[Update: HB 303 Amendment 1 passed in committee 11-0 on Tue 4/16, and another amendment was filed Tuesday pm. See below for details. HB 303 could have a floor vote in the House before the end of the week. Please ask your state rep to OPPOSE HB 303.] 

News this week: Chicago school board details—finally! And some misguided bills about CPS policy from ILGA. Plus: No more SAT in IL high schools? ISBE picks ACT, Inc as vendor for state test; but that won't solve the issue of illegal student data sales.

It’s been almost three years since the General Assembly passed a law to create an elected school board for Chicago. Unlike the rest of Illinois, Chicago has never had a school board directly elected by voters, and from 1995 on, the Board was appointed by the mayor. 

After 15+ years of organizing, agitation, ballot referenda, rallies, protests, and bills introduced but not passed, the legislation creating the elected board passed in May 2021 with a timeline of a hybrid board starting in January 2025 and a fully-elected board seated in January 2027.

In his weekly newsletter this week, State Superintendent Tony Sanders made only a very oblique reference to selecting a new vendor for the test that high school students take to comply with federal school accountability law. But, tucked away on the state procurement website, a notice of award makes it official: the IL State Board of Education wants to switch from the College Board’s SAT and PSAT back to tests sold by ACT, Inc.

Our executive director Cassie Creswell spoke at the IL State Board of Education's monthly board meeting on March 13, 2024 about the College Board's sale of Illinois student data, and the need for the Board to ensure that for any new assessment contracts going forward, whether with College Board or ACT, Inc., these illegal data sales are stopped. Full remarks below.

Lots of news on testing in the last couple weeks: a long-awaited report on test scores from private schools getting vouchers, a new push from advocates to stop the College Board's sale of Illinois students' data, and, as state testing begins in public schools, find out how and why to opt out.

It’s state testing season (again!) The window for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, 3-8th grade testing in reading and math, opens March 4th. The Illinois Science Assessment window also opens March 4th. Weeks of ACCESS testing for English-language learners is just wrapping up. High school students will be assessed on the PSAT and SAT later this month and next.

Public schools are obligated to give these tests under state and federal law, but aside from the SAT, which is required in order to receive a diploma in Illinois, students are not obligated to participate. 

A report from research group WestEd on the Invest in Kids voucher program was made public this week and further bolsters the wisdom of the decision of the Illinois General Assembly last fall to let the Invest in Kids program sunset.

On February 26, 2024, nine state and national advocacy organizations, including privacy, consumer and government watchdogs, sent a letter to the Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul calling on him to follow the lead of New York Attorney General Letitia James and end the College Board’s illegal practice of selling Illinois students’ personal data. Full press release below.

This week Feb 26-March 1st is being marked as Public Schools Week by pro-public ed organizations around the country, including Illinois Families for Public Schools. In celebration, the Willis Tower in downtown Chicago will be lit up Red for Public Ed on both Monday and Tuesday nights. Please help us spread the word on social media!