Author: Samantha Smylie

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.Illinois lawmakers passed a $55 billion budget with slim increases to early childhood education programs and K-12 schools. The lack of new dollars for programs comes as schools grapple with smaller budgets since federal COVID-19 relief expired. It’s a challenging time for the state government, local school districts, and child care providers. As state lawmakers negotiated the budget during the legislative session, there was fear that federal funding tied to schools could be stripped away. The U.S. Department of Education threatened federal…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.With just over a month left in the spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers are advancing a number of education-related bills, including ones that would restrict the use of cellphones in classrooms, no longer require student test scores to be a part of teacher evaluations, and protect federal rights for students with disabilities in the mediation process with districts. Other proposals, such as new regulations for homeschooling and a task force related to artificial intelligence, appear to be stalled. In addition, state lawmakers…