support. Some schools have focused on chronic absenteeism and decided to hire attendance specialists who will reach out to students missing 18 or more days of school. Others hired parent and community liaisons who call and visit chronically absent students.

Schools are constantly looking at attendance because it plays a significant role in how students will do in school, Gallagher said.

“Attendance is the number one predictive factor related to a student being successful in school and ultimately getting to graduation,” he said. “The flip side of that is if you are chronically absent, the likelihood of you ultimately graduating with your high school diploma plummet.”

In Springfield SD 186, where about six out of 10 students were chronically absent last year, many students aren’t just missing classes for a day or two throughout the month, said high school English teacher Crysta Weitekamp. They often miss weeks of school and might show up one time and then miss another 10 days.

That puts them far behind their classmates. It also means more work for Weitekamp, who has to help those students catch up while making sure the rest of the class stays on track.

“As a teacher, I want the students here in my classroom. I want them to learn,” she said. “I want them in my classroom doing the work learning alongside everyone else, so they can be successful so they can graduate.”

Many of Weitekamp’s students are either working or babysitting kids in their families. About 56% of the district’s student population comes from low-income families.

Weitekamp’s school has hired a truancy interventionist, who works with both students who are chronically absent and truant, to contact families and students and do home visits to get students back into the classroom.

Morales, the East St. Louis teacher, is glad her district has partnered with an organization to provide therapy to students dealing with mental health crises that could be preventing them from going to school.

She said they also hired a truancy officer at each of the district’s 10 schools to make phone calls and home visits to help students who are missing school because of chronic absenteeism or truancy get back to class.

But Morales worries that one person won’t be able to track down every chronically absent student. There are just too many students missing too many days.

Illinois education budget might boost career, early childhood programs – but recession worries loom

2022-12-15T17:13:07+00:00

The Illinois State Board of Education is hoping to increase funding for career and technical education and early childhood programs — but an uncertain economy could hinder those plans.

State board members are considering how much money to give K-12 schools, early childhood education, career and technical education, and other programs as they work on a budget recommendation for the 2024 fiscal year. On Wednesday, state finance officials from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability said that Illinois’s economy is in a good place, but there are still concerns about an economic slowdown or recession in 2023.

School districts must decide how to spend emergency COVID funds by a federally-imposed fall 2024 deadline. After federal funds run out, some districts may be scrambling to pay for programs created during the pandemic and increased staffing. However, according to a newly published spending dashboard, districts still have more than half of the pandemic relief money to spend.

The state’s K-12 education budget remained flat during the first year of the pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, the state increased funding by $350 million, the minimum amount required under the evidence-based funding formula. Though advocates have praised the state for increasing funding, they also have said it won’t be enough to adequately fund all public schools by 2027.

A statewide coalition of education advocates called The Partnership for Equity and Education Rights Illinois, or PEER IL, said in September that the state would have to increase funding by about $1.5 billion a year for the next five years to fully fund schools. If that doesn’t happen, the group said, the next generation of students will continue to go to under-resourced schools.

Money for the early childhood block grant, which pays for preschool programs across the state, did not increase in 2020, 2021, or 2022. But it received a 10% boost in the state’s 2023 budget. Early childhood education advocates hope the state puts more money into early education to help provide low-income families access to child care and increase wages for preschool teachers and caregivers.

The Chicago Early Childhood Workforce Partnership Employer Council found that early childhood educators are paid $18,000 less on average than elementary school teachers, despite having the same degrees. The wage gap is even larger for educators of color, almost 4% when compared to white educators.

Robert Wolfe, the state board of education’s chief financial officer, said at Wednesday’s board meeting that there is a need to increase state funding for career and technical education as the program has not seen a significant increase for almost two decades. During the budget hearings in October, school advocates asked for a $40 million increase.

Wolfe said he doesn’t know if a $40 million increase is possible, but thinks an increase in funding is important. Board members agreed with him, but asked for data to prove to state lawmakers that the program will need more funding.

State Superintendent Carmen Ayala, who is set to retire at the end of January, is expected to provide a budget recommendation to the board on Jan. 18. If approved, it will be sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose administration is working on a full state budget proposal to present to the state legislature on Feb. 15. The state legislature must pass a budget by late May.

‘Reading is not a given’: National and local educators speak on how to teach reading in classrooms

2022-11-30T23:31:13+00:00

Hilary Muñoz is a special education teacher at Chicago Public Schools who has taught reading to bilingual students on the city’s southwest sides.

