Much attention is rightly being paid to how city policy can address the need to provide young people with meaningful opportunities for work. The stakes couldn’t be higher.
In 2013, Chicago closed 50 nearly empty schools. Since then, the CTU has barred charters and other schools from using these empty buildings to provide schooling options for local students. After railing against these school closures, CTU leadership locked students out of full-time, in-person learning for 17 months during 2020-21.
Illinois celebrated its highest graduation rate in a decade. But high school student proficiency and average SAT scores are dropping as chronic absenteeism increases across the state.
The graduation and postsecondary enrollment rates in Chicago were below the statewide average in 2022. Reading and math SAT scores were also below the Illinois average. Other large districts in Cook and the collar counties performed better.
Illinois may soon require all public school districts to front the costs of a full-day kindergarten program starting in 2027. There is no designated financial support from the state. Opponents said it’s not about a lack of desire or need, but the lack of funding.
Illinois is in the minority of states graduating a higher percentage of students during the first two years of the pandemic. But state data shows those high school students’ SAT scores are dropping and a smaller percentage are immediately continuing onto higher education.
The Illinois General Assembly approved $100 million in grants so students can choose a private or public university. But when it comes to giving that private or public choice to low-income students, there soon may be no choice at all.
The Illinois General Assembly is poised to pass a budget without extending the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program, which allows 9,000 low-income students to attend a school of their choice. The program expires Dec. 31.
Chicago revealed proposed district maps for the 2024 school board election that have drawn plenty of criticism. Here’s what you need to know about how, when and from where those 21 members will be picked.
“Our kids here in this community deserve it. They deserve the opportunity to choose where they go to school and be provided with the best education possible."
New polling shows 62% of Illinois voters support school choice. Also, 59% support Illinois’ only school choice program, the Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which will expire at the end of 2023.
“I had gone to elementary school at a private school and actually still live in the town where I attended. And I loved my experience as a student. So, I started to explore the idea of my own children being able to go to the private school that I had attended as a kid and...
Illinois Families for Public Schools released a statement denouncing tax-credit scholarships in Illinois. Invest in Kids grants low-income students a scholarship to attend a private school of their choice.
SAT scores are dropping for high school students in Illinois and Chicago. Here’s how Illinois’ 20 largest school districts compared to the state average in reading and math.