Advance Illinois Statement on the Executive Order to Dismantle the U.S. Department of Education

CHICAGO (March 20, 2025)—The United States Department of Education is responsible for key functions impacting Illinois students’ ability to access high-quality, safe, and supportive learning environments from K-12 through postsecondary. Accordingly, it is important that the public be aware of today’s Executive Order seeking to abolish the federal agency. It is easy to criticize federal agencies and bureaucracies, and there is (always) room for improvement. But the call to eliminate the Department of Education in its entirety is another thing entirely. Indeed, it is hard not to see this action – taken in conjunction with other dramatic measures, as a concerted effort to undermine public education and many hard-won and ongoing efforts to ensure our education system works for every child and student.  

The underlying message of today’s action seems to be (1) that the federal government does not have a role to play in education, and/or (2) that this role is insignificant enough to be managed effectively across a half dozen different agencies and with minimal staff, and/or (3) that all children are equally well-positioned to succeed, so there is no need to support high-need populations. But let’s be clear: overwhelming research and data tell us these assumptions are misguided. What do high-performing countries (like Finland, Sweden and Norway) have in common in the education space? A coordinated national approach that includes clear, consistent expectations for what students learn, robust data and research to support strong practice, and strong financial support to ensure schools, childcare centers, and universities are available for all, and that they provide rich and rigorous opportunity. This measure and others are turning the clock back on those principles. 

It should go without saying that we all benefit when all children thrive. But the evidence is clear – not all students are succeeding. And while this administration seems to want to place the blame on the children themselves, evidence makes plain that all students can achieve if they get the instruction and support they need. While we may wish it were otherwise, students do not arrive at schools and colleges with the same set of needs.  Some students face poverty. Others are living with disabilities. Others face prejudice for their background, race, ethnicity, gender or religion. And still others live in remote areas with limited access to technology and services the rest of us take for granted. We are a country that, at its best, has worked – sometimes imperfectly – to give every child an opportunity – recognizing that that it is not only the right thing to do, but that doing so strengthens families, communities and, ultimately, the country as a whole. 

“To take this step at all, and especially now, when mountains of data point to slow but gradual progress in climbing back from COVID-related disruptions, highlights the administration’s disregard for its citizens, even as it flouts the legislative process,” notes Robin Steans, President of Advance Illinois, an independent, bipartisan nonprofit education policy and advocacy organization. 

In just a matter of weeks, the new administration has taken a number of steps to set back decades of work to support student progress and close racial, socioeconomic, regional, and generational gaps in academic opportunity and achievement. 

• The administration's order “Ending radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling” issued in January not only misunderstands and misstates constitutional law, but seems designed to intimidate educators working to meet the needs of diverse students into ignoring the fact that students arrive at school with unique needs. Under the order’s threat of withholding funding, some schools have pulled back preemptively from efforts to foster rigorous, safe, and supportive learning environments that meet the needs of students from all backgrounds and experiences.  

• When the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut nearly $900 million in Institute of Education Sciences (IES) contracts and cut NCES down to 3 employees, it slashed the arms of the Education Department responsible for collecting data, conducting research and analysis, and reporting on student progress and performance – activities key to driving coherent and effective education practice and policy at every level and in every corner of the country, reversing investments made by a bipartisan set of administrations for over a century.   

• Last week’s dramatic mass layoffs at the Department crowded out ongoing discourse and concern about the infamous ‘Dear Colleague Letter’ - a communication with no force of law, but one littered with misleading assertions of what constitutes violations of federal civil rights protections and that again threatened to withhold federal funding if institutions do not comply with restrictions that have no basis in law. The letter has created confusion and alarm, with the clear intent to halt practices that acknowledge the simple reality that students come to school with a range of learning styles and needs, and that educators and schools are and should work hard to address them so that every student succeeds. [Read guidance from Attorneys General from a range of states on how best to understand and respond to the “Dear Colleague” letter sent on February 14th.] 

• Finally, today, the White House issued an Executive Order directing Sec. McMahon to take "all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States” - a direction that misunderstands that education authority already sits primarily with states.  

The new administration’s mission is increasingly, and tragically, clear.  

