Two major changes in the IL School Code went into effect this summer: the Right to Play recess law and a major amendment to the Student Online Personal Protection Act. IL Families for Public Schools was instrumental in drafting and passing these two pieces of legislation.

What do these two new laws mean for students, families and public schools? You can watch the IL Families for Public Schools webinar we held on October 20th to learn what you need to know.

IL School Librarians Burdened by FOIA Request re “1619 Project”

As we’ve been sharing with you, school boards and school districts have been under serious attack by right-wing groups recently. So much so that the National Association of School Boards have asked the Biden Administration for help from federal law enforcement. School boards here in Illinois have faced confrontations over mask requirements, vaccines and how to teach about race. 

The letter from the NASB to Biden mentions that in September in Mendon, IL a man was arrested for aggravated battery and disorderly conduct, which according to the Associated Press was for allegedly striking a school official at a school board meeting.

The Chicago Public Schools are preparing for compliance with the changes to IL's Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA), passed in spring 2019 and going into effect on July 1, 2021. Their new policy on SOPPA was passed at the January board meeting, and we were encouraged to see that some of the input we had provided was incorporated into an improved final version. Now CPS is developing more detailed guidelines on how the policy will be implemented.

With three out of four Illinois students still learning remotely full or part time, protecting children's privacy from threats like face recognition and surveillance for remote proctoring is more important than ever.

The Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is a uniquely protective Illinois law assuring that the biometric information of Illinois residents is protected from the threats of face recognition and surveillance.

➡️ New York Times "The Best Law You've Never Heard of"

The Chicago Public Schools are preparing for compliance with the changes to IL's Student Online Protection Act, passed in spring 2019 and going into effect on July 1, 2021. As the largest district in IL, CPS's policy will have important implications for the rest of IL's public schools.

After feedback on their initial policy draft from IL-FPS back in November and some ensuing discussions with us, the policy on the agenda for the Chicago BoE's January meeting has improved---and we're especially pleased to see it will mean students themselves can no longer be required to sign contracts with vendors anymore.

The changes to the Student Online Personal Protection Act passed as PA 101-0516 will go into effect on July 1, 2021. The IL State Board of Education released their draft regulations to implement the law for initial review for December's ISBE meeting. We sent a letter with our feedback on the rule to the Board yesterday.

These recommendations are intended as a resource to assist students and families, teachers, administrators, school board members and others, whether they are writing, revising or advocating for improvement of policies covering the role of tech in students’ remote learning experiences.

The Chicago Public Schools are preparing for compliance with the changes to IL's Student Online Protection Act, passed in spring 2019 and going into effect next summer, and we provided input on their proposed district policy on SOPPA. As the largest district in IL, CPS's policy will have important implications for the rest of IL's public schools.

In this issue:

1. Fair Tax amendment: Help us make that call--every Wed. night, including tonight!
   
2. Remote learning, surveillance and student privacy
3. Why hasn’t IL waived the SAT requirement for seniors?

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With the mass school closures due to COVID-19, there has been a sudden shift to crisis schooling via remote learning, and in the wake of this existing student data privacy concerns about education technology have ballooned.

Unfortunately, in many cases, parents’ need and desire to protect their children’s privacy has been put in direct conflict with how schools are attempting to provide a substitute for education away from the physical classroom.