March 29, 2017 Rural community lacks resources to serve growing African, Hispanic population By Bob Dolgan Communications Director Advance Illinois When junior high students move to Beardstown from places such as the Congo, they need basic “survival skills” as part of the adjustment to a new language and culture. “We talk about how to tell […]
Read MoreMarch 20, 2017: Thirty-six organizations, 27 legislators and an array of other education leaders came together in Springfield on March 14 for Advance Illinois’ annual Legislator Forum. Keynote speaker Ryan Smith, Executive Director of Education Trust-West, a California education advocacy organization, highlighted new opportunities to fairly evaluate and assist schools in the state’s plan for the […]
Read MoreMarch 13, 2017: Wynell Verrett-Butler, a great-grandmother and resident of Dixmoor, is a dynamic force in the fight for a fair education system in Illinois. Of the roughly 3,600 people who live in Dixmoor, a south suburb of Chicago, 86 percent of students are low-income, 23 percent are English learners and 15 percent have disabilities. In 1986, Butler became […]
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