On average, the federal government provides roughly 12% of overall K-12 funding in Illinois, with higher-poverty schools and districts relying more heavily on those dollars. While spokespeople are claiming that efforts to dismantle the Department of Education will not impact services or programs (presumably other than those that have already been cut or targeted), it defies credulity that such significant layoffs will have no impact in the field.  

Those who care about public education and about the next generation should be alarmed, and that alarm should motivate action. The stakes are critical and high. The United States has enjoyed outsized prosperity driven by having one of the most educated populations in the world. Sadly, we have been losing ground internationally, a trend that should concern us all and that is entirely at odds with recent actions. All of us benefit when the next generation is well-cared for and educated. Ours is a responsibility to make sure families have access to affordable high-quality early childhood education and care for their young children; that our under-resourced schools – prevalent in both urban and rural parts of our country and state –  are supported to meet the academic and learning needs of students enrolled; and that students with limited family wealth can afford to earn degrees that improve their employment opportunities and earnings. That worthy and ambitious goal takes national coherence and national effort, even as it champions and supports ongoing state authority. 

For our part, we will work with state elected officials and state and national partners to continue to fight for access, quality, and equity in education. Changes happening at the federal level matter, but they cannot and should not change our core values. Our mission remains clear – we need schools that work for every child and student.  

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About Advance Illinois 

Advance Illinois is an independent policy and advocacy organization working toward a healthy public education system that enables all students to achieve success in college, career, and civic life. 

Advance Illinois Statement on the 2024 Illinois Report Card

There is good news and bad news in the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)’s 2024 Illinois Report Card. It is encouraging to see improvements in student learning, growth, and achievement, with some measures exceeding pre-pandemic levels. However, recovery from the pandemic and disparities among underrepresented student groups across the K-12 continuum persist and will require ongoing attention and effort. 

“The progress we’re seeing for Illinois’ students is encouraging, but this new data reminds us that we still have real work to do to fully recover from COVID and close stubborn and unacceptable gaps,” said Robin Steans, President of Advance Illinois. 

Points of Good News 

Following setbacks in reading and math proficiency during the pandemic, student proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) has made noticeable gains. Students in grades 3-8 achieved a proficiency rate of 41.2%, the highest since 2019. Indeed, the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) ELA proficiency rates now exceed pre-pandemic levels for all race/ethnicity groups, which is wonderful to see. 

However, not all grade levels experienced this progress. The Report Card reveals that ELA proficiency on the IAR has not yet surpassed pre-pandemic levels for grades 3 and 7. Meanwhile, Math proficiency rates improved slightly from last year, but remain down – in some cases significantly – from pre-pandemic levels across groups and grade levels. Indeed, grade 3 dropped from 33% in 2023 to 27.8% in 2024, representing a significant drop from the pre-pandemic 2019 proficiency of 40.1%. These 3rd-grade students faced learning disruptions during the pandemic, impacting language, literacy, and math, and there is still work ahead to support ongoing recovery. We commend the statewide focus on improving literacy with the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan and look forward to ISBE’s forthcoming statewide math and numeracy plan. 

This year’s Report Card includes data from the 2023-2024 Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS), and we are pleased to have this important window into where children were developmentally as they entered kindergarten last school year. According to a report from the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC), KIDS scores help predict 3rd-grade proficiency in Math and English Language Arts (ELA). So it is good news that the percentage of students demonstrating readiness in all three developmental areas—social and emotional development, language and literacy development, and math—has increased statewide over the past few years, including from 29.9% in 2022 to 31.6% in 2023. That said, gaps in readiness persist across lines of race, income, language, and learning style. It is encouraging that student participation in this key critical survey is growing (from 86.7% in 2022 to 90.9% in 2023) and that readiness is gradually increasing overall; however, persistent gaps require further work and study. 

It is also wonderful to see the highest graduation rate for Illinois’ high school students 14 years at 87.7%, and to note that all groups improved here and gaps across groups narrowed slightly. Additionally, 9th-grade On Track rates, strong predictors of high school graduation, continue to improve. This key indicator increased slightly from 87.4% in SY23 to 88.2% in SY24 and remains higher than pre-pandemic, with all groups seeing improvements. That said, while they did not worsen, significant gaps between student groups persist, most notably between Black students (79.7%), English Learners (79.7%), and white students (92.7%). More work is needed to ensure all students have the supports and resources to succeed. 

