Chalkbeat

Illinois education advocates grow more divided on Pritzker’s impending federal tax-credit program choice

2026-08-27T20:12:37+00:00

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An increasingly vocal contingent of Illinois education advocates, including a Chicago school board member, are calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to opt into the Trump administration’s federal tax-credit scholarship program.

Pritzker has about four months to decide whether he plans for Illinois to join the federal program, which offers tax credits to individuals who make donations toward private and public schools. The looming decision has created a growing schism between school advocacy groups, as some see the program as an opportunity to better fund Illinois schools while others worry it will just funnel more money into private schools.

One of the most prominent declarations against Illinois joining the Trump administration’s initiative was from the Chicago Board of Education itself. Earlier this year, it decisively passed a non-binding resolution urging the state not to opt in. However, in a noteworthy break from most of the school board, Angel Gutierrez — the only member who was absent from the vote — came out in support of Illinois’ program participation at a Thursday news conference outside South Loop Elementary School.

“I think it was politically driven,” Gutierrez told reporters, referencing the board’s resolution. “But I think that, in the space and place that we’re in now, we have to be really cognizant of any type of potential dollars that may help and directly benefit the students.”

Republican lawmakers included the creation of the federal tax-credit scholarship program in President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” last year. The initiative, called the “Education Freedom Tax Credit,” is meant to promote school choice nationwide. Taxpayers can choose to contribute up to $1,700 originally owed in federal income taxes to an education-related scholarship organization.

But the major caveat to the program that has fueled debate is the critical role of governors in choosing to opt into the program. If a governor — or whatever government entity has authority to make the choice — doesn’t decide to join, students in that state won’t be eligible to receive money generated from the program.

In Illinois, a Democratic stronghold, many advocacy groups approached the program with skepticism. Those who have come out against participating point to the intentions behind the initiative — creating an environment that drives more families toward private schools — as evidence that it will not provide equitable outcomes for public schools. It could also exacerbate existing disparities in funding, as wealthier school districts are more likely to get contributions from their families than poorer districts.

Some Illinoisans may be familiar with previous efforts this year to sway Pritzker to join, most notably a ballot measure campaign in more than 20 counties from Illinois Policy Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank. Other education officials at Gutierrez’ news conference argued that the program will roll out with or without Illinois’ participation, meaning donations for education organizations would wind up out-of-state.

“It indeed is a set, settled, and passed law at this point. We’re not interacting with it in terms of advocating for or against it, “ said Joshua Stafford, superintendent of Vienna High School in southern Illinois. “Instead, each state now gets to make a determination, and that determination really boils down to whether boys and girls and schools are going to be able to participate in this opportunity.”

Joshua Stafford, superintendent of Vienna High School in southern Illinois, speaks at a press conference in support of Illinois’ participation in the tax-credit program at a Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, news conference outside South Loop Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois.

Statewide education advocacy organizations are also backing Illinois’ participation in the program, including Stand for Children Illinois, a group that aims to improve children’s access to public schools.

Jessica Handy, Stand for Children’s executive director, acknowledged in a virtual news conference earlier this month that the federal initiative was not made with educational equity in mind. Instead, Handy suggested Illinois avoid using the program as designed and implement “creative and innovative approaches” to prioritize equitable access for all students. Illinois school districts will need to make sure they establish a scholarship granting organization to receive tax credit money, which Handy emphasized as a key reason to opt in sooner rather than later.

Further guidelines and regulations for the program’s implementation are expected to be released this fall. The governor’s office said earlier in this summer that it is waiting to see what the federal rules look like before deciding whether to join.

So far, it has been a slow trickle of Democratic governors who enrolled their states in the program. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis led the pack to opt in, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has indicated that she plans to, as well. There have also been flat-out rejections from some Democratic governors, including in Hawaii, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Oregon, according to the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit resource website.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago Board of Education 101: Know the basics of the soon-to-be elected board guiding Chicago Public Schools

2026-08-20T10:00:00+00:00

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If it seems like you’ve heard more about Chicago’s school board in the past two years than ever, it’s for good reason.

That’s because for the first time after 30 years of mayoral control, the Chicago Board of Education will be fully elected in November. No matter what involvement you might have with CPS — as a teacher, a parent, an administrator, a student, or a community member — all registered voters can cast a ballot for one representative from their local electoral district and one person to lead the board as president.

It’s historic. It’s unprecedented. But if you’re not tapped into CPS school board politics, it might also be confusing.

Here’s everything you need to know about the school board and the shift from mayoral control to elected representation.

What is the Chicago Board of Education?

The city’s school board is the primary entity tasked with creating the vision and setting priorities for Chicago Public Schools. Its role differs from that of CPS’ central office, led by CEO Macquline King, which handles more of the district’s day-to-day operations.

The Chicago Board of Education shares many responsibilities with school boards across the country. It is meant to follow several guiding principles laid out by the Illinois Association of Schools Boards, including clarifying the district’s purpose and monitoring its progress toward the goals it sets.

Chicago’s school board is enshrined in state law, but its structure has proven malleable in reality. Most notably, in 1995, as part of a broader state legislative package to improve CPS’ academic performance, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was given responsibility for appointing a five-member board — known as the Reform Board of Trustees — to spearhead transformative reform.

In 1999, it reverted to its old title as the Chicago Board of Education and increased its membership to seven people. It grew to 21 people after 10 members were elected in 2024 and were joined by 11 mayoral appointees.

What does Chicago’s school board specifically do?

Some Chicagoans may be most familiar with one of the board’s core functions: making financial decisions. The school board has the power to raise local property taxes and decides how to allocate local revenue and streams of state and federal funding to schools.

While more granular spending decisions are usually left to school and district administrators, the board’s budgetary clout can supersede their authority. This was demonstrated in the board’s latest budget approval last month, when a narrow majority of members voted to rescind hundreds of staff layoffs that King’s office had made to address the district’s more than $700 million budget deficit. The board instead built in a revenue assumption that state lawmakers would provide $150 million more than they had already allocated.

Another one of the board’s key powers, hiring a district leader to fill the roles of CEO and superintendent, has been in the spotlight for much of the past year. After choosing someone to head the district, the board evaluates that person’s performance.

Important paperwork, such as collective bargaining agreements with labor unions and contracts with charter school operators, also requires board approval.

A school board is supposed to be responsive to the communities it serves. In Chicago, the board now has power to gather community input through referendums. It also must gather input on proposed changes to district policies.

Receiving community input is one of the main functions of the Chicago Board of Education, which can included feedback from Chicago Public Schools students themselves.

It’s not always easy to reach a consensus on these recommendations. The board now has 21 members, each with differing views on how best to serve CPS students and educators.

Why do we have so many school board members in Chicago?

We know, 21 people is a lot of school board members. Chicago has one of the largest elected boards among major U.S. cities. It dwarfs Illinois’ average of about seven school board members per district, according to Ballotpedia.

The Illinois General Assembly passed a bill in 2021 to triple the board’s membership from seven to 21 people, including the board president.

