Peter Hancock

Organizations that provide tutoring, recreation and other after-school programs are calling on Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education to release $50 million that was included in this year’s budget to fund those programs. The organizations say tens of thousands of students are being denied access to services because the money is […]

The Illinois State Board of Education is encouraging local school districts to adopt clear policies spelling out how and when their staff should cooperate with federal immigration officials carrying out enforcement actions or seeking information from school officials. The “non-regulatory guidance” on immigration enforcement actions was issued on Jan. 22, two days after President Donald Trump […]

Public schools in Illinois have enjoyed several consecutive years of substantial increases in state funding, thanks largely to steady growth in state revenues and a new funding formula that lawmakers approved in 2018. But whether that can continue into the upcoming fiscal year is an open question that state lawmakers will have to face when […]

More than five years after Illinois began issuing permits for legal production of industrial hemp, Gov. JB Pritzker said he now favors legislation to bring the industry under tighter regulation. At a Dec. 13 news conference in Chicago, Pritzker said in the short time since both the state and federal governments legalized hemp production, a […]

A federal judge in East St. Louis has struck down Illinois’ assault weapons ban on the grounds that it violates the Second and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and issued an order barring the state from enforcing it. That order, however, was stayed for 30 days, giving the state time to file an appeal before […]

A federal judge in Rockford has declared a state law banning concealed firearms on public transit systems unconstitutional – at least as it applies to four individuals who challenged it in court. But the law remains in effect for everyone else as the parties in the case consider their next steps. In a decision released […]

Many people enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program will soon be eligible to receive a host of nonmedical services that could improve their overall health, including housing and nutrition assistance, violence prevention services, and services to help them transition out of incarceration. Under a new policy that the Biden administration launched last year, state Medicaid programs […]

As the flow of billions of dollars in federal pandemic-related aid is about to end, many students in Illinois are still struggling to catch up academically from the learning loss that occurred when schools were forced to close. A new study from the University of Illinois System says only about one-fourth of all public-school students […]

Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation June 25 creating a new cabinet-level state agency dedicated to early childhood education and development. The new Department of Early Childhood, which will become operational in July 2026, will take over programs currently housed across three state agencies, including funding for preschool programs, child care centers and the licensing of […]

In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Community Reinvestment Act, a federal law that sought to wipe away the last vestiges of racial discrimination and redlining in America’s home mortgage industry. The idea was simple. By requiring lenders – primarily banks – to make credit available in all parts of the communities they […]

Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to consolidate the state’s early childhood programs into one new cabinet-level agency ran into tough questions during a House budget committee hearing. The plan, which Pritzker first announced in October and which he included in his budget address in February, would consolidate a host of programs and services currently run by three different agencies […]

Illinois continues to suffer from a shortage of teachers and other education professionals, although recent efforts by the state to ease the strain have made an impact. That’s according to the latest annual survey of school officials from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, which has been conducting the survey every year since […]