The national board certified teacher was finding that her students, who are native Spanish speakers, had not been progressing in reading before coming to her classroom. After a fruitless search for answers and receiving pushback from administrators, she did her own research and created an approach that enabled her students to progress. It was based on phonics-based instruction.

When asked if her students were struggling with reading due to a language barrier or a reading issue, she said that it was an issue with the instruction that they received in the past. Muñoz said at a panel on Tuesday night that rather than focusing on curriculum, she devised an approach to help her students learn to read and comprehend what they were reading.

Muñoz spoke to educators, reading advocates, and parents at a discussion on literacy instruction hosted by the CPS Parent Literacy Collaborative and the non-profit group Brightbeam.

Reading advocates throughout Illinois say students struggle to read because schools are not using the science of reading, including teaching phonics. Now, they say, it’s even more important for schools to embrace effective methods as they try to catch up students who are not reading at grade level after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted learning for more than two years.

Illinois test scores from the 2021-22 school year show that only 29.9% of students from third to eighth grades met state standards in reading, a 7.5 percentage point drop from 2019.

Earlier this year, literacy advocates pushed a bill to standardize reading instruction across the state. The Right to Read Act would have required the state to create a list of evidence-based reading programs and develop lists of support, training, and grants for interested districts The bill also would have created a statewide online training program for current teachers in early education and elementary schools, and would have required teachers seeking licensure to show knowledge of effective reading instruction.

The bill did not pass, but reading advocates anticipate reviving it during the lame-duck session in January or in the spring legislative session.

Even with momentum to change how schools teach reading, schools throughout Illinois and the country still stick to debunked methods. Some local schools use an approach called “balanced literacy” that mixes some phonics into “whole language instruction,” which is based on a philosophy that reading is a natural process.

Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, a bilingual speech-language pathologist, said during the panel discussion on Tuesday that schools must embrace an evidence-based approach to teaching reading and that educators must use multiple strategies to help students learn how to read.

“To be able to learn to read, you have to have those foundational skills, and that includes understanding how the structure of language works,” said Cárdenas-Hagan, who is president of the Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Texas. “What are those letters and sounds, how do we blend them together, do we have the ability to process those sounds, can we read them ... all the while to be working on language and those high levels of comprehension.”

Maurice Swinney, a former Chicago Public Schools administrator, said he spent time as a principal trying to figure out how to help his high school students read at grade level.

“One of the missed opportunities that I had looking back was not focusing on how the brain takes in information in order to create a reading schema. Meaning, when you start to see these words all the time you know what they mean,” Swinney said. “I think it is important for classroom teachers to become scientists to understand how the brain works.”

If students are not proficient in reading by the end of third grade, they are four times more likely to drop out of school or fail to graduate, according to a national study. Also, some incarcerated people are not able to read or have undiagnosed dyslexia.

Some families are taking action against schools for not teaching their children to read. A group of Michigan students sued the state in 2020 for not providing them with a proper education. A similar case was settled in California.

States around the country have passed laws to teach the science of reading in the early grades and states have used federal COVID relief funds to expand reading programs. Some have created a statewide curriculum and recommended textbooks, third grade literacy screenings, professional development for teachers, and revamping teacher preparation programs.

At Tuesday’s panel, an audience member asked how schools can prevent failure and instead help students succeed in reading before they fail.

Kareem Weaver, a national advocate for the science of reading, said that “Prevention looks like early screening. Prevention looks like tier one instruction that follows the science and research consensus. Prevention means that you’re not skipping steps,” said Weaver, the co-founder of the Oakland, Calif.-based literacy group Fulcrum. “Prevention means that you have a solid curriculum that includes phonemic awareness, so we can attend to the sounds kids are hearing.”

Changes to Illinois’ early childhood education funding needed to fix pay disparities, advocates say

2022-11-22T22:25:01+00:00

The Chicago Early Childhood Workforce Partnership Employer Council is urging state and local lawmakers to re-evaluate how they fund early education, similar to how the state overhauled and increased K-12 funding five years ago.

A funding overhaul is needed, the council says, to fix disparities found in a study it commissioned late last year to identify pay gaps between early career educators, public school elementary teachers, and other job sectors.

Among the findings from the study and the council’s policy position paper released last week, Chicago’s early childhood educators are paid $18,000 less on average than elementary school teachers, despite having the same degrees. The gap is even wider for early educators of color, almost 4% when compared to white educators. Educators in K-8 and other industries outside of education often receive better benefits than early educator teachers.