A desire for better representation on Chicago’s school board — rather than unceasing mayoral control — played a large part in adding more members. To determine how those members would represent different parts of Chicago, state lawmakers passed separate legislation in March 2024 dividing the city into electoral districts.

The expansion received mixed feedback. Some education advocates applauded the move, while others feared the large school board would create a messier policymaking process.

As a compromise, lawmakers created a transition period that started in 2024 with the election of 10 members who joined 11 mayoral appointees for a two-year hybrid period.

Why didn’t Chicago always vote for school board members?

Outside Chicago, elected school boards aren’t a novel idea. Most school boards in Illinois and across the U.S. are elected.

Illinois legislators initiated the process to fully elect the board by 2026 in the same law that put 21 members on the Chicago Board of Education. Despite pushback from some local groups and former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the bill passed the legislature and was signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2021.

Demands for an elected school board long preceded the bill’s passage, with prominent organizations such as the Chicago Teachers Union championing the change as a way to hold the board accountable to families and educators. Several decisions made by the appointed board had soured public perceptions of the governing body, including its unanimous vote approving former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to close about 50 schools, which disproportionately affected Black students.

As part of the path to a fully elected board, lawmakers required half the board to be elected in 2024. The other half remained mayoral appointees. Voters delivered disparate results on what local factions they wanted to represent them by voting in four CTU-backed candidates, three pro-charter candidates, and three independents.

Two years later, Chicagoans will be deciding who represents them in all 21 board positions.

Does that mean I have to vote for my school board member every two years?

It depends where you live in your district and what year it is.

Each of the 10 districts Chicagoans voted in during the 2024 election had about 275,000 residents and has since been divided into two subdistricts. Voters will elect a candidate running in their half of the district, referred to as the “a” or “b” subdistrict. That means each district will produce two elected school board members.

Per state law, members elected to replace mayoral appointees will initially serve two-year terms, while those taking office in subdistricts represented by members previously elected in 2024 will serve four-year terms.

The term lengths will swap starting in the 2028 general election. So, a school board member elected this year to serve a two-year term will be up for a four-year term if they win reelection in 2028.

What’s in it for the CPS board members? Do they get paid?

No, members do not get paid for serving on the board. Illinois state law prohibits it, although members can be reimbursed for related job expenses. Serving on the board averages about 25 to 30 hours per month for members, according to the board’s website.

Some current board members have quit their day jobs to give more of their time to the position. Critics argue the lack of pay disincentivizes working parents and teachers from running for office and have called on state lawmakers to legalize some form of compensation. An effort to make that change fizzled out in the House earlier this year.

Opponents of board compensation contend that creating salaries for board members would siphon money away from already underfunded school resources.

For now, board members are compensated with something a bit less tangible: influence over the fourth-largest school district in the country.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

JB Pritzker’s education record earns him key reelection endorsement from Illinois teachers union

2026-08-17T22:44:20+00:00

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is seeking reelection this November, received a key endorsement on his education policies from the state’s largest union this week.

Monday’s announcement marks the third time the Illinois Education Association, which represents more than 135,000 teachers, professors, and support staff statewide, has endorsed Pritzker for governor. The Illinois Federation of Teachers — the other statewide teachers union and the parent organization to the Chicago Teachers Union — has yet to make an endorsement in the race.

The IEA’s endorsement comes at an important crossroads for Pritzker, as two closely watched education issues loom over the final months of his second term.

“This governor is on the right side of history, which means a better future for public education in Illinois,” said IEA president Karl Goeke, citing Pritzker’s policies on minimum teacher salary raises, preventing book bans, and restricting cellphones in schools.

The first issue for Pritzker, who has championed public schools, is whether Illinois will opt into the Trump administration’s federal tax credit scholarship program by the end of the year. Starting in 2027, individuals can donate up to $1,700 to specific education nonprofits and be reimbursed by the federal government. Governors have the sole responsibility for deciding whether their states will participate, although their ability to mold programs to their liking seems increasingly unlikely.

Pritzker hasn’t indicated publicly whether Illinois will participate, although text messages obtained by the Chicago Tribune signaled he was wary of the program earlier this year. So far, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is the only Democrat to have opted his state into the program, although a handful of other Democratic governors have said they intend to opt in.

The other problem facing Illinois’ governor is how to respond to the Chicago Board of Education’s demand for $150 million additional state dollars to fill the district’s budget deficit during the upcoming veto session. Chicago’s school board voted to pass a budget that assumes it will receive that funding last month, but the request faces an uphill battle to get approval from state lawmakers and Pritzker.

Pritzker’s name has also circulated in the past year as a possible contender in the 2028 presidential race. Education remains a core point of contention across the country, meaning Pritzker’s record on Illinois schools could wind up on the national stage.

Facing off against Pritzker in his bid for reelection is Darren Bailey, a former Republican state lawmaker. This is the second time voters will see this matchup on their ballots, as Pritzker handily defeated Bailey in 2022 to win his second term as governor.

This story has been updated to include mention of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Despite state funding increase, gap to adequately fund schools widens in most Illinois districts

2026-08-08T00:07:47+00:00

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Chicago Public Schools is further away from having enough money to meet its students’ needs as defined by the state, according to new data released by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Under ISBE’s calculations released Friday, CPS is now considered a little over 70% adequately funded, compared with 73% last year. CPS isn’t alone in that shift. More than 700 school districts regressed from hitting the state’s target of 90% funding adequacy, a metric reached by assessing a district’s student population and ability to pay for a variety of common cost factors.

The backslide is due, in part, to the state changing how it counted low-income students. Officials said they decided to count students “who were eligible for federal social programs as of July 1,” including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, or SNAP.

The widening gap in funding adequacy for hundreds of districts, including Chicago, adds fuel to the Chicago Teachers Union’s argument that the city’s schools need lawmakers to commit more money. The Board of Education echoed this sentiment when they recently passed a budget assuming the state will increase funding during the fall veto session in November.

Illinois Federation of Teachers and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates called the funding distribution a “wake-up call” to the state. However, amending the state’s budget now would be hard and require a three-fifths majority vote.

Illinois’ way of funding schools assumes students with higher-needs cost more to educate. Adequacy targets for each district fluctuate annually based on the students being served, which is why an increase in low-income students raises the cost the formula says is necessary to reach adequacy.

Identifying low-income students for the formula is likely to change further next year. Illinois lawmakers put $200,000 in this year’s budget for the state education department to come up with a new way to count low-income students in response to the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which cut funding for many social programs.

There was a 43% rise in low-income students this year, according to ISBE. That coupled with lower property tax revenues and increases in teacher salaries and instructional material costs are what is driving districts away from being adequately funded, state Superintendent Tony Sanders told reporters in a webinar Friday.

Schools get at least the same amount of money they received the year prior. Districts furthest from achieving adequate funding are first in line to receive more money. Lawmakers added $350 million — the typical annual funding commitment — this year as part of the state budget.

Despite more districts faltering in their march toward adequate funding, total state spending on K-12 schools totals over $9 billion. That’s up by more than $2 billion since evidence-based funding was introduced in 2017.

