Many were off from school and work in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but the day is a national Day of Service, with people all over Chicago and the suburbs spending the day giving back.

In south suburban Matteson, volunteers carved out time for a good cause for MLK Day.

“It’s a real good feeling to volunteer,” said Diane Klein.

It’s only taken Klein minutes to become a master blanket-maker with no sewing machine needed — just fast fingers and teamwork.

Dorelle Ackerman has a knack for it, too.

“What better way to honor Dr. King than with a Day of Service?” she said.

Their service benefits the South Suburban Humane Society in Matteson, Illinois. The shelter is home to about 60 dogs on any given day, all of which need blankets.

“It helps immensely for us, the volunteers, and also the dogs in our care, being able to stay just like a little bit warmer, especially with this weather, is incredible,” said Director of Impact Mika Carten.

A visit from 11-year-old Sheila keeps volunteers motivated, and it reminds Klein why she’s there. She lost her own dogs, two beagles, a year and a half ago.

“I’m still mourning the ones we did have, so I have a void. This is one way of filling that void. helping,” she said.

Helping to keep dogs nice and cozy, but the work warms hearts, too.

“You give a little of your own time, and you get it back some way,” Klein said. 

Illinois leads the nation with evidence-based equal pay laws like the salary history ban, salary transparency and the collection of pay data. But to fully realize pay equity in Illinois — and close the stubborn wage gaps faced by women and people of color — we must continue to press ahead with data-informed civic, worker, advocacy, legislative and employer action.

Recent analysis by the Project of Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sheds light on how pay disparities show up throughout Illinois among employers with 100 or more employees. Thanks to Illinois’ forward-thinking pay data collection law, we have data to show where progress is being made and where we lag.

And what it shows is while we are making some progress for people in the highest income brackets, for people of color the wage gap is alarmingly wide. This unequal distribution reflects the realities of today’s economy: a booming stock market alongside record levels of food insecurity, the rich getting richer and those already struggling falling further behind. Black worker — men and women — unemployment is far higher than the national average.

When 46.6% of Illinois families lack the resources needed to fully participate in today’s economy, any wage gap is too large. Over time, that gap is the difference between stable housing and insecurity, career advancement or being stuck in a minimum wage job, and getting ahead or getting left behind.

True pay equity is about more than whether two people of different genders or races are paid equally for the same work. It’s about equal opportunities, which means tackling occupational segregation, the lopsided responsibility for caregiving, and uneven access to the education that gets further out of reach for the people who would most benefit.

And yes, it also means making sure companies are paying employees fairly and reporting that data to the Illinois Department of Labor — and sharing it with the public.

Regularly receiving this data ensures we can clearly see the impact of policy and identify the gaps requiring action. With the federal administration dismantling, diminishing and devaluing data, states like Illinois need our own evidence to guide sound decision-making, enforcement, outreach and employer support.

Right now, that evidence shows we need to keep our foot on the gas for pay equity.

Sharmili Majmudar, executive vice president of policy, programs and research, Women Employed

Study on school attendance merits scrutiny

The recent Sun-Times article on findings by the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research on student attendance and teacher relationships raises important questions, but it also deserves more careful interpretation.

The study reports correlations between student attendance and measures of teacher-student trust and school climate. However, a basic logical limitation should be acknowledged: students must already be attending school in order to form relationships with teachers and to report on them in surveys.

Attendance, in other words, is not just an outcome in this analysis — it is a prerequisite. This makes it difficult to determine whether stronger teacher relationships improve attendance, or whether students who attend more regularly are simply more likely to develop and report positive relationships.

In addition, the way the findings are presented publicly risks overstating teacher responsibility for attendance.

While teachers play an important role in students’ school experiences, attendance is shaped by many factors beyond the classroom, including family circumstances, student choice, transportation, health, neighborhood safety and district-level policies. Responsibility for attendance is shared among parents, students and the Chicago Public Schools administration; it does not rest primarily with teachers.

Finally, while the consortium’s research is technically rigorous, readers should be aware that the study was conducted in collaboration with CPS, an institution with its own policy and reputational interests. This does not invalidate the findings, but it does underscore the need for restraint in drawing conclusions that assign responsibility.

Improving student attendance is a complex, multi-actor challenge. Oversimplifying it — by focusing too narrowly on teacher relationships — risks producing conclusions that are neither fair nor effective.

Rick Charles Wojciechowski, Old Irving Park

Trump’s double standard for protests

It is ironic that Donald Trump shows such empathy for the people of Iran protesting against their oppressive government. However, here in America, Trump cannot tolerate people protesting against the aggressive tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. In Chicago and Minnesota, he refers to peaceful protesters as “terrorists” and “wild, radical criminals.” Evidently, Trump seems to believe that protests are only acceptable when they happen overseas.

Betty Kleinberg, Deerfield

Exhausted by ‘radical destruction’ of country’s norms

When does the radical destruction of our country’s norms end? The Constitution is being torn to shreds a little bit at a time.

We are watching as we are turned into a police state, mostly in states that simply have a different mindset than that of the current “regime.”

When did weaponization of the government become OK? Why must we give him the media attention he craves?

I am tired of this man. He has dominated our media coverage and our lives for more than 10 years. Enough already.

No other historical person of any profession has ever received this much attention. Why? Because he spews nonsense. It has to stop.

Timothy Pinner, Des Plaines

Greenland’s not for sale

What’s the difference between Donald Trump and Greenland? Greenland is not for sale.

Ken Weiss, Palatine