Tag: Education

Book Drive for Flooded School Library at Murphy Elementary, Round Lake Park

Posted on by Scott Horwitz

Flooded WJ Murphy Elementary Faces a Tough Challenge: Restock the school library before the school year begins in August.

The Library at WJ Murphy Elementary In Round Lake Park, July 12, 2017. Photo Courtesy of Rep. Sam Yingling

No school library should have bare shelves.

The devastating storms of July 11-12, left the WJ Murphy Elementary’s school library as a “total loss,” Shelia Duhon, executive director of operations for Round Lake Community Unit School District 116, told the Chicago Tribune.

If you have books that are suitable for children grades K-5, please consider donating them to our neighbors in need.

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Action: Thank IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan for Protecting Students

Posted on by Scott Horwitz

Lisa Madigan is suing Betsy DeVos.

What you need to know:

Secretary of Education Betsy Devos has rescinded rules to protect students from predatory lending practices at for-profit colleges. Lisa Madigan and 18 other states’ Attorneys General are suing the Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education to enforce rules put in place to protect students.

  • “Her [DeVos’s] decision to cancel vital protections for students and taxpayers is a betrayal of her office’s responsibility and a violation of federal law.” – Mass AG Maura Healey
  • “The Department of Education violated federal law by abruptly rolling back its Borrower Defense to Repayment rule, which was designed to hold abusive higher education institutions accountable for cheating students and taxpayers out of billions of dollars in federal loans.” – The Hill

Action: Send a THANK YOU to Lisa Madigan for Protecting Students!

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Education and Funding Reform & Budget Townhall

Posted on by Sonny Cohen

State Rep Carol Sente:
Attend State Rep Carol SenteTown Hall next week Tuesday June 20 to hear more about the Education Funding Reform bill that passed both chambers as well as current information about the state budget.

There is a great deal of misinformation about SB 1 that creates a new education funding model for Illinois. Via our constitution, the state is supposed to provide more money to our public schools. The Governor and both parties are interested in finding a fair and equitable new funding model. The bill sponsor spent four years working on a formula. All IL public schools get more money. Schools are divided into four categories, the poorest schools get a higher percentage of new funding to bring them closer to the new “adequacy target”. Schools that are better funded locally receive less state funding. We want all students to get a great education regardless of zip code. While prior iterations of this concept created “winners and losers”, that bill was never called and I did not support. This bill brings District 59 schools collectively over $1 M in