Notably, that money is unrestricted. So districts do not have to use the money exactly in line with where the state identified heightened needs.

Zooming in on Chicago’s state funding this year

Chicago Public Schools remains one of the neediest districts in Illinois.

Overall, CPS will get about $1.9 billion from the state for the 2026-27 school year. That’s nearly $66 million – or about one-fifth — of the $350 million increase in state education funding. But it falls just short of the $2 billion the Chicago Board of Education hopes to get.

Last week, the school board passed an amended budget that increased the amount it expected to get from the state through the evidence-based formula, from $1.9 billion to $2 billion. Additionally, it assumes $50 million more from a separate pot of state funding that’s meant to reimburse CPS for other services, such as special education and student transportation costs.

The board also directed CPS CEO Macquline King to reverse hundreds of staff layoffs as part of its new budget.

If the funding doesn’t come through, schools may be forced to cut staff or programs in the middle of the school year. While King urged the board not to assume more funding than CPS was expecting, she and board members have said they will press the state to boost its support during the Illinois legislature’s November veto session, which would require three-fifths of lawmakers in the state House and Senate to approve.

“We will be working with our government partners at both the city and the state level to secure the additional funding that our schools need, and we really hope that you stay tuned so that we can inform you how you can help us with that advocacy for additional school funding,” King said Thursday evening during a webinar for the public.

If lawmakers agreed to give CPS more money, Sanders said ISBE would advocate that all districts get a funding increase.

Disbursements of funds to districts should start Monday, according to ISBE.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org. Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois back-to-school sales tax holiday starts Aug. 7. Here’s what qualifies.

2026-08-05T21:16:19+00:00

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Hold off on back-to-school shopping just a little longer — your wallet will thank you.

Families across Illinois can save a bit of money when they go shopping this week because of the state’s upcoming sales tax holiday. Starting Friday, the state’s 6.25% sales tax will be cut to 1.25% on qualifying school supplies and clothing for children and teens. If a store has a higher sales tax than the standard, it will decrease the rate by 5 percentage points.

Not all parents and educators will get that relief this back-to-school season. Illinois is one of just 17 states implementing a sales tax reduction before students return to school this year, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators.

The tax holiday comes as school supplies have grown more expensive, adding to the rising costs frustrating many Americans. Since last year, the prices of items such as lunch boxes, notebooks, and index cards have increased by more than 20%, according to The Century Foundation, a progressive policy think tank.

Here’s what you need to know before going back-to-school shopping.

When is the tax holiday?

This year’s back-to-school sales tax holiday in Illinois runs from Aug. 7 through Aug. 16.

In Chicago, that means families and educators can shop until about a week before K-12 students kick off the new school year on Aug. 24.

What items are eligible for a reduced sales tax?

Many school supplies are included in this year’s sales tax reduction. Shoppers can purchase eligible items at brick-and-mortar stores and most online stores. Some examples are:

Binders
Backpacks
Calculators
Notebooks
Crayons, colored pencils, markers, regular pencils, pens, and erasers
Lunch boxes
Folders
Glue and tape
Rulers
Loose-leaf paper

The 10-day period includes sales tax reductions for certain clothing items, too. Each item must be under $125 to qualify. Eligible clothing includes everyday essentials and other items such as raincoats, lab coats, mittens, scarves, belts, and school uniforms.

The reduced sales tax also applies to most shoes and socks that cost less than $125.

What isn’t eligible?

There are a few categories of items that do not qualify for a reduced tax rate, including sports gear, protective equipment, art supplies such as clay and paints, textbooks, computer supplies, and electronics.

The following items also do not qualify for the tax holiday:

Cosmetics
Hair accessories
Nonprescription sunglasses
Jewelry and watches
Umbrellas

Can I use coupons or exchange an item?

When determining whether a clothing or footwear item is under $125, shoppers should use the price listed by the store, including markdowns. However, applying a coupon that lowers an item’s price below $125 does not qualify it for the sales tax reduction.

If an item purchased during the tax holiday needs to be exchanged for a different size or color after the tax holiday ends, no extra sales tax is applied.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

How should schools use AI? Illinois is providing some guidance for teachers and districts.

2026-07-10T19:55:13+00:00

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Illinois state education officials issued a 400-page document Thursday that provides teachers with an extensive framework for using artificial intelligence responsibly in the classroom.

How the technology gets used in schools is ultimately up to district leaders and the guidance document emphasizes the importance of human relationships in teaching and learning. It also discloses that popular AI chatbots ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini assisted in early drafts of the framework.

Rather than releasing a state mandate, state lawmakers directed the Illinois State Board of Education to develop AI recommendations for district policymakers last year — a step a majority of states have already taken. That flexibility is by design, as the guidance emphasizes “informed decisions based on local context, capacity, and community priorities,” according to the state’s top education agency.

“Our responsibility is to help schools navigate new technologies in a way that strengthens instruction, protects students, and builds trust for informed AI use between districts and the families and communities they serve,” state Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said in a statement.

Educators across the country are grappling with how to ethically use the cutting-edge technology in the classroom. In some ways, Illinois is late to the game compared with much of the country.

At least 34 states have adopted some form of guidance on using AI in K-12 schools, according to AI for Education, an advocacy group that trains teachers on how to use AI responsibly. A handful of other states also issued guidance this month, including Oklahoma, which added restrictions on educators using AI to grade or discipline students.

Illinois’ document states that educators shouldn’t only ask if AI can do a task, but “whether its use supports the purposes of schooling.” Illinois’ guidance also lays out four main principles:

Emphasizing the importance of human interaction in teaching and learning
Acknowledging schools’ role in engaging with their communities civically
Delineating AI as a tool to inform teaching rather than replace it
Recognizing that informed use of AI requires schools to identify purposes that are “deliberate, context-sensitive, and locally determined”

Initial language for the guidance was created without AI, the ISBE document reads. Instead, officials relied on AI to provide links for sourcing, check over sections for conciseness, and give feedback on the guidance’s clarity. Much of those tasks were checked over by a human to ensure accuracy.

Throughout the document, the agency gives specific examples of how teachers can use AI to enrich their planning process depending on grade level. That includes writing more effective prompts for chatbots to assist with lesson plans.

It also provides examples of instances where teachers may encounter ethical issues, such as student data privacy, transparency about using AI in email communications, cultural bias, and misinformation spread through AI hallucinations — a term used to describe when a chatbot presents incorrect or fabricated information as factual.

Over the next school year, ISBE will continue to release further guidance to schools, as well as create professional training on how to implement the AI framework, according to the department. The current guidance includes multiple templates for districts to develop their own AI policies.

Along with the guidance, the legislation also tasks schools to include internet safety instruction about the dangers of inappropriate AI-generated content as a form of cyberbullying.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

What’s next for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood? Secretary Teresa Ramos gives a sneak peak.

2026-07-01T10:01:00+00:00

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The Illinois Department of Early Childhood is officially open after years of development by state and local leaders.

The Wednesday launch serves as the first major milestone for the fledgling agency, which is tasked with consolidating most early childhood services previously split across three state departments. Despite the behemoth undertaking to house early childhood programs under one roof, the hard work has only just begun.