In the policy position paper, the council calls on Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and other state and local elected officials to implement policy that will increase salaries and pay transparency in early education programs, examine gaps between white staff and staff of color, and provide a 5% cost-of-living increase, among other things.

Creating equity between teachers of infants and toddlers and teachers of elementary students is key to addressing a staffing crisis, improving retention, and providing low-income and middle class families with high quality care, said the council. Without better pay, the council says in its policy position paper, a quarter of Chicago’s early childhood educators and more than a third of administrators and home-based providers are projected to leave the field in the next five years.

Bela Moté, the president and CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning and co-chair of the Early Childhood Workforce Partnership said the study repeats what early childhood education advocates, educators, and providers have long been saying and provides better data about what is happening in Chicago.

Her hope is the information will help the council make its case to lawmakers.

“We can’t be responsive. We can’t be competitive. We can’t be equitable if we’re at the mercy of formulas that don’t even consider a cost of living.” Mote said in an interview with Chalkbeat.

The council commissioned the Policy Equity Group — a Washington, D.C.-based policy organization — at the end of last year to look at Chicago’s Head Start programs. The group surveyed about 500 participants from private, public, and home-based early childhood providers in Chicago. The study focused on wages, benefits, and bonuses in early childhood education in comparison to Chicago Public Schools.

While Chicago Public Schools does not employ educators that work with children between the ages of 0-3 years old, the study compared salaries based on credentials that educators in K-12 and early childhood both have — such as college degrees and professional licenses.

The study found that the salary range for teachers in Chicago Public Schools is higher than the salary range for Head Start educators. One major gap was found in the role of “lead teacher.” The salary range for entry-level Head Start lead teachers is between $16 to $25 per hour, while Chicago Public Schools lead teachers start at $34.78 per hour.

The study also compared early education teachers’ pay to other industries such as transportation, food services, nursing, and ride-sharing. It points out that a Head Start lead teacher could make more in non-education jobs. For instance, the study found, Uber and Lyft drivers start off earning $19.01 an hour and Amazon pays between $18 to $24.

The results align with national findings that show early childhood educators in Illinois are paid about 30% less than public elementary school teachers in kindergarten through eighth grade despite having the same degree and license.

When looking at employee benefits, the study found that both early childhood education programs and Chicago Public Schools have good benefits. However, Chicago Public Schools provide more benefits including 10 days of paid parental leave, protection under the Families and Medical Leave Act for eligible employees, and the ability to take the summer off.

When looking at industries outside of education, the study found better benefits and bonuses for workers. According to the study, Amazon’s benefits include medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, and parental leave. Amazon provides up to $3,000 sign-on bonuses, while Lyft offers a $2,000 sign-on bonus for drivers who complete 170 rides in the first 30 days and Uber gives drivers $2,400 in earnings for completing 200 rides/deliveries in the first 30 days in Chicago, the study says.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker defeats state Sen. Darren Bailey to win reelection

2022-11-09T04:31:35+00:00

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker defeated Republican challenger state Sen. Darren Bailey on Tuesday to win a second term. The Associated Press called the race for Pritzker shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m.

In his victory speech, Pritzker promised to fight for “a quality education that’s not just a prize you win for growing up in the right part of town or being born to the right set of parents.”

Speaking at the Marriott Marquis in the city’s Near South Side, he vowed to work toward a world where “books are not banned, nor children are shielded from the truth about all of our American history.”

Bailey conceded just before 10 p.m. and challenged Pritzker to “be better for Illinois” and “be better for our children.”

“Republicans need to be the loyal opposition in Springfield: loyal to our state, loyal to our country, loyal to our Constitution, in opposition to the radical policies of the Democrats,” he added.

Public education in Illinois has been one of the key issues separating the two candidates during this election season as they staked out opposing positions on everything from mask mandates in schools to what is taught to how much money schools should get from the state.

Pritzker told Chalkbeat before the election that if he wins a second term, he plans to increase state funding for education for K-12 schools and expand access to higher education. He also said that he wants to make early education more affordable for families and increase pay for early childhood teachers.

Bailey, R-Louisville, served 17 years on the North Clay Board of Education and founded a private Christian school that his wife still runs. He was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 2018 and opposed Pritzker throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which dominated the governor’s first term.

Bailey easily won the primary against five opponents despite being significantly out-fundraised. On the campaign trail, he has appealed to “parental rights” voters and promised to ban “critical race theory” — a legal framework taught in law school that conservatives started using as a catchall phrase to oppose schools teaching about racism and the legacy of slavery.

