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llinois lawmakers are proposing a change to state law that would no longer require school districts to use students’ test scores in teacher evaluations.
Senate Bill 28, if approved, would roll back changes made 15 years ago that were aimed at improving teacher evaluation systems amid a push by the federal government under the Obama administration to link teacher quality to students’ success in the classroom.
Democratic state Sens. Kimberly Lightford, the Senate majority leader who represents neighborhoods on Chicago’s west side and western suburbs, and Meg Loughran Cappel, who represents Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, are co-sponsoring the measure, which would leave it up to districts to decide whether to link evaluations to student growth.
The bill passed out of committee with no discussion Tuesday afternoon. According to the Illinois General Assembly’s website, nearly 400 proponents, including the Illinois Educators Association, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Principal Association, and Illinois Stand for Children have signed witness slips in support of the change. There were only 11 opponents and two with no position, notably one from the Chicago Public Schools.
If the bill is passed into law, changes would take effect July 1, 2025.
* WAND…
Illinois lawmakers are renewing their push to ban retail stores from selling products containing chemicals linked to poor health outcomes.
Senators passed a plan last year to ban stores from selling products with additives like brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, Red Dye 3 and titanium dioxide by January 1, 2027.
They noted the bill could prohibit harmful additives commonly found in candy, pop and ultra-processed food linked to a recent spike in diabetes, autism, ADHD, and cancer. Although, the legislation failed to move in the House.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias led the push to pass the measure last year. The Democrat shared a video message in support of the new proposal Monday night.
“Illinois must act to ban the use of harmful additives,” Giannoulias said in a post on X. “Please contact your state legislators and voice your support for Senate Bill 93 to help ensure Illinoisans, and especially our children, eat safer and healthier food.”
* WTWO…
Two Illinois lawmakers, Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyvile) and Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield), have introduced legislation that would make daylight saving time “the year-round standard time in the entire state.”
The bills, which contain nearly identical language, aim to eliminate the two yearly clock changes in March and November by making daylight saving time permanent. If approved, the change could take effect in March 2026, provided it aligns with federal regulations.
Both bills (HB 1400 and HB 0039) have advanced to the Illinois House Rules Committee, though similar proposals have stalled there in recent years. Because of that, it remains unclear whether either measure will gain enough support to move forward. […]
In any case that Illinois were to pass a law for a permanent daylight saving change, it would still need to comply with federal laws. States that didn’t previously make a change around a Congressional Amendment in 1972 would need approval from U.S. Congress to otherwise make the change a reality.
* Rep. Sonya Harper filed HB2557 yesterday…
Creates the Cannabis Delivery License Act. Provides that a Cannabis Delivery License shall authorize the license holder to deliver cannabis or cannabis-infused products purchased from a licensed dispensary directly to consumers within Illinois. Sets out application and operational requirements. Provides for penalties and enforcement. Requires the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to adopt rules. Effective immediately.
House Bill 2502 and Senate Bill 1519 follow the findings of a yearlong investigation by ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune.
The investigation found that schools ticket students for in-schools behavior, even though Illinois law bans school officials from fining students themselves. Instead, they have law enforcement officials issue tickets to students in schools for violating local ordinances.
The investigation found 11,800 tickets were issued to students between 2019 and 2021, and Black students were twice as likely to be ticketed than their white peers. […]
Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, who sponsored the bill in the House, said fees and fines don’t address the underlying issues for which students are ticketed. Instead, he said he thinks school-based discipline, educational programming and restorative justice programs should be used.
“If the student is caught vaping, what benefit to the student is there to have the student get a ticket? The benefit is recognizing that there may be a problem and possibly referring the student to help,” Ford said. “And so, our goal is to help students and not lead them down a path of what we all have heard, the school prison pipeline.”
* HB2534 filed by Rep. Nabeela Syed…
Amends the Genetic Information Privacy Act. Provides that an insurer may not seek information derived from genetic testing for use in connection with a policy of life insurance. Provides that an insurer may consider the results of genetic testing in connection with a policy of life insurance if the individual voluntarily submits the results and the results are favorable to the individual. Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that an insurer must comply with the provisions of the Genetic Information Privacy Act in connection with the amendment, delivery, issuance, or renewal of a life insurance policy; claims for or denial of coverage under a life insurance policy; or the determination of premiums or rates under a life insurance policy.
* WAND…
State Senate Democrats filed a bill that would make all employers give at least 30 minutes of paid break time for nursing mothers to feed their children.
This would be additional paid break time and wouldn’t conflict with any other paid break such as lunchtime.
State Senator Laura Fine (D-Glenview) said when she was nursing her children at work, it was a struggle to find the time and she didn’t want the future generation of moms to feel the same.
“When you’re a new mom and you’re tired, you’re emotional and you’re getting back to work, for me we did not have that break to take care of my child,” Fine said.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 9:22 am
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=llinois lawmakers are proposing a change to state law that would no longer require school districts to use students’ test scores in teacher evaluations+
Yet another move to remove parents and the community from being able to ascertain the quality of education - I mean if a teacher has consistently low student test scores for the grade they are teaching shouldn’t they have some improvement process? In addition, my local district like many has removed A-F grading and now uses a “meeting standards /Exceeding standards approach. There is no discernable way to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of local education - a gift to the Teacher’s unions
Comment by Donnie Elgin Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 9:45 am
“… ascertain the quality of education … .”