At the Illinois Department of Early Childhood’s helm is Teresa Ramos, the first secretary of the new agency. Ramos, who earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, most recently worked as the first assistant deputy governor for education in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office. Before that, she held leadership positions at education nonprofits Illinois Action for Children and Advance Illinois.

Chalkbeat sat down with Ramos last week just before she addressed a lecture hall of providers, educators, and advocates attending a conference put on by Northwestern University’s Early Childhood Research Alliance of Chicago. The interview was forward-facing, aimed at getting Ramos’ perspective on the new department’s future beyond its July 1 start date.

The following questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

As you’re rolling out the department, one of the main things is getting information out to families and providers. What is your plan over the next year to make sure that families and providers are informed about the department and know how to get the services they need?

We have, since the fall of 2023, been listening to families and providers about what they want. We have been really clear about setting up multiple ways of communicating and receiving communication from families. So we have work groups, we have our own internal and external infrastructure. We have conversations with you and others locally, and then preparing letters to providers. We sent one out last month, and then we’ll send one out to families in a couple of days.

Our short-term goal is a seamless transition, which means families shouldn’t really feel a big disruption in their services or care. They should feel like where they’ve gone before is where they can go again, and over time it should feel easier to navigate. For childcare providers who are out there supporting those families directly, we want to make it easier for them to do that work.

Obviously, the department doesn’t exist in a bubble. We’re in a time where, at the federal level, things are volatile, especially in the childcare and special education sector. How are you approaching leadership of this new department given this tumultuous period?

The volatility at the federal level means a lot of uncertainty and confusion for parents, but especially providers who might get information from a Tweet or commentary on the news. We have been really intentional about continuing to collaborate with the State Board of Education, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Children and Family Services, to make sure that we are all aligned and using every communications vehicle possible to share what we know definitively and what we don’t know.

That way, we are limiting the confusion and noise, and again, we become this place where providers and parents can go to ask their questions and get them answered. That’s how we’re managing that volatility in practice. I think, should it turn into our worst fears, there might be cuts or changes in priorities, meaning our programs will look very different than they look today.

With the new state budget going into effect at the same time as the Illinois Department of Early Childhood rolling out, there were some programs that did get an increase in funding. Others didn’t, they were just kept at a flat rate. What’s your vision for the new department’s role in advocating for early childhood funding at the state level to make sure programs are meeting families’ needs?

Our role is to listen to families’ wants and needs, and to understand what it takes for providers to deliver that across the racial, regional, cultural, linguistic diversity of the state. It’s also figuring out how to orient our grants, contracts, and funding to be aligned to that, and be in a cycle of continuous improvement, continuous listening as families’ needs and dynamics change.

We have to then take that information and say, ‘OK, this is what it would take to make sure that this is not a one size fits all program that only works for some.’ It’s a program that has to work in a rural community, in Chicago, across the diversity. So our job is to listen and really try to understand the costs, and do that in partnership with the field. We will share that with the many decision-makers in state government — the agency, the governor’s office, the General Assembly — to get incremental progress, which I see in the investment in early intervention and our operating infrastructure this fiscal year.

I’m curious what this role means to you personally given the significance of leading this department. How do you feel about taking that on?

It is an honor to get to do this work every day. I love it. It is so purpose driven, and I have a team of folks who are really early childhood education and care public servants. They want to work to make government services work for other people, and that fuels all of the work.

I’m also a mom of a 6-year-old. It is hard to juggle being a mom with a full-time job and having a 6-year-old and care options and piecing those together. I want to make it simpler. I understand the juggle, and it’s not even the most extreme for me. I know we can do better. I want to be accountable and responsible for doing better to drive equity and efficiency, and ultimately programs that work for everybody across the diversity of the state.

In a year from now, what in your mind would be considered an accomplishment that shows you’ve done your job well running the Illinois Department of Early Childhood?

We will have turned on July 1 into a central place of truth for the field, for parents, and for providers on where to get accurate information. In a year from now, it will feel like people know where to go to ask a question and someone is accountable to get them an answer or to keep them updated on that. That really leads our orientation toward serving the field.

I hope by next year at this time, we should see a launch of new technologies that support an improved operation infrastructure. Nothing will be done, but we’ll probably be in some user testing with parents and providers to make sure that how we are transforming how people engage with the state or our contract and grant partners is better.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois opens a new agency handling services for kids under 5. Here’s what it means for families.

2026-07-01T10:00:00+00:00

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Illinoisans raising young children now have a one-stop shop to get assistance for most of their needs — including childcare, early intervention, and preschool — thanks to a new state agency that opened Wednesday.

Three years after its inception, the Illinois Department of Early Childhood officially launches today, marking the start of its mission to streamline services for families. Instead of splitting programs across three state agencies, the Department of Early Childhood will house most of the services Illinois’ youngest children have relied on for decades.

Illinois now joins a growing list of other states that have opened their own agencies dedicated to providing early childhood services. But unlike most of its peer departments across the country, the Illinois Department of Early Childhood is entering its inaugural year amid a much more unpredictable federal landscape, especially in regard to Head Start and childcare subsidies.

The agency is headed by Secretary Teresa Ramos, who will oversee more than 500 staffers. Those include about 340 employees who will transfer from the state’s Department of Human Services, the Department of Children and Family Services, and the State Board of Education.

Illinois Department of Early Childhood Secretary Teresa Ramos answers a question from an attendee at the Northwestern University Early Childhood Research Alliance of Chicago's research conference in Chicago on June 25, 2026.

While Wednesday’s launch marks a milestone for state officials, who have a $86 million operating budget to work with, progress on improving historically labyrinthine services won’t happen overnight. In the coming months, the department will continue to roll out new initiatives — meaning families and providers will need to stay up-to-date on changes that could affect them.

Still, understanding the role of the new agency might feel overwhelming for families and providers unaware of the change. Here’s what we do — and don’t — know about the Illinois Department of Early Childhood so far.

Why is Illinois creating a new department for early learning and care?

Magda Zalewska, a mother to three young children from Romeoville, has wanted the intricacies of Illinois’ fragmented early childhood services to be simplified for a while. She’s become all too familiar with waiting on the phone for hours trying to get an answer about one of her children’s benefits while working a full-time job.

“I’ve been dealing with the system for half a decade, and it’s just very treacherous from a parental perspective,” she said. “Hearing that there’s change coming to the system is very relieving.”

Experiences like Zalewska’s are largely what prompted the formation of the Illinois Department of Early Childhood. Policymakers had long known how “bewildering” parents found the early childhood system in Illinois, but the state had always lacked a “whole system approach” to address those concerns, said Elliot Regenstein, a Foresight Law + Policy firm partner who specializes in early education.

Then came the pandemic, which only made it clearer that the state’s approach to early childhood was “never as coherent as it needs to be,” Regenstein said.

