Latest news with #ISBE
Chicago Tribune
30-06-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Waukegan school board mulling district survey results; ‘We are right in the middle'
With issuance of the annual Illinois State School Board of Education (ISBE) report card more than four months away, the Waukegan Community Unit School District community is getting an idea of its performance from students, teachers and parents. Parents, students and teachers all participated in the nationwide 5Essentials Survey of school wellness, judging five areas of school performance — ambitious instruction, collaborative teachers, effective leaders, involved families and a supportive environment. Taken by school districts in 22 states evaluating more than 6,000 schools, the 5Essentials Survey is required of all Illinois schools by the ISBE. District 60 Board of Education member Carolina Fabian said the results are incorporated into the ISBE's annual school report card. Members of the District 60 Board of Education learned the results of the 5Essentials Survey during a regularly scheduled meeting on June 24 at the Education Service Center in downtown Waukegan, learning how administrators will utilize the information. Amanda Patti, the associate superintendent of strategy and accountability, said in an email after the meeting that the survey results are a guide on what needs to be done and what successes can be utilized to better educate city youths. 'Increasing our ratings on post-secondary preparation, safety outside of the school, and having more parents complete the survey are areas we will focus on as we work with school leaders this year,' Patti said. Voting on the five areas of evaluation, the district's schools are judged on the improvement or decline in their past year. Eric Christenson, director of student support services, said schools are rated 'well organized,' 'organized,' 'moderately organized,' 'partially organized' or 'not yet organized.' 'Waukegan's overall district status is 'moderately organized,'' Christenson said. 'We are right in the middle, about what we were last year. The (middle) category is from 40 to 60, and you see they're all in there and they're all creeping up towards the strong?' Voting is done by students — fourth graders through high school — teachers and parents. Christenson said nearly all students participated, while teacher voting ranged from 60% at McCall Elementary School to 98.3% at Carman-Buckner Elementary School. Fabian said she is concerned with the overall level of teacher participation at 70%. She wants to see an effort made by the administration to make sure teachers vote. Unless they are absent, there are ample opportunities. 'What I really was noticing is why we don't have the teacher's participation at a higher rate when we have frequent staff meetings when all the teachers are together,' Fabian said. 'Why isn't there time being set aside. Teachers are there.' Christenson said the goal of parent participation is 20%. All schools except Waukegan High School, with 6%, achieved the standard. Participation drops significantly in high school. Patti said it is a concern that will be addressed. Learning perception exists that there is insufficient effort to prepare students for college was the lowest score on the entire survey. Board President Michael Rodriguez wanted to know the basis of the evaluation. Christenson said it is a composite score from students, teachers and parents. 'They ask teachers if your students will be successful in college,' Christenson said. 'They ask students if they are being prepared for post-secondary (education). They ask parents if you think your children are being prepared for post-secondary.' Board member Christine Lensing said she is glad trust between parents and teachers, and between students and teachers has increased, but she is displeased with the results within some segments of the community. It remains a problem. Lensing said that in the elementary schools, a large amount of time the first two weeks of school is devoted to relationship building as a 'community' is formed. Tough middle and high school students have multiple teachers and the same is true for instructors, relationship building must be emphasized. 'You really need to make sure you're building a community in your class even though you have six or seven of them throughout the day,' Lensing said. 'These kids need to come to you for a variety of reasons. You never know where these kids are going to find inspiration to propel them in life.' When teachers create 'communities within our classrooms, within our buildings,' Lensing said areas like preparation for post-secondary education and trust will improve.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Illinois lawmakers allocate $35M to after-school programs
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — After months of demands from after-school advocates and tough budget decisions, lawmakers have allocated $35 million for after-school programs in the budget they passed at the end of May. Now, programs like the Central Illinois Boys and Girls Clubs are counting on the distribution of that funding and hoping to restart some of the services they lost. The lack of funding has had a ripple effect on many programs across the state, according to ACT Now. Illinois bill ending scam gym membership tactic heads to governor's desk In the District 186 Springfield area, 15 after-school programs were left unfunded last June, said Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois, Tiffany Mathis Posey. This included eight of the programs ran by the Central Illinois Boys and Girls Clubs and seven by the Springfield Urban League. Posey said the new funding will have a huge impact on what she calls a 'vital program.' 'What that would look like is restoring the programs that have gone unfunded or that will not reopen,' she said. 'You know, we do this work, we know what we're doing; we want to make sure that kids are supported. And so to have another avenue of funding available to provide after-school programs would be widely impactful.' After the federal funding for the program dried up, the General Assembly allocated $50 million in last year's budget, which was set to begin in July, but that money is still on hold. Afterschool for Children and Teens Now (ACT Now) said the delay in funding will leave more than 2,000 people unemployed and affect more than 27,000 kids. READ MORE: New Illinois laws and tax changes set to kick in on July 1, 2025 When Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the new budget into law, the $35 million will be directed to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to distribute. We reached out to ISBE about the guidelines for distributing the new funds. 'After-school funding for FY26 will be allocated in accordance with ISBE's Part 268 rules,' a spokesperson from ISBE said. Advocates for after-school programs said they are now at the mercy of ISBE, and that the agency typically distributes funds to school districts. Previously, the funding was supposed to be split into two groups half to school districts and the other half to nonprofits. The general assembly didn't reappropriate the $50 millions to the next year fund. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