10 years ago Buffalo was looking at public boarding schools to deal with children from dysfunctional families, as they heard “We have teachers and union leaders telling us, ‘The problem is with the homes; these kids are in dysfunctional homes.’ ”
Kids from dysfunctional homes don’t perform as well academically. How is that the fault of the teacher? School system? Teachers’ union?
Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 10:15 am
=The benefit is recognizing that there may be a problem and possibly referring the student to help,” Ford said. “And so, our goal is to help students and not lead them down a path of what we all have heard, the school prison pipeline.”=
=Yet another move to remove parents and the community from being able to ascertain the quality of education=
The school report card still exists. Your comment is wrong.
Rep Ford, while I am not advocating for ticketing I also know how ineffective the whole “get help/counseling” recommendation is for stopping these behaviors. The only way it has a chance is if it can be mandatory, but the legislature has taken much of that ability from schools. So it is our power of persuasion, without any lever, that we must rely on. Ever try to persuade a teenager to clean their room or anything else they don’t want to do?
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 10:22 am
“my local district like many has removed A-F grading and *** There is no discernable way to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of local education”
After at least two decades of grade inflation (driven by parents who’s children simply must be smarter-than-average), you still think the A-F grading system is an effective tool for evaluating the quality of local education?
Huh.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 10:23 am
“Ever try to persuade a teenager to clean their room or anything else they don’t want to do?”
I’m no parent, but I’ve heard that it can be done without involving law enforcement.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 10:26 am
it’s like November 7th happened and they are doubling-down on losing. Lets have less accountability, maybe more
remote learning? yea, that will help win the next election
Comment by Merica Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 10:47 am
=I’m no parent, but I’ve heard that it can be done without involving law enforcement.=
@MrJM- Acknowledged, and I wasn’t advocatiing that method either. If they want vaping (and smoking but especially vaping) to stop merely advising them to stop won’t work.
Our district does not ticket, never has. I have worked in one that did. It wasn’t my decision to do so and I was only there for a short time and have no data so I cannot tell you what impact it actually had.
If the onus is on schools to solve these issues we have to have something to leverage. Going back to the early 2000’s we would include counseling as an option to shorten or eliminate a suspension for drug/alcohol/tobacco possession. That was effective in getting kids to go to a cessation program, but I won’t tell you it was overly effective at getting them to stop. SB100 and the movement against OSS has virtually eliminated that lever.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 10:54 am
I don’t know much about education, so I decided to do some quick googling to find a reputable sounding source that would have limited local political influence. I came across this 2019 document from the Utah State Board of Education. https://schools.utah.gov/ulead/uleadfiles/reports/topicoverview/Factors%20Influencing%20Student%20Learning.pdf
A key passage:
“Specifically, research finds that most variations in student achievement outcomes are the result of individual student characteristics and aspects of family background such as socioeconomic status, race, and parents’ level of educational attainment.”
I am very confident that teacher quality also matters, but if “most variation” comes from things outside the teacher’s control, it seems problematic to judge teachers based on student achievement in a vacuum.
Comment by Homebody Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 10:57 am
Re: WAND story
=== linked to a recent spike in diabetes, autism, ADHD, and cancer. ===
Can someone point me to peer reviewed research linking autism and ADHD to food additives? I would like to review those data. Seriously. I am not suggesting I disagree or agree. I just want to see the evidence and review the data sources.
Comment by H-W Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 11:26 am
@ JS Mill
=== merely advising them to stop won’t work ===
I am in agreement, but wondering if confiscating what is clearly illegal (an brought upon public property illegally) is an effective strategy. It seems to me with security cameras, we probably know who is vaping outside restrooms. I assume vaping pens are not dirt cheap nor very expensive. Would confiscation work?
Comment by H-W Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 11:44 am
H-W,
1) the Wikipedia entries for many of the additives have “Regulation” sections that show where the additives have been banned and, usually, why (usually heightened cancer risk). I didn’t follow all of the citation links, so I’m not sure if they lead to any peer review studies (or if they’re in English), and
2) this peer-reviewed study out of California seems to be the ur-source linking hyperactivity to dyes in food (I didn’t read it all, so I’m not sure how it holds up)
https://oehha.ca.gov/sites/default/files/media/downloads/risk-assessment/report/healthefftsassess041621.pdf,
and
3) in a world of digital media, there’s little excuse for news sources not linking to the published studies upon which their sciency stories are based.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 12:01 pm
=I assume vaping pens are not dirt cheap nor very expensive. Would confiscation work?=
Not really. We had bags of them and it never really seemed to stop. Some of them are really cheap. We confiscate them anyway.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 12:35 pm
Two Illinois lawmakers, Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyvile) and Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield), have introduced legislation that would make daylight saving time “the year-round standard time in the entire state.”
Hope it passes.
Comment by Mason County Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 12:37 pm
=llinois lawmakers are proposing a change to state law that would no longer require school districts to use students’ test scores in teacher evaluations.=
A double-edged sword. You can see why parents and taxpayers want to hold people accountable for their child’s learning. You can also see that teachers operate in an environment that includes so may factors outside of their control that is absurd to hold them accountable.
A lot more thought as to what needs to be done on this issue. I don’t have any answers.
Comment by Mason County Wednesday, Feb 5, 25 @ 12:41 pm