Edna Navarro Vidaurre is a regional council manager for Birth to Five Illinois’ Region 1-A, which encompasses Chicago and is a part of a broader network of 39 regions that provides community feedback for the state’s early childhood policymaking process. In her role, she often speaks with families, who she said often describe the tangle of early childhood services as a “spaghetti noodle.”

“It’s like a spider web, and so all of it is so complicated,” she said. “At the end of the day, the parents don’t really care where the money’s coming from. They just want to get into a program.”

In 2023, Pritzker announced his intent to create the Illinois Department of Early Childhood, which was shortly followed by a bill from state lawmakers codifying it into law in 2024. That legislation kickstarted the multi-year process to build the department, which opened up opportunities for community input on what people wanted out of the agency, said Bela Moté, president of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning in Chicago and chair of the department’s transition advisory committee.

“Historically, we as a state came to providers and parents and community members at the end of a design process,” Moté said. “This kind of flipped it to say, we actually need to design it with them.”

What programs will be under the Illinois Department of Early Childhood?

The Illinois Department of Early Childhood, or IDEC for short, is consolidating programs from ISBE, DHS, and DCFS — as well as the Governor’s Office for Early Childhood Development.

That means several vital early childhood services will no longer fall under those departments’ jurisdiction, and will instead move to IDEC. The total budget for implementing those programs totals $4.4 billion, according to the department. These include:

Childcare grants
Early intervention
Head Start and Migrant & Seasonal Head Start
Home visiting programs
Preschool for All
Early Childhood block grant system
Childcare licensing
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health aid

The unification of services may be especially helpful in Chicago, where families have a diverse array of childcare and preschool options available to them, Navarro Vidaurre said. Some children receive money from a couple funding streams to get a slot at a local center. By housing the different programs under one department, Navarro Vidaurre said it should hopefully ease the process in Chicago.

Will state services for my child be disrupted or delayed?

Ideally not. The department has repeatedly assured families that there should be no noticeable change to the way they access services for their child.

But major updates are still under development, which Moté said is an intentional feature of the agency’s incremental opening to avoid significant interruptions to care.

“There is a danger to flipping every light switch on and saying ‘We’re going to do this this way, and this way, and this way,’ and not having people be able to process the change and catch up with the expectations,” Moté said. “Taking it in bite-sized pieces, I actually think will go a long way.”

Zalewska, who also works as a developmental therapist in early intervention, has attended meetings to inform providers like her, as well as discussions catered to the public. But she said she still doesn’t have a clear idea on when to expect shifts that affect her profession. Most answers she said she receives include one qualifying phrase: “for now.”

“‘For now’ means there’s change to come, right?” Zalewska said. “But no one’s addressing that change to come, no one’s addressing any timelines.”

What about impacts to childcare providers?

Not much should be different for providers right away, either. Providers will still be paid through the current payment systems they have used before, according to the department. Ratios and teacher qualifications will also remain the same for childcare center licensing.

The only big change the department has flagged for providers is a shift to unify grants under one management system called EUNA. That system will be used to distribute all of the department’s grants for the next fiscal year, such as the Early Childhood Block Grants.

Where can I ask questions or give input?

All questions on early childhood programs in Illinois can be directed to the department’s customer service team by emailing Questions.IDEC@illinois.gov.

The agency’s bottom-up approach to creating policy and informing its decisions is also expected to continue. By the end of the year, the department’s transition advisory committee will submit a set of recommendations to the governor’s office and the early childhood department based in part on community members’ feedback on what issues they need fixed in the space.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Some immigrant children are more fearful than ever to go to school. U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia wants to help them.

2026-06-16T21:41:29+00:00

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An Illinois congressman is seeking to expand support for immigrant students in schools — a move that builds on protections state lawmakers approved last year.

U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, who represents several Latino communities in Chicago, introduced legislation Tuesday that would provide federal support to schools serving students affected by immigration enforcement. Joined by Chicago Board of Education member Yesenia Lopez and Latino Policy Forum President Linda Xóchitl Tortolero, Garcia unveiled the proposal, dubbed The Right to Learn Act, Tuesday before more than 30 students and staff at Richard J. Daley College in south Chicago.

“For immigrant kids, school is often the first place that they have in this country. They feel welcome, they feel seen, and they feel heard,” Garcia said. “Too many students now walk through the same doors in fear.”

But passing the bill will be a tall order in the Republican-controlled House for Garcia and the cohort of largely progressive House Democrats who co-sponsored it, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. That could change if Democrats flip the chamber in November’s midterms.

The bill would create a federal grant program for schools impacted by immigration enforcement. Schools could use the funding to hire bilingual counselors and social workers, promote trauma-informed and culturally sensitive mental health services, and provide emergency assistance to families in need. The U.S. Department of Education would administer the program.

The proposal comes as the Trump administration seeks to reduce educational funding for programs serving undocumented and immigrant students. Some of those efforts were carried out through President Donald Trump’s executive orders, including one targeting states that provide in-state tuition for undocumented college students.

Federal agencies have also played a role in cutting back services for immigrant children. Last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services barred undocumented children from using Head Start, a federal preschool program aimed at supporting low-income families. That policy is held up in a legal battle, but its looming implementation has worried some parents.

As the Education Department continues to wind down its services and transfer programs to other agencies, the Office of English Language Acquisition has been dissolved. Its funding for English language learning and teacher training is being folded into other programs, according to Education Department officials in April.

Garcia says his legislation contains the “spirit of that office,” adding that federal services such as the Office of English Language Acquisition helped ensure mental health support for students is “culturally rooted and considered.”

Chicago Board of Education member Yesenia Lopez speaks about The Right To Learn Act in a panel for Richard J. Daley College students and faculty in South Chicago on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

Given federal rollbacks and Trump’s mass deportation campaign, Illinois state lawmakers took steps last year to enhance protections for immigrant children.

A new state law requires Illinois schools to follow policies on how to respond to immigration enforcement agents on campus and prohibits schools from requesting a student’s immigration status or Social Security number. Another law passed last year largely blocks university and childcare staff from revealing a family’s immigration status.

Garcia’s bill is a way to extend those protections at the federal level, said state Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, who represents Little Village and Brighton Park, during the press conference.

“You need to put your money where your mouth is, and a bill like this really allows for our schools to make sure they’re safe spaces,” he said.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

CPS CEO Macquline King testified before Congress. Here are 3 key takeaways.

2026-06-10T23:27:27+00:00

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Chicago Public Schools CEO Macquline King’s summer is already off to an unconventional start — testifying in front of Congress just a few months after officially landing the superintendent role.

The Republican-led U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing Wednesday morning where King answered a litany of questions on the district’s policies on gender identity, sex education, abortion, and religious freedom. It’s the latest in an ongoing saga that has placed CPS under federal scrutiny for its efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

CPS has had an especially strained relationship with the Trump administration over the past year and a half. Two months after Trump took office, conservative groups filed federal Title IX complaints with the U.S. Department of Education, alleging CPS’ LGBTQ protections violated the anti-discrimination clause. Then in September, federal officials pulled magnet school grant funding. The district is also under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights for its Black Student Success Plan — an initiative meant to improve conditions for Black students and teachers — for alleged race-based discrimination.

