Our Stories
Three years ago, education advocates flooded the state capitol with petitions, calls, and in-person visits fighting for evidence-based school funding. Thanks to your efforts, we won! Evidence-based funding has transformed classrooms across Illinois in districts that had long been deeply underfunded. What have your efforts gained? Updated curriculum. More social workers, school counselors, and classroom teachers. Modernized […]
As I read last night’s election results, the term “public servant” started taking on a deeper meaning. A public servant is typically defined as a government official, particularly someone elected to office, whose job is to serve the greater good. I suggest, in this time of a global health crisis, that each of us strives […]
Libraries, arts, safe and proper learning facilities, and engaging extracurricular activities. These are a few things that most parents and teachers would say all schools should have. I agree. I had the opportunity to share my thoughts – including the need for strong extracurricular activities – at a recent budget workshop at Corliss High School […]
Last week in Springfield, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) hosted its third meeting for the statewide Support and Accountability Listening Tour. This series of meetings is intended to collect feedback on Illinois’ Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) Action Plan which uses key learning metrics to assess school quality. You may remember Stand’s video, A Better […]
High property taxes drive school funding inequity. But for every 2 districts that over-tax, there is at least 1 under-taxing district out there. The Evidence-Based Funding Formula identifies a target property tax rate for every district. The model calculates how much each district needs to be funded adequately. It then specifies a local capacity percentage (LCP) based […]
We’ve been saying for a while now that elected officials need to stop our state’s atrocious Brain Drain problem, and last week, we got a wakeup call that puts the crisis into stark relief. New data from the Illinois Board of Higher Education show that in 2017, nearly 50% of Illinois public high school graduates enrolled […]