The Report Card provides reasons to be hopeful about students’ academic recovery, a testament to the hard work of our educators, the important aid provided by federal stimulus dollars, and targeted initiatives ISBE and districts have put in place to accelerate learning renewal. However, we have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in every area or grade level (high school also continues to be an area of concern), and racial, ethnic, and income disparities across these and other measures require ongoing attention and investment. 

What We’re Zeroing in On 

Equity gaps continue to exist across many areas. While gaps between Black students, Latinx students, low-income students, English Learners, and students with an IEP have decreased since 2019, they persist. While Illinois’ overall high school graduation rate is historically high and has improved across the board, rates were 7% lower for Black students (80.7%), 15.2% lower for students with an IEP (72.5%), and 2.6% lower for Latinx students (85.1%). As we applaud ISBE’s efforts to accelerate student recovery, with the expiration of ESSER funds, investments in the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) formula remain key in directing resources to school districts and students that need them most. 

Finally, but critically, while all groups saw a slight improvement, chronic absenteeism remains a concern, where rates of missing 10 percent or more of school remain stubbornly and disproportionately high for some student groups. Overall rates decreased slightly to 26.3% in 2024 (still well above pre-pandemic/SY19 levels (17.5%), but Black students continue to have the highest chronic absenteeism rates (40.4%), followed by Latinx students (32.9%). Students from low-income households (36.3%), English Learners (32.1%), and students with IEPs (33.6%) also continue to have high chronic absenteeism rates. While rates are slowly improving, students are missing critical instruction time, impacting their academic success in both the short and long term. 

Supporting Our Teachers to Support Our Students 

Research underscores the importance of teacher attendance and diversity on student outcomes. Regrettably, this latest Report Card indicates no significant improvement in teacher attendance (the percent of teachers missing 10 days or less of school), which remains at a worrisome 66%. However, we are pleased to see that the total number of teachers increased by about 2,100 in 2024—hiring that reflects the longstanding understaffing most schools have endured due to chronic underfunding. But as we know, a shortage exists, especially in bilingual and special education, and in rural and urban areas. Therefore, we must continue to invest in our educator pipeline and we commend ISBE for programs like CTE Education Career Pathways Grants, which prepare high school students for teaching careers, and the state’s new teacher recruitment marketing campaign, ‘The Answer Is Teaching,’ which has garnered high interest and activity. While teacher diversity continues to increase slowly, with growing Black (6.4%), Asian (2%), and Latinx (8.9%) representation, supporting a diverse teacher workforce is crucial. Programs like CTE Education Career Pathway Grants, Illinois Virtual Coach and Building Mentor Program, affinity groups, and the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship are in place to recruit and retain excellent teachers that represent student diversity. [NOTE: The MTI Scholarship program, which helps support candidates of color, is now the subject of a lawsuit. This is disheartening, as research makes clear that students of color do better—academically and otherwise—when they are taught by educators of color. MTI has helped the state increase the diversity of its pipeline, rounding out a wide array of state programs designed to strengthen the overall pipeline.] 

New Additions for the Report 

Recognizing the unique experiences and identities of individuals of Middle Eastern or North African descent, ISBE is beginning to incorporate a new race/ethnicity category to capture these students and educators, abbreviated MENA. 

Also new is the Support Personnel Full-Time Equivalence (FTE), defined as employees with one or more active employment records, working during the regular school year (not summer school), and holding one of the approved Support Personnel position codes (School Counselor, School Nurse, School Psychologist, and School Social Worker). For this year, the state is reporting 494 students per counselor; 1,520 students per nurse; 885 students per psychologist; and 432 students per social worker. While these are higher than recommended ratios, they indicate marked improvement. In 2018, the state had 667 students per counselor, 1,201 students per psychologist, and 697 students per social worker. Advance Illinois has been reporting on these ratios for many years in our biennial “State We’re In” report on public education. We are elated to see this important data now included in the state report card, as we believe it will and should help spur conversation and action at both the local and state levels to ensure all schools have an adequate support personnel workforce to meet student needs. 

In Closing 

While there are encouraging signs and areas of improvement, it is going to take more support and investment to achieve academic outcomes that exceed pre-pandemic levels. We recognize the tough budget climate and appreciate past increases in funding (which have helped drive student recovery), but we must keep working to ensure that all Illinois students have what they need to thrive.