“Whether it’s building community partnerships, advocating for our schools or testifying before Congress as she’s done today, we applaud [Dr. King’s] unwavering commitment to keeping students and families at the center,” Chicago Board of Education President Sean Harden told reporters after the hearing Wednesday.

Alongside King, two other superintendents spoke before the committee — Maria Su from San Francisco Unified School District and Aaron Spence from Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools. All three school districts are located in largely Democratic-leaning areas and implement progressive policies.

But King’s appearance was under different circumstances from Su and Spence. The committee ordered King to answer its questions in person by subpoenaing her last month. King acknowledged the legal order in her opening statements, attributing it to “complicated scheduling issues and some underlying privacy concerns.”

Earlier this week, America First Legal filed federal complaints to the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice calling for investigations into each of the school districts in question. The organization, co-founded by White House senior advisor Stephen Miller, largely focused its grievance on issues regarding gender and sexuality in schools.

Questioning lasted for about three hours. Here are the noteworthy takeaways from King’s testimony.

King’s testimony style? An even tone with brief responses

Heading into Wednesday’s hearing, it was no surprise that King was called to testify on the district’s policies. Chicago already found itself in the hot seat about a year ago when Mayor Brandon Johnson was called to testify in front of Congress about the city’s immigration laws.

King’s testimony approach wasn’t nearly as combative as previous exchanges between the district and the Trump administration. Instead, King kept a steady tone and took several opportunities to affirm that CPS values parental input.

She kept most of her answers concise, and at times, didn’t answer “yes” or “no” to questions she was asked to do so. King answered many questions by saying: “CPS is in compliance with Illinois state law.”

“Dr. King emphasized that CPS policies are rooted in law, the District’s mission and values. Above all else, Dr. King emphasized the District must always prioritize the best interests of students and their families,” CPS said in a written statement after the hearing.

Those blunt answers sometimes elicited frustration from Republicans, who cut King off a few times. It also led to several reprimands about CPS’ academic performance and massive budget deficit.

“CPS has shown it is far more interested in sidelining parents and advancing radical gender ideology than ensuring students can read, write, and perform math at grade level,” said Republican Rep. Mary Miller, Illinois’ sole member on the committee.

Most Republicans focused on gender identity and sexuality, while Democrats pointed to other issues

All three superintendents fielded questions on school rules related to gender identity and sexuality. For CPS, policies about transgender students’ sleeping situations for overnight field trips and their ability to use the locker room for the gender they identify with came under fire.

“If a student is transitioning and they have gone through the eligibility process and it has been approved according to Illinois policy, that would be considered on a case by case basis,” King said, when pressed by North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx on transgender girls being allowed to sleep in the same room as cisgender girls.

Republicans also raised concerns about Chicago’s sex education curriculum teaching about puberty blockers, as well as school staff calling students by a different pronoun or name than they use at home. Several referenced recent actions by the U.S. Supreme Court that expanded a parent’s authority over their child’s education as evidence that the school districts in question Wednesday were not complying with federal laws.

The Democratic committee members used their time to bring up other issues in education they saw as more pressing: budget cuts, immigration enforcement, and school shootings. Several Democrats also apologized to the superintendents for some of the fiery statements made by Republican lawmakers.

“You know what you do, you’re good at what you do,” said Rep. Jahana Hayes, a Democrat from Connecticut. “Do not be intimidated by this committee.”

May Day protests scrutinized

One topic that got fewer mentions in committee — but more in-depth answers from King — was the district’s approach to May Day.

In an agreement last month between the Chicago Teachers Union and CPS, the city’s schools stayed open that day and provided a full day of instruction, which included lessons on civic engagement and labor.

As part of May Day, CPS approved and provided transportation for 40 field trips — with about 2,200 of the district’s 315,000 students involved. Some of those trips was to a downtown pro-labor, anti-Trump rally, which was called into question during Wednesday’s hearing.

King defended CPS’ handling of May Day, saying it was part of the district’s goal to “engage students civically.” When asked if field trips would be approved for protests aligned with conservative causes, King emphasized that the day of instruction was “not a politically slanted event.”

“The curriculum was expansive and there were options,” King said. “The curriculum was still decided at the school level, and so were the field trips.”

King also tentatively agreed to a lawmaker’s demand that the district investigate a May Day field trip permission slip that said students would “engage in political advocacy.”

Reema Amin contributed to this report.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois lawmakers define play-based learning as full-day kindergarten requirement rolls out statewide

2026-06-09T19:10:39+00:00

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For six weeks, Melinda Martinez-Epperson’s preschool students immersed themselves in studying the medical field — all because one of their schoolmates arrived to class with a cast on their broken arm.

Their classroom was turned into a makeshift hospital. The students crafted an email to a physician with questions on x-rays, and they molded their own casts on dolls.

At the Play Lab, a home-based preschool in Albany Park, students take the lead on what subjects to focus on and learn through something all kids love: play.

“They become researchers,” said Martinez-Epperson, the school’s founder. “So it’s really high-order thinking.”

Martinez-Epperson’s teaching style, known as play-based learning, isn’t an anomaly. It’s part of a larger nationwide movement to give students more hands-on and exploratory learning experiences — notably against the backdrop of an education system still grappling with pandemic recovery and how to address artificial intelligence and screen time in the classroom.

Now, kindergarten teachers in Illinois have a clearer understanding of how to implement play-based learning in their classrooms after state lawmakers passed an official definition for the practice last month.

School districts were already required to incorporate play-based learning — though originally left undefined — into classrooms as part of a state law passed in 2023 requiring all districts to offer full-day kindergarten by the 2027-28 school year.

The legislation defines play-based learning by underscoring two types of play: teacher-initiated and student-initiated. In teacher-initiated play, an educator intentionally sets up and leads students through activities “aligned to learning goals or standards,” according to the bill. For instance, a teacher might create a scavenger hunt for students to do on a nature walk as a way to learn about the environment. Student-initiated play lets children explore learning activities curated by their teacher, such as open-ended arts and crafts.

By clearly outlining play-based learning into law, Edgebrook Elementary School pre-K teacher and Teach Plus fellow Margi Bhansali said educators will have “a little bit more to stand on” if their administrators aren’t supportive of the practice.

Bhansali, who helped draft the bill’s wording, has used play-based learning on a daily basis for about 14 years teaching preschool in Chicago Public Schools. But that hasn’t always been the case in kindergarten, which she said has been turned into “the new first grade, second grade, third grade” to meet academic standards.

Play as an answer to the ‘schoolification’ of kindergarten?

Many schools cater their activities to improve standardized test scores and other metrics, even at the kindergarten level— something University of Chicago Medicine professor Dana Suskind refers to as the “schoolification” of early childhood education.

But a formal, traditional school experience doesn’t offer what Suskind, who is also director for University of Chicago’s TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, says is the main way young kids learn: through play. That doesn’t mean children get extra recess, but instead, they participate in activities that allow them to explore concepts and ask questions.

