Illinois

Illinois education issues to watch this spring legislative session

Published

9 months ago

February 20, 2024

Illinois education issues to watch this spring legislative session

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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 yearâs 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 stateâs 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.

âWith thousands of asylum seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support and with Congress continuing to refuse to act â it is clear the state, county, and the city will have to do more to keep people safe,â 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 â who represents Chicagoâs northwest suburbs â filed the âNew Arrivals Grantâ bill last year that would have allocated $35 million to schools, but it did not move past committee.

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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 governmentâs 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 administrationâs 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 bachelorâs degree, received a credential from an institution of higher education 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.

âWith the teacher shortage as it is, I believe weâre 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,â 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.

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To make this department a reality, state lawmakers have filed House Bill 5451 and Senate BBill 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 stateâs department of human services, the State Board of Education, and the stateâs 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 âHealthy School Meals for All programâ 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 âHealth School Meals For All programâ 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.

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.

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Illinois

Deadspin | No. 8 Alabama braces for stern challenge from No. 25 Illinois

Published

47 mins ago

November 19, 2024

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Deadspin | No. 8 Alabama braces for stern challenge from No. 25 Illinois

Alabama Crimson Tide center Clifford Omoruyi (11) reacts after being called for a foul on Purdue Boilermakers forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (4) Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, during the NCAA men’s basketball game at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue Boilermakers won 87-78.

Alabama was unsuccessful in last Friday’s fierce test against a Big Ten program, falling at Purdue to slide out of the top five in the polls.

The No. 8 Crimson Tide will see another ranked Big Ten squad on Wednesday when they battle No. 25 Illinois in the C.M. Newton Classic at Birmingham, Ala.

Alabama (3-1) was outclassed 87-78 in the showdown against the Boilermakers. But coach Nate Oats indicated there is a method behind the madness of playing a road game against a team that lost in last season’s NCAA title game.

“We schedule these games for a reason,” Oats told reporters. “We like to go against the best teams in the country and figure out what we have to work on, and we have plenty to work on because (the Boilermakers) are good. Braden Smith is one of the best guards in the country and he does not turn the ball over. As a team, they only had three turnovers.”

The Crimson Tide struggled defensively but received a solid offensive performance from freshman guard Labaron Philon, who scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Philon is averaging 12 points through four games.

“Labaron has been really good. Probably better than what we thought he was going to be,” Oats said. “I thought he had a pretty good game. But we got to keep developing our bench. We got to keep developing the young guys and they got to help us win a lot of games this year.”

Mark Sears had 15 points and six assists but made just 5 of 15 shots against Purdue. The first-team All-American is averaging a team-best 17.3 points but his high outing is just 20.

Last season, Sears scored 20 or more points on 26 occasions while setting a school record with 797 points.

Illinois (3-0) won its first two games by 45 and 32 points, respectively, before posting a 66-54 home win over Oakland on Wednesday.

Fighting Illini coach Brad Underwood said the Golden Grizzlies affected the speed of the game by their cautious approach and a zone defense that forced patience and perimeter shots.

The Illini didn’t respond well, committing 18 turnovers and making just 7 of 25 3-point attempts.

“The biggest, most important, takeaway for me is it’s not always fun and easy and free flowing,” Underwood said. “There’s going to be some grind-it-out games. I thought we handled that pretty well for the most part, but we’ve still got some things to work on.”

Tomislav Ivisic recorded 20 points, six rebounds and four steals to continue his strong start. He has a team-best five steals and also leads in rebounding at 9.0 per game in addition to being the squad’s second-leading scorer at 17.3.

The 7-foot-1 Croatian made 9 of 14 field-goal attempts while finding open creases in the Oakland defense.

“We were preparing for their zone the whole week,” Ivisic said. “The coach was asking for me to be in the middle spot. That I would have a lot of space there to help my teammates, assist them, or have open shots.”

Will Riley, who is averaging 17.7 points and 6.0 rebounds off the bench, had just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting against Oakland.

Alabama has won three of the four meetings between the schools. In the most recent contest, Alabama rolled to a 79-58 home win in the first round of the NIT.

–Field Level Media

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Illinois

Illinois woman attacked man in Panera Bread for wearing Palestine sweatshirt, police say

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9 hours ago

November 19, 2024

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Illinois woman attacked man in Panera Bread for wearing Palestine sweatshirt, police say

Alexandra Szustakiewicz, 64, of Darien, Illinois, was charged with two counts of hate crime and one count of disorderly conduct, officials said.

An Illinois woman was charged with hate crimes after she attacked a man for wearing a sweatshirt with the word “Palestine” written on it at a suburban Chicago Panera Bread, prosecutors and officials said.

Alexandra Szustakiewicz, 64, of Darien, Illinois, was charged with two counts of hate crime and one count of disorderly conduct, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Downers Grove Chief of Police Michael DeVries announced in a statement Monday. The charges stem from an incident Saturday at a Panera Bread in Downers Grove, a village about 23 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.

