Lake County Gazette

This week, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board detailed a report from Wirepoints regarding Illinois schools that it described as "shocking." The report found that the majority of third-graders could not read at grade level. Many state-level candidates are promising to provide better representation than their incumbent opponents have for their constituents if elected.

“For too long, the Democrat supermajority in Springfield has worked on behalf of overpaid school administrators and powerful teachers unions instead of working in the best interest of our kids,” said Adam Solano, candidate for Illinois State Senate, District 31.

A Wall Street Journal opinion article titled " Illinois’s Shocking Report Card" stated that in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 36% of all third-grade students in Illinois could read at grade level. The article continued on to point out that by third grade it is crucial for students to be proficient in reading because the following grades build this skill, such as reading comprehension.

According to the Illinois State Report Card, in 2019 only 36.7% of Juniors met English Language Arts (ELA) standards.

The WSJ opinion piece went further to identify the Decatur, Rockford, Peoria, Elgin, and Chicago school districts that stand out in terms of poor performance.

A 2019 Wirepoint's report found that of third graders in Decatur public schools, only 2% of Black and 16% of White students could read at grade level. In Rockford, only 7% of Black students could read at grade level. In Peoria, 8% of Black students. In Elgin, only 11% of Hispanic students. And in Chicago, there were 30% of Black third graders who could read at grade level. The article stated that similar results can be found across the state. For example, the percentage of Waukegan Hispanic third-grade students that could read at grade level was 16%. 0% of Mount Vernon Black third graders could. In Waukegan, 56% percent are listed as “on track” to graduate, and 87% are in Mount Vernon.

According to The Center Square, the NEA and the AFT, the largest teacher’s unions in the United States, suggested that additional funding would solve performance issues in core subjects and teacher shortages.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) now spends over $29,000 per student compared to $17,800 in 2020 which was in tandem with the Illinois state average, the story said. As of 2021, CPS performance in the classroom declined with only 26% of juniors being able to read or practice math at grade level according to the Illinois Report Card.

As of 2019, 91% of teachers in Chicago were considered “excellent or proficient” according to Wirepoints.

The Illinois State Report Card reported 2021 SAT results statewide showed only 33% of juniors met or exceeded ELA standards and 29.3% met or exceeded in mathematics.

Solano stated if his opponent Mary Edly-Allen “got her way, taxpayers would continue to be forced to write blank checks to these powerful education bureaucracies instead of demanding better results for Illinois students.” Solano continued, “If elected, I’ll fight the status quo in Springfield to make education spending more transparent and dedicate taxpayer money to improving our kids' education, not lining the pockets of powerful interests.”