Play-based learning isn’t intended to replace direct instruction but rather serve as a way to enhance it, said Cristina Carrazza, a NORC at the University of Chicago researcher.

For example, students might learn their letters by forming them with sticks or Play-Doh rather than tracing them on a worksheet. It’s fun for the kids and gives them a memorable experience that makes them excited to learn.

Those types of activities are especially useful in a kindergarten classroom where children might experience a tough transition from daycare or home to attending elementary school. Teachers can observe students’ skills through play, as well as individualize their teaching approach, Carrazza said.

It’s also a learning concept that applies to children of all ages. Diana Zepeda, another teacher who worked on the new definition, often encountered misconceptions in her advocacy about applying play-based learning in older classrooms. As a second grade teacher at Haugan Elementary School in Albany Park, she instructs 7- and 8-year-olds through play, such as taking them to the school parking lot to measure a car with different unit measurements.

“When I see students are struggling, I’m like, OK, this is my cue to plan something,” Zepeda said. “In second grade, we call it more like ‘hands on’ instead of play-based, but it’s basically the same thing.”

How play pays off in the long run

Researchers and teachers emphasize many benefits for students as a result of play-based learning.

Students who are too shy — or too bored — to participate in a lesson might find themselves more engaged and less likely to have behavior issues when given opportunities to learn through play, Carrazza said. It can also reinvigorate educators’ motivation to teach, she said.

“There’s like a buzz in the room. Students are excited, they’re on task, and you know, they look forward to it throughout the day,” Carrazza said.

One of the biggest developments Bhansali sees in her pre-K students is improving their soft skills — things like negotiating, building relationships, problem-solving, and sharing with others. Children can’t “necessarily show [those abilities] on a test score or on a report card,” Bhansali said, but they are important for students’ success later in life.

A ‘step in the right direction’ but more work to be done

Play-based learning requires a lot of creativity from a teacher to form intentional experiences for their students. That translates to a larger undertaking, which Suskind said could be a barrier for educators already balancing a heavy workload.

“We need to think about what we can take off their plate so that they can be more present,” she said.

Reducing classroom sizes could be part of the solution, said Martinez-Epperson, the educator at the Play Lab. Investing in play-based learning training for teachers is another gap to be addressed.

Then, there’s the need to ensure equitable access to play-based learning opportunities — an issue personal to Martinez-Epperson. Students from under-resourced communities, especially Black and brown children, often miss out on play in the classroom when they are “the children who need it the most,” she said. Instead of play-based learning, those children are pressured to focus on testing, Martinez-Epperson said.

As a first-generation Mexican- and Cuban-American, Martinez-Epperson recalls her childhood as difficult. Her own hands-on school experiences affected her positively as a student and ignited her passion for teaching, she said.

That shouldn’t be a unique educational experience because “every child deserves play,” she said.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Here’s how much education funding is in Illinois’ FY27 state budget

2026-06-04T22:38:35+00:00

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Illinois schools have a slightly larger windfall of new money coming their way compared to last year after lawmakers passed a $56 billion state budget late Sunday. An array of early childhood programs also will get more money, while other education initiatives maintained their funding levels or saw financial reductions from the year prior.

Within that multibillion dollar budget, K-12 schools are in line for $9.2 billion through the evidence-based funding formula, which is a $350 million increase over last year. The Illinois General Assembly’s budget is for the 2027 fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.

The increase is in line with a promise lawmakers made a decade ago to fully fund all districts through the evidence-based formula by adding $350 million each year for 10 years. But local education advocates continue to demand more funds for schools, pointing out that Illinois is not on track to meet its original goal of full funding by 2027.

The formula has led to a roughly $2 billion increase in state funding since 2017. Each year schools are guaranteed to receive at least the same amount of money they received the year before and higher-need districts are prioritized to get a larger share of the annual increase.

Top state officials highlighted the finalized budget allocations as a responsible choice in the face of an uncertain federal funding landscape, especially for public schools.

“The state of Illinois cannot undo every reckless decision being made in Washington, but we can choose what kind of state we’re going to be at this moment,” Senate President Don Harmon said in a Monday news conference.

With the exception of one year of flat funding in the past decade, lawmakers have stayed firm in their commitment to increase education funding annually, said Robin Steans, president of education advocacy group Advance Illinois. That’s not something to take for granted, she said, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more work to be done. At the current funding pace, it could take another decade to fully fund Illinois schools, Steans said.

The Illinois State Board of Education has not yet calculated how much of an increase each school district will get under the evidence-based formula.

Chicago Public Schools is facing a $732 million deficit and the district has already tightened staffing and further cuts are likely to ensue, which only intensified demands for lawmakers to put more money into CPS in the weeks leading up to the end of the session.

What the state budget means for Chicago schools

For the first time in her 12 years of working as an English teacher at George Westinghouse College Prep in Humboldt Park, Melina Lesus experienced budget cuts at her school. In the past year, Lesus said students lost their choir and French classes.

The strained CPS budget is “slashing” her students’ choices, which is why she joined a large cohort of CTU members and other community advocates last week on a bus trip to Springfield to make their case for more education funding.

Diane Castro the financial secretary of the CTU speaks during the “Wheels Up” event on Wed., May 27, 2026 in Chicago., Illinois.

“Cuts to the arts, to sports, or to critical support staff tell our students, my children, that they are not worth the investment,” CTU financial secretary Diane Castro told reporters at the union’s news conference.

That sentiment didn’t change much after the budget was released. Stacy Davis Gates, president of both the Chicago Teachers Union and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said in a statement that there is still “progress to be made” on providing adequate funding.

“Without further action from the General Assembly, our students will be hungrier. Our families will have less access to healthcare. Schools will be saddled with more unfunded mandates in a Blue state,” Gates said. “Leaving Springfield with those results would be as backwards as anything can be.”

Nationally, CPS’ debt stands out. The school system carries more than three times the average debt per capita compared to the other largest school districts in the country, according to a June report from the independent fiscal research group The Civic Federation.

This year’s budget does include money to update school buildings in Chicago. Millions of dollars were reappropriated for more than 160 schools to make improvements such as installing new windows, updating HVAC systems, and upgrading playgrounds.

Lawmakers also included a small increase in funding for the City Colleges of Chicago.

How money for statewide education programs stacked up compared to previous years

When it came to funding education-related programs, some fared better or worse than last year — and some made off just OK.

One new initiative receiving a $200,000 boost is the Illinois State Board of Education’s development of a new criteria for low-income population counts due to narrowed federal eligibility rules for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Illinois relies on children’s participation in federal social services to identify them in a school’s low-income population — a major factor in EBF funding. The new criteria seeks to avoid under-counting students from low-income families as more become unenrolled from federal programs.

The state budget delivered for the new Department of Early Childhood — which will oversee several programs serving Illinois’ youngest children starting July 1 — by allotting nearly $86 million toward its operations. Early intervention also got a financial bump of $15 million.

Other early childhood programs stayed at the same funding levels as the year before. That includes $212 million for the Smart Start Child Care Workforce Compensation Program, which supplies wages for early childhood educators.