He also railed against a new sex education law and said he would cut funding to education and fire the current state board of education members. In a rally Monday night, Bailey spoke to a group of suburban mothers about Democrats imposing vaccine mandates for school-age children if they were to be re-elected, ABC7 reported. Pritzker has not indicated he plans to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for public school students.

Pritzker came into office in 2019 after beating Republican incumbent Bruce Rauner with more than 54% of the vote in 2018.

Just over a year later, Pritzker’s administration had to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. He decided on March 13, 2020 to close all of the state’s more than 800 school districts. Schools rushed to get students learning online to continue the school year.

Backlash from conservatives soon followed. Early in the pandemic, Bailey made a name for himself opposing Pritzker’s executive orders in the courts. He filed a restraining order against Pritzker’s stay-at-home order and refused to wear a mask during the spring legislative session in 2020.

The state continued to adjust public health requirements for students and school employees to keep up with the shifting pandemic for the last couple of school years. Pritzker issued several executive orders requiring school employees to receive a coronavirus vaccine or test weekly, quarantining students and staff who tested positive for COVID-19 or were close contacts, and implementing universal mask mandate for K-12 schools. Most mandates were contested by parents during state school board meetings and in court.

While the COVID-19 pandemic dominated much of Pritzker’s first term, he also increased the state’s education budget by more than $1 billion, and signed laws to create an elected school board for Chicago, ban hairstyle discrimination in schools, and require Illinois schools to teach Asian American history.

Prior to Pritzker taking office, the state created an evidence-based school funding formula in 2017 with the intention of adding $350 million to the state’s education budget every year. The goal is to get the state’s 800 school districts to adequate funding by 2027 in an effort to address inequities across the state. The formula was signed into law after a budget impasse that lasted between 2015 to 2017 under the Rauner administration and resulted in funding cuts to K-12 schools and a decrease in funding for the state’s tuition assistance program for low-income students.

During Pritzker’s first term, he kept a bipartisan promise to add at least $350 million toward K-12 education in 2019, 2021, and 2022. In 2020, however, the budget remained flat due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the 2022 budget, the governor increased funding for early childhood education and for the Monetary Assistance Program that allows students from low-income families to attend college.

In 2021, Pritzker signed into law a bill that made Illinois the first state to require public elementary and high schools to teach Asian American history. He also signed the Jett Hawkins bill that prevents private and public schools from discriminating against students based on hairstyles historically associated with race, ethnicity, or texture.

Pritzker also signed bills that expand the Chicago Teachers Union bargaining rights, which has been a point of contention for over two decades, and will give Chicago a fully elected school board with 21 seats by 2027.

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago Public Schools may take on more costs as it breaks away from mayoral control, report says

2022-11-04T18:06:13+00:00

Chicagoans will get to elect their school board members starting in 2024. But a report out this week suggests that may come with a cost.

The report, prepared by the district with help from a consulting firm, lists expenses currently picked up by other city agencies that Chicago Public Schools might have to take on as it transitions to an elected school board for the first time in the city’s history. These include water bills, rent, summer programs, and increased pension contributions, among other costs — possibly adding up to tens of millions of dollars a year.

That financial fallout might be relatively modest for a district with a $9.5 billion budget. But, the report says, it could add uncertainty to an already “fragile” financial outlook for the district.

The city does not have to cut off the school district as it shifts away from mayoral control. Some current school board members and the Chicago Teachers Union have criticized the city for already passing on some costs it has traditionally shouldered.

For example, in the past few years, CPS started paying for police officers stationed in schools, crossing guards, and a larger share of contribution toward a city-run pension fund that covers some district employees — all costs previously footed by the city. This year, the total price tag of these new expenses for the district add up to about $200 million.

The school district has had stable budgets in recent years, but after a major influx of federal COVID relief dollars runs out, the report estimates, the district could be $628 million in the red by 2026.

“CPS could find itself in a similar position by the end of this decade as it did in the middle of the last decade: having to rely upon one-time budget gimmicks and draws on fund balance to avoid significant cuts in educational services,” the report cautions.

The upcoming shift away from mayoral control would bring Chicago Public Schools more in line with other school districts, where district and city finances are completely separate.

In July 2021, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that will phase in an elected school board with 21 members for Chicago Public Schools by 2027. In November 2024, Chicago residents will elect 10 members while the mayor will continue to appoint 11 members. In 2026, Chicagoans will be able to elect the remaining 10 seats and the president of the board.

