Samantha Smylie

Samantha Smylie

State Education Reporter, Chalkbeat Chicago

Samantha Smylie is currently the State Education Reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago. Before joining Chalkbeat’s team, she worked at the Hyde Park Herald covering housing, education, retail and development in the Kenwood-Hyde Park neighborhoods on the city’s south-east side. She was a reporter fellow for City Bureau and participated in Propublica’s Data Institute. She had bylines in Block Club Chicago, the Chicago Reader and South Side Weekly.

Illinois high school juniors will have to take the ACT to graduate starting spring 2025. This comes at a time when most colleges and universities are again requiring students to take entrance exams for the admissions process.

lllinois lawmakers overhauled K-12 funding seven years ago and promised to 'adequately fund' every district by 2027. A new report finds that won’t happen until 2034, unless more education money is budgeted every year.

A moratorium on closing any Chicago public schools until 2027, funding for K-12 schools, and the state’s early childhood department are some outstanding education issues before the Illinois legislative session ends in a few weeks.

The four-year deal between the district and SEIU Local 73 covers school support staff, including special education classroom assistants, bus aides, and security officers.

Illinois has required high school students to complete the FAFSA in order to graduate since 2020. But state lawmakers want to waive the requirement for this school year.

Illinois early childhood education advocates and parents say staff shortages in early intervention are delaying services for children under 3.

Los habitantes de Chicago votarán por 10 de los 21 miembros en las primeras elecciones de la junta escolar de la ciudad. Aquí hay seis cosas que usted debe saber al inicio del ciclo electoral.

Chicago Public Schools is using local and state definitions to track the enrollment of migrant students, making it harder to understand the needs of new students

As a second grade teacher, Precious Allen teaches every subject to her students, but emphasizes science, engineering, and math with hopes of inspiring her students to pursue those fields.