Downers Grove police said Szustakiewicz was at Panera Bread shortly before noon, local time, on Saturday when she “confronted and yelled expletives at a man” who was wearing a sweatshirt with the word “Palestine” written on it. Szustakiewicz then allegedly attempted to hit a cell phone out of the hands of a woman who was with the man when the woman began recording the encounter.

According to the statement, officers responded to a report of a disturbance at the Panera Bread, and Szustakiewicz was taken into custody the following day without incident. A complaint filed against Szustakiewicz alleged that she “committed a hate crime by reason of perceived national origin” of the two victims.

During her first court appearance Monday morning, a judge granted prosecutors’ request that Szustakiewicz have no contact with the victims and that she may not enter the Panera Bread where the incident occurred, the statement said. Szustakiewicz is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 16 for arraignment.

“Every member of society, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or any other individual characteristic, deserves to be treated with respect and civility,” Berlin said in a statement. “This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in such cases.”

Civil rights organization: Victim shielded his wife from punches

The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the incident on Monday. The organization called Szustakiewicz’s behavior “shameful and abusive.”

CAIR-Chicago said Szustakiewicz had verbally and physically attacked a couple, identified as Waseem and his pregnant wife, for wearing a Palestine hoodie. The organization added that Waseem “shielded his wife from several punching attempts” during the encounter.

The incident was captured on video, according to CAIR-Chicago, and shared on social media — including on X, where it garnered about 1.2 million views by Monday night.

In the video, a woman lunged at a person who recorded the incident with a cell phone. A man then attempted to stop the woman, pushing her back with his arm, asking: “What are you doing?”

The video then showed the woman trying to hit the man, with a beverage she held spilling onto the ground. The woman continued attempting to swipe at the victims while threatening to call the police.

Later, the man is heard telling the woman to stop. Footage then showed the woman approaching the cash register, asking an employee to call the police.

Moments later, the woman is captured on video trying to hit the person recording the incident, with the man stepping in between them. The man is heard telling the woman: “Get away from my wife.”

The man and the person recording the video are then seen walking away from the woman, while she appears to follow them. The video then shows the man pushing the woman back, prompting both to threaten to punch each other.

“I’m a born and raised American who took his wife out for lunch. I was not able to do that simply because I was Palestinian,” Waseem told CAIR-Chicago.

Latest incident amid surge in Islamophobia, hate crimes

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said Saturday’s incident along with other recent hate incidents across the U.S. “reflect a broader pattern of hostility and intolerance towards Palestinian Americans and the Muslim community at large.”

Between January and June 2024, CAIR documented nearly 5,000 incoming bias complaints nationwide — a 69% increase of recorded complaints from the same period in 2023. The organization also released a report earlier this year, which found that CAIR received the “highest number of complaints it has ever received in its 30-year history” last year.

The report documented more than 8,000 complaints regarding anti-Muslim hate and nearly half of those complaints were reported in the final three months of 2023. The report noted that the wave of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim incidents is primarily due to the escalation of violence in Gaza following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Numerous incidents have sparked fear among Muslim-American and Arab-American communities. About a week after the Oct. 7 attack, an Illinois man was charged with a hate crime after he fatally stabbed a 6-year-old and seriously injured the child’s mother in what authorities said was a violent response to the Israel-Hamas war.

In April, prosecutors said a New Jersey man was convicted of hate crimes after he attacked a Muslim man near a New York City food cart. A Texas woman was charged in June after authorities said she tried to drown a Muslim child at an apartment complex pool.

Last month, a New York City woman was indicted for an anti-Muslim attack after she pepper sprayed an Uber driver earlier this year, according to prosecutors.

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Illinois' best elementary schools revealed in new report. Here are the top 25

Published

17 hours ago

November 18, 2024

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Illinois' best elementary schools revealed in new report. Here are the top 25

A number of schools from Chicago and the suburbs were recognized as among the top elementary schools in Illinois, according to a new list.

The “2025 Best Elementary and Middle Schools” list from U.S. News and World Report examined more than 79,000 public schools in all 50 states, a press release revealed. Editors used publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze mathematics and reading performance at the state and district levels — while accounting for student background and achievement in core subjects.

For a school corporation to receive a district-level ranking, at least two of the top performing schools must rank in the top 75% of the overall elementary or middle school rankings, according to the website. In all, 47,573 elementary schools and 23,861 middle schools were assessed.

In Illinois, a total of 3,421 schools were ranked. Seven of the top 25 schools in the state were Chicago Public Schools, including the top school, Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center.

Almost all of the top 25 schools were in either the city or suburbs — except for No. 10 – Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Rockford and No. 22 – Congerville Elementary School in downstate Woodford County.

Following behind Edison Elementary Regional Gifted Center was Hinsdale’s Oak Elementary School and Naperville’s Meadows Glen Elementary School at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Lenart Elementary Regional Gifted Center, a Chicago Public School, and Brook Forest Elementary School rounded out the top five.

Here’s a look into the top 25 elementary schools in Illinois, according to the report.