Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed no increase in funding for education for the 2022 fiscal year, which begins in July. That’s a result of increasingly limited state dollars due to the pandemic. Education dollars did not see an increase for the current fiscal year either. But education advocates and officials say more is needed. Through […]
Rachel Otwell
Posted inNews
More kids in classrooms
For some, the pandemic has meant months of monotony. For others, those months have come with an onslaught of seemingly impossible decisions to make. Jennifer Gill, superintendent of District 186, falls into the latter category. On March 24, she announced the latest controversial move. Starting Tuesday, April 6, public school students in Springfield under the […]
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Calls to repeal Parental Notice of Abortion Act
Illinois is one of 37 states that requires people under age 18 to notify a parent before getting an abortion. The state’s Parental Notice of Abortion Act (PNA) makes health care providers give “adult family members” at least 48 hours of notice before a minor has an abortion. Youth who seek an abortion but don’t […]
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Decriminalizing HIV
In Illinois, engaging in certain activities as a person living with HIV can be a felony, punishable by a prison sentence and $25,000 fine. But public health experts say the law is harmful and outdated. Advocates for change say it is ineffective at stopping the spread of HIV, and instead acts to increase shame and […]
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District 186 students to return four days per week
Starting Tuesday, April 6, students on the hybrid schedule in Springfield Public Schools will start four-day weekly schedules for in-person learning. Previously, hybrid students attended either Tuesdays and Thursdays or Wednesdays and Fridays. The new Tuesday-Friday schedule will be maintained until the end of the school year, according to an email sent to parents by […]
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Cannabis comrades
Working with cannabis was a dream come true for Leddie Lewis of Springfield. Her father had been diagnosed with cancer in 2015. Before he died in 2016, medical cannabis helped improve the quality of the days he had left, she said. “It pushed me into this drive to want to help other people.” Lewis started […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Performing in a pandemic
Reggie Guyton’s star was rising when the pandemic hit. In 2019, he directed Memphis – a musical with a diverse cast that features interracial love – set during the 1950s. For an adult show, cast members skewed young, and the talent on stage at the Hoogland Center for the Arts was immense. The production was […]
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School board candidates square off
Response to the pandemic and how to address equity issues were hot topics during a virtual forum for Springfield school board candidates. The Feb. 25 event was hosted by the Faith Coalition for the Common Good and League of Women Voters. Two of seven seats will be up for grabs during the April 6 election. […]
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Springfield’s new elementary school
Two elementary schools in Springfield are to be replaced by a new school, according to plans obtained by Illinois Times. The new school would mean the shuttering of Hazel Dell and Laketown K-5 schools. Hazel Dell, at 850 W. Lake Shore Dr., was built in 1948, according to the October 2020 document. Laketown, at 1825 […]
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U of I sued over sexual misconduct
Two former University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students are suing the University of Illinois for failing to protect them from a professor they say was violent and exploitative. The lawsuit, filed last month in the Illinois Court of Claims, alleges the university focused on generating income from Chinese students at the cost of protecting students. […]
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Rethinking reading
Melissa Hostetter teaches language arts to seventh graders at Washington Middle School in Springfield. She’s currently undergoing training on how to teach dyslexic students. Hostetter also moderates an online group of about 250 Illinois educators dedicated to the “science of reading.” It’s a method for learning that claims to be more grounded in decades of […]
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Healing from colorism
Colorism is a term coined in the 1980s by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker. In her book, In Search of our Mothers’ Gardens, Walker wrote that colorism is “prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their color.” It’s something that sociologists have noted across the globe, across various races. It’s a driving […]