Funding for public higher education institutions — known as the Monetary Award Program — was kept at a flat 1% increase. By not distributing more money to colleges and universities, Steans said costs will trickle down to students, forcing them to go out-of-state or not pursue higher education at all.

“I think historically we’ve treated higher education as discretionary: nice, but not necessary, a luxury,” she said. “Increasingly, it’s just not. We need students to earn those associate’s degrees and those bachelor’s degrees.”

Other notable state budget items passed this year include:

The Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan and the Illinois Comprehensive Numeracy Plan, which kept the same funding level of $1.5 million as last fiscal year.
A $15 million reduction in the Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program, which helps school districts create incentives to hire and retain teachers.
The Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois Program, which was maintained at about $2 million in funding
A new $1 million allocation to fund ISBE’s implementation of mental health screeners in schools

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the CPS deficit is $732 million.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Illinois lawmakers pass cellphone ban in classrooms. Here’s when it goes into effect.

2026-06-01T18:50:14+00:00

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Illinois is set to join a growing number of states that have barred cellphone use in the classroom.

Just as the Illinois General Assembly reached its deadline to wrap up its legislative session Sunday, the state Senate passed legislation that would largely restrict cellphones in Illinois schools. The legislation would go into effect for the 2027-28 school year, meaning school districts will have a year to plan before the restrictions are implemented.

The bill now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker, who has been a vocal advocate for limiting cellphone use in the classroom. It’s quite the turnaround in the Illinois state legislature, which failed to pass the bill in the state House of Representatives despite unanimous Senate approval during last year’s session.

Cellphones aren’t the only devices the bill bars from the classroom — tablets, laptops, gaming consoles, and smart watches are also banned. School-issued devices are exempt from the ban.

These broad restrictions aim to improve students’ academic performance by removing the distraction of what the bill calls “wireless communication devices,” proponents say. Barring them from classrooms could also “strengthen friendships and human interactions, and minimize bullying,” said Jessica Handy, executive director of Stand for Children Illinois.

The cellphone ban wasn’t the only legislation taking aim at children’s device usage that lawmakers passed this week. Another bill heading to Pritzker’s desk outlines limitations on social media platforms’ algorithms to protect children’s privacy. Both bills received bipartisan support from state lawmakers — something Pritzker said underscored the urgency of addressing the effects of cellphones on children.

“We’re giving children more classroom focus and a better education by banning kids’ use of cellphones during the school day from start to finish,” Pritzker said at a Monday news conference.

Research on the effectiveness of banning cellphones in schools is still preliminary, but results have been largely mixed. An April study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed a reduction in phone usage in schools with storage pouches for phones, but also found a minimal impact on student test scores or attendance.

Thirty-five other states have enacted legislation that bans or limits cellphone use in the classroom over the past few years, according to Ballotpedia.

Some changes from last year’s version of the bill include exceptions to ensure student safety, and limits on punitive measures against children who violate the bans. For example, after members of the legislative Black Caucus and Stand for Children expressed concern that students of color could be disproportionately disciplined, lawmakers added a section disallowing suspensions, expulsions, and fines against students who violate their district’s policy.

Several other exceptions are also folded into the legislation. Devices can be exempted from the policy if:

A healthcare professional has determined it is medically necessary.
It is used for an Individualized Education Program, which outlines accommodations for students with disabilities.
The student is a caregiver responsible for a family member.
An English language learner uses it for translation.
A school staff member has allowed the use of the device.
An emergency occurs.
A school district allows usage during high school lunch breaks and periods between classes.

Over the next year, school districts must figure out how to store students’ restricted devices, because the bill doesn’t specify how schools must do so. If a device “stored in good faith” is damaged, school staff cannot be held liable, according to the bill. Some organizations such as the Illinois Federation of Teachers previously seemed hesitant about storage guidance, specifically what it might cost schools to implement.

The State Board of Education will provide a template for school cellphone policies by September. Feedback from local teachers unions is required, and student input is encouraged to help districts develop their policies.

Once the policies go into effect, parents can find their school’s rules on their district website or student handbook.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago school board elections kicks off with the first day of candidate filing. Who is trying to run?

2026-05-18T18:23:03+00:00

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The first step toward Chicago’s historic school board elections is officially underway, as candidates lined up early Monday to file paperwork to enter the races.

By 8:30 a.m., a line of more than 20 people buzzing with excitement to file paperwork had already formed in downtown Chicago. Some hopefuls were accompanied by family or campaign staff, while others clutched their documents alone.

But showing up to the Board of Elections site wasn’t just about submitting paperwork in a punctual fashion. Many of those early risers were after something they see as an added bonus: Those who arrive by 9 a.m. on the first day of candidate filing are entered in a lottery to be the first name listed on November’s ballot.

For the first time, all 21 members of Chicago’s Board of Education will be up for election. It’s the last step of a multi-year process — kickstarted by the state legislature — to transition away from having Chicago’s mayor appoint members to the board. Chicagoans got a taste of that shift in 2024 when they voted for half the board’s members. Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed the remaining 11 members, including the board’s president.

Candidates are vying for seats representing 20 districts across Chicago, in addition to another spot for president of the board. Term lengths vary by district, with some expiring every two years while others — including the board president — last four years.

People running for a school board need to collect between 500 and 1,500 valid signatures from voters who live in the hopeful candidate’s district. In the case of the Chicago Board of Education president, candidates need at least 2,500 valid signatures. Not all candidates who showed up Monday will end up on the Nov. 3 ballot, as they can be challenged on the validity of their signatures and possibly disqualified.

Candidates walk inside the Chicago Board of Elections Supersite in downtown Chicago to file paperwork on Monday, May 18, 2026.

From Monday’s showing, the races are already shaping up to showcase a mix of familiar faces and newcomers. The contest for school board president so far includes former board vice president Sendhil Revuluri, and current elected board members Jessica Biggs and Jennifer Custer.

Several current board members — some who are facing election for the first time — submitted their candidate paperwork in hopes of continuing to represent their district come November. Other current board members already had campaigning experience under their belt.

Collecting signatures for this year’s election was much easier for Anusha Thotakura, who represents District 6A, because her district is much smaller than when she first ran in 2024. Another big difference Thotakura has noticed is the engagement from Chicagoans in the race.

“Before, a lot of people in the city didn’t even know we had a school board or what the school board did,” she said. “And now, more people know about what’s going on. They have issues they want to get involved with, and a lot of that is sparking this increase in participation.”

Realtor LaPamela Williams, who filed to run in District 5A, poses for a portrait inside the Chicago Board of Elections Supersite on Monday, May 18, 2026.

For others waiting in line, winning election would mean the first time serving on the board. Personal experience in Chicago schools was the primary motivation for LaPamela Williams, a realtor looking to represent District 5A. Growing up, Williams said her mother sent her to a high school outside her neighborhood so she could get a better quality education. Williams doesn’t want other families to continue having to make that choice.

“I want to see a different run school system, especially in my district,” Williams said.

The filing period ends May 26. That’s when another long line of candidates will likely form to snag the last spot in the ballot order, which is also determined by a lottery.

Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.