The 21st Show’s series, “Four More Years”, featured panelists from Advance Illinois, Illinois Federation of Teachers, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in discussion on what the president-elect’s proposals and ideas for education reform could mean and how they could impact Illinois schools.

Even as advocates say more needs to be done to increase the number of teachers of color in classrooms, the Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship program has become the target of a lawsuit claiming it discriminates against white students by limiting awards to Black, Latino, Asian American, and Native American students.

With budget forecasters predicting flat revenue growth over the next year and continued demands for increased spending in other areas of the budget such as pension costs and health care, members of the Illinois State Board of Education were told December 18 that they are now in a different fiscal environment.

To learn more about the Commission’s proposed changes, the legislative climate in Illinois, and the road to implementation, Bellwether spoke with leaders at Advance Illinois and the Partnership for College Completion.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed a law creating a separate Department of Early Childhood that will make it “simpler, better and fairer” for families seeking assistance and care for the state’s youngest residents.

Administrators, teachers and parents in the Chicago Public Schools system and districts throughout the region are grappling with the end of federal pandemic aid, a looming fiscal cliff because of the steep decline in the one-time funding.