News Coverage: Illinois State Board of Education

In an effort to save money, the state Senate yesterday approved cutting the number of regional school superintendents from 44 to 35.

The move would save about $1.5 million, says the Herald & Review.

Though 100,000 Chicago Public Schools students qualify for free tutoring, and the district receives $67 million in federal funds to provide the services, just a fraction of the eligible students are receiving help.

The district has failed to spend about $16 million of the federal funds provided for free tutoring under the Supplemental Educational Services program, and will have to give the money back if enough kids aren't signed up, the Trib reports. Read more...

The Illinois State Board of Education is seeking to double its funding for investigations, citing increasing concerns that principals and teachers may be illicitly boosting their schools' performance on state exams. 

The board currently has a caseload of 300 misconduct investigations, Deputy Superintendent  Darren Reisberg tells WBEZ. One key probe involves analyzing ISAT test results to identify instances in which an unusual number of answers have been corrected or a group of students shows an unlikely jump in performance. 

Tri States Public Radio/

The Illinois commission charged with reviewing the operation of the state's regional offices of education says the governor is wrong to try to shift funding to local government.

Catalyst/

Noble Street charter school suspended 51 percent of its students out of school at least once – almost 3 times the 18 percent rate of Chicago Public Schools, says U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. Although Noble Street has a lower percentage of African American students than CPS – only 30 percent in the sample – 53 percent of students suspended at least once were African American.