27-03-2025
IEA releases State of Education report
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — According to the Illinois Education Association, Illinois adults overwhelmingly are fans of public schools.
The IEA released polling Wednesday as a part of its 7th annual State of Education report. The polls showed more than 91% of adults from the state agreed that 'students have a right to education at a public school.' That number stayed the same for students with disabilities.
Manufacturers would stop selling Styrofoam containers under Illinois bill
'Public education is the great equalizer. It's the key to the American Dream. It is the one thing our country does that levels the playing field for all children. Rural, suburban, urban, no matter who you are or where you come from, a good education can change your life,' IEA President Al Llorens said. 'We will continue to do whatever it takes to make sure our students have access to strong public schools. It's what Illinoisans want and it's what our students deserve.'
Also found from the poll is a majority of Illinoisans are empathetic to teachers, with 74% of people think teaching has become harder over the last few years and 78% of the public say they are very worried about the teacher shortage.
Other findings from the report include that the majority of Illinois residents believe schools should get more funding.
'The people of our great state strongly support public education and our students, so much so that they support fixing the funding issues facing our schools. They recognize teachers and staff are working harder than ever before and they also know our educators are not making enough money and don't have enough support in our schools,' Llorens added.
Illinois Attorney General joins lawsuit to stop closure of US Dept. of Education
The poll was conducted with both a Republican pollster (Next Generation Strategies) and a Democrat polling firm (Normington Petts). 1,000 Illinois adults were surveyed for the poll between Jan. 27 and 30. The pollsters said it has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent with 95 percent confidence.
The full summary report can be found here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