New Illinois bill would require homeschool families to notify state or face truancy
Illinois lawmakers are considering a new bill that would require parents to tell the state when they choose to home school their children. Why it matters: Illinois does not require parents and guardians to notify schools when they pull kids from the district, leaving no mechanism to monitor if students are meeting necessary benchmarks. Supporters of the bill say it will prevent kids from slipping through the cracks. State of play: Current required subjects for home school students, according to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), are: Language arts, math, biological and physical science, social studies, fine arts and physical development and health. There are no specific classes or duration of study required in those subjects. There is no requirement to administer tests, projects or grades or mandate to report any student assessment to the state. Parents or guardians do not need a high school diploma or GED to homeschool. Zoom in: The bill would require the ISBE to create a Homeschool Declaration Form that homeschool families submit to the school district where the child would otherwise attend. If the form's not submitted, the student would be considered truant. If a child wants to enroll in a public school or school activities, they will need to have required immunizations or a signed Certificate of Religious Exemption. Context: Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Lombard), the bill's sponsor, told WGN she introduced the legislation in February after a ProPublica investigation last year reported on a homeschooled boy in central Illinois who told welfare officials he was beaten, denied food and had no school lessons. Howard, who is also chair of the Adoption and Child Welfare Committee and an attorney involved in child welfare, said the concern in cases like that is the lack of adults who could spot and report signs of abuse at home. "For the vast majority of homeschooling families, these changes will have minimal impact," Howard told Axios in a statement. "The intent of this bill is to help in cases of child abuse, in which adults are claiming to 'homeschool' in an attempt to isolate children, or when families are flagrantly neglecting their legal responsibility to educate their children, in violation of the principles of homeschooling." The other side: The Illinois Home School Association in a statement calls the bill "a very expensive unfunded mandate," and that many parents have chosen this route because "the public school system is clearly failing many of our students." "This bill will not save lives. In every single case they have brought to us of an abused child not in school it has become clear that Child Protection Services already knew of the family and was stretched too thin to help," the association added. Reality check: The bill would ask that parents maintain a simple portfolio providing evidence of education in required subjects, in the case that a truancy investigation is launched. "Nothing in the bill provides for random investigations or 'checks' by a local school district or Regional Office of Education," Howard said. Yes, but: ISBE does recommend that home schoolers check what colleges require if students plan on applying. Zoom out: Homeschooling became more popular during the pandemic and stuck through the 2022-23 school year, a Washington Post analysis found. The Post estimated there were between 1.9 million and 2.7 million home-schooled children in the United States that year. Yes, but: Illinois is not included in the analysis since families are not required to notify the state when they decide to homeschool.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Illinois reports success in teacher recruiting program
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) reports its recruiting program to address the ongoing teacher shortage has been a success. 'The Answer is Teaching' campaign focuses on recruiting teachers by individualized support and the sharing of testimonies. Since the program launched last July, ISBE has been contacted by more than 17,000 prospective teachers who were encouraged to start a career in teaching. The Illinois State Board of Education estimates there are nearly 4,000 teacher openings in the state. Almost one-third of those vacancies are for special education teachers. In the last two years, Illinois has invested $45 million in teacher vacancy grants. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ISBE celebrates success of teacher recruitment marketing campaign
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Illinois State Board of Education is celebrating the success of a recruiting program designed to alleviate the ongoing teacher shortage. ISBE's 'The Answer is Teaching' campaign focused on recruiting teachers by sharing testimonies and individualized support. The $6 million media campaign advertised in both Spanish and English to potential teachers in urban and rural areas along with neighboring states. Rantoul Superintendent discusses Dept. of Education cuts From the campaign's duration — the beginning of July to the end of January — the agency was contacted by more than 17,000 potential teachers from many walks of life. 'The outpouring of interest in teaching in Illinois tells us people at many different stages of life want a career with great benefits, competitive pay, and personal fulfillment,' State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders said in a statement. 'At ISBE, we are committed to not only raising awareness about the benefits of teaching in Illinois but also removing barriers whether financial, informational, or logistical that may stand in a candidate's way.' This comes after the latest annual teacher shortage report, which found a 5.6% decrease in the number of unfilled positions statewide. The marketing campaign targeted common areas with many vacant positions like bilingual teachers, special education teachers, urban and rural teachers. 'It's a global problem': Central IL districts, administators, react to school vacancy report 'We don't just want more applicants to the school districts and the subjects that are already getting a lot of applicants,' Jackie Matthews, the Executive Director of Communications, said in a statement. 'We want to attract and make sure that our teacher supply is matching the demand. In the last two years, Illinois has invested $45 million in teacher vacancy grants to help school districts hire and retain teachers. The website for the campaign will remain active. Those interested in applying can still submit their contact information to get personalized emails and more resources on the steps needed before becoming a teacher in Illinois. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
