CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Gophers will be without starting left guard Tyler Cooper against No. 24 Illinois at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

Cooper had started all eight games this season, but played only 37 snaps in the 48-23 home win over Maryland last Saturday.

Tony Nelson, who stepped in against the Terrapins, is a likely candidate to start at left guard against the Illini. The redshirt sophomore has played sparingly across six games, but had a season-high 23 snaps last weekend.

Receiver Cristian Driver, who missed the Maryland game, was not listed on the unavailable list, indicating he is available to play Saturday. He has six receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown this season.

The Gophers will also be without its third cornerback Zaquon Bryan, safety Darius Green and two tight ends Pierce Walsh and Nathan Jones.

Defensive end Jah Joyner and safety Aidan Gousby, who left during the last drive of the Maryland game, were not listed on the U’s report two hours before kickoff against Illinois.

Originally Published: November 2, 2024 at 9:05 AM CDT

The Illinois State Board of Education recently released its 2024 report card for Illinois schools, showing the performance of districts and schools over the past year across the state.

The annual report card, which was published on Wednesday, evaluates schools across the state and “provides a snapshot of academic achievement; student and teacher information; and financial data at the state, district, and school levels.”

The 2023-24 report card showed notable growth in multiple areas, with proficiency rates in English/Language Arts, Math and Science all increasing year-over-year, though Math proficiency rates remain low.

Additionally, the percentage of students that “met or exceeded” expectations in ELA and Math increased since the 2022-23 report card.

Four-year high school graduation rates remained steady statewide, with a small increase to 87.7%, up from 87.6% in 2023.

The 2024 report also showed a notable decrease in chronic absenteeism, which was cited as one of the state’s most glaring issues in the 2023 report card.

The rate dropped form 28.3% to 26.3% in the 2024 report, well down from the recent high of 29.8% in 2022, but significantly above the rate of 16.8% in 2018, two school years prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student who missed 10% or more of the school year, roughly 17 or more days, due to excused or unexcused absences.

Chronic truancy remained steady, increasing to 20% from 19.9% in 2023, remaining below a high of 22.8% recorded in 2021.

Despite a jump of nearly 3% from the 2022 to 2023 reports in teacher retention, the 2024 report showed some regression in that regard, with retention dropping from 90.2% in 2023 to 89.6% in 2024.

Within the past eight years, teacher retention dropped as low as 85.2% in the 2018 state report card.

More information on the 2023-24 report card, along with each school’s individual result, can be found here.

CHICAGO – An Illinois state senator is in hot water for social media posts that faith groups have called Islamophobic. 

State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz replied to a post on X last week that referred to Westerners who praised Islam as “bootlickers” and suggested “They move to an Islamic country and stick their heads in the dirt multiple times a day for enlightenment.”

Feigenholtz replied “You are a [bad***] truth teller” to the post.

Several faith groups, including the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), called on Feigenholtz to resign as state senator.

“When the intent is clear and the track record is clear, again, our intelligence shall not be insulted. I think the only way forward, if she is truly sorry as a matter of fact, is to step down as a statement of her being sorry and to work on whatever issues she might have because she has lost confidence as far as constituents and as far as communities are concerned,” said Ahmad Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago.

CAIR also criticized an Oct. 13 post on Feigenholtz’s personal Facebook page that quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.

“We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us,” the post said.

Feigenholtz issued an apology in a statement Friday:

“I made a mistake and, as a result, I shared a message I do not believe in. It was never my intention to reply to – let alone amplify that individual’s inflammatory remarks. Everyone deserves to feel heard and respected, especially by their elected leaders. I apologize for the pain my action has caused, and I will work with my staff and colleagues to ensure this does not happen again.”

The Jewish Council of Urban Affairs also condemned Feigenholtz’s post:

“JCUA is troubled to learn of a deeply offensive social media post by Illinois State Senator Sara Feigenholtz. In a since-deleted tweet, Sen. Feigenholtz amplified blatantly Islamophobic, bigoted rhetoric that denigrates and dehumanizes Muslims. This hateful speech has no place in our public discourse — let alone shared by our elected officials.”

Feigenholtz had been critical of the anti-semitic posts of the since-resigned Chicago Public Schools Board Chair Rev. Mitchell Johnson.

Feigenholtz has removed social media posts considered Islamophobic. She has not indicated that she would be stepping down.