Education advocates are renewing a push to change Illinois law to allow Chicago school board members to be paid—with the hope that would encourage teachers and parents from low-income households to represent Chicago Public Schools' diverse student body.
"This is a solid budget," Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said. "It is the best budget that has been proposed or passed by the General Assembly."
Last year, New York issued a statewide ban on using facial recognition technology in its schools. These civil rights advocates argue there needs to be more federal intervention.
SB129 comes amid a nationwide push from conservative lawmakers to limit the rights of transgender and LGBTQ individuals and ban DEI programs after the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action.
The state superintendent race is heating up months after state lawmakers expanded the voucher program, which uses public dollars for private education.
A proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall would allow the state to use income tax money originally for education 'to support other state needs.'
The measure, which contained the largest nominal school funding increase in state history, was billed as a compromise between progressive lawmakers—who sought a larger funding increase than what was eventually included—and more conservative legislators.
"The net result of the decisions that have been made by the superintendent of public instruction is that programs that we have put into law are being disrupted or impeded," said Chairperson Dave Bedey, R-Hamilton.
Inflation is slowly declining. However, overall costs are much higher than they were in previous years, according to the authors of a new report. Here's what to look out for.
Lawmakers proposing the bills are pointing to counselor shortages but are not completely playing down the religious aspects of putting chaplains in schools.