Pritzker signed another piece of legislation in December 2021 that required the Chicago Board of Education to commission an independent financial review report assessing the district’s funding and detailing the financial agreements between the city of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools. That law specified that the report had to be sent to the Governor’s office, the Illinois board of education, Chicago board of education, the General Assembly, and the mayor’s office no later than Oct. 31, 2022.

Report tallies some hypothetical costs

The district’s ties with the city run deep after more than 30 years of mayoral control. The new report acknowledges that it likely doesn’t offer a complete list of the two entities’ financial ties.

One possible cost shift noted in the report is the city charging the school district to use water. It outlines that the city could technically start charging the school district roughly $12 million in annual water, sewer, and permit fees. Currently, these fees are waived for the city’s schools and other public and nonprofit entities, such as its community college system.

The city has also helped the district cover costs for some of its long-term debt, incurred to foot the bill for school construction and building projects. Those payments, bringing in about $142 million a year through a city tax levy, are slated to continue until 2029.

The district is already taking on some expenses the city has chipped in for historically. Chicago Public Schools has been paying a growing amount toward the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund, a city-run pension program that covers district support staff and other employees. The city was handling those costs until recent years, though it did not fully cover them as it went along. This year, the district increased its contribution to $175 million, over objections from some school board members and the teachers union.

Last year, the district also took over from the city the cost of school resource officers and its crossing guard program, for which CPS budgeted $16.6 million this year.

The report notes that some of the uncertainty around these entanglements complicates the district’s broader financial outlook.

The district — serving significantly higher than average portions of students who have disabilities, are homeless, or learning English — now receives about $1 billion less from the state than what is deemed “adequate” funding based on Illinois’ own math. It also diverts hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funding to cover debt payments for past school construction and other borrowing.

The largest source of the district’s funding is local property tax revenue, but it’s somewhat limited in hiking those taxes.

Advocates call cost-shifting retaliation

In a statement about the report, the district said it will continue to advocate with state legislators and officials to fully fund the district and address the fiscal challenges that come with the district’s unique position: It is the only district in the state that covers its own teacher pension costs.

“We will work with the State to develop a thoughtful process of disentangling CPS from its historical relationships with the City and other public agencies in Chicago, as well as a process to wind down the extraordinary pandemic-era federal support to avoid a threat to structural budgetary balance,” the statement said.

Chicago Public Schools officials have sounded alarms about the district’s long-term financial picture in recent months, saying they don’t want an elected school board to inherit money troubles. CEO Pedro Martinez has lamented that, unlike other Illinois districts, Chicago Public Schools is limited in asking residents to raise their own taxes to fund the district’s operations and building costs.

Sendhil Revuluri, the Vice President of the board, said the report helps the board and the public better understand the district’s fiscal outlook, which includes projected budget deficits.

“As both a CPS parent and a board member, it’s important to me that we keep these facts in mind as we make decisions — sometimes tough ones — to ensure all our students have excellent educational experiences and we keep improving their learning outcomes,” he said in an emailed statement.

Chicago advocates pushed for an elected school board after years of being dissatisfied with a mayor-controlled school board. That advocacy intensified after former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration closed more than 50 schools across the city’s South and West sides, largely affecting families of color.

As a candidate, Mayor Lori Lightfoot supported an elected school board. But after taking office, Lightfoot came to strongly oppose that shift, arguing that special interests would dominate races for board seats.

During the 2021 spring legislative session, she teamed up with Sen. Kim Lightford, D-Maywood, to propose a hybrid school board bill. The bill didn’t move far, but the mayor made it clear she strongly opposed the 21-person elected school board. Now, some advocates who pushed for the bill are concerned that the city will try to undermine the school board.

Pavlyn Jankov, a researcher for the Chicago Teachers Union, said the city is retaliating against the district for transitioning into an elected school board by shoving these costs onto CPS.

School districts and cities “are supposed to be funding their schools and working together through governmental agreements to raise revenue for their constituents,” said Jankov. “Schools in Chicago Public Schools serve the same residents and have the same borders as the city.”

The report was prepared by the district with help from Columbia Capital Management, a financial consulting firm that works with the city, district, and other government agencies in Illinois.

The state board of education is required to review the report and provide recommendations to the General Assembly by July 1, 2023 on the district’s ability to operate with its own budget.

Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, who sponsored the elected school board bill that passed, said the House is waiting to review and discuss the report by CPS.

“The goal here remains to ensure that every student has access to high quality public education, and our review over the coming months will be focused on that,” said Ramirez.

Correction: Nov. 4, 2022: This article has been updated to reflect that Chicagoans will vote for 10 members of the elected school board and the board president in November 2026, not all 21 seats.

Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.