Illinois

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Illinois
Matthew Montgomery, the superintendent of Lake Forest schools in Ill., during the AASA conference in Nashville on Feb. 11, 2026.
Matthew Montgomery, the superintendent of Lake Forest schools in Illinois, is pictured at the AASA's 2026 National Conference on Education in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 11, 2026. The Lake Forest schools established a decisionmaking matrix that informs when the district speaks out on potentially thorny topics.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
School & District Management Q&A When Should a School District Speak Out on Thorny Issues? One Leader's Approach
A superintendent created a matrix for his district to prevent rash decisions.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, February 11, 2026
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5 min read
From left: Office of Candidate Services at University of Central Arkansas Director Gary Bunn; Arkansas Department of Education Secretary Jacob Oliva; LISA Academy North Middle-High School Principal Bilal Uygur; recipient Jaime Garcia (AR '25); LISA Academy North Middle-High School CEO/Superintendent Dr. Fatih Bogrek; and National Institute for Excellence in Teaching Chief Executive Officer Dr. Joshua Barnett.
Jaime Garcia, the dean of academics at LISA Academy North Middle-High School won a $25,000 award from the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, in part for the work he's done to build community and academic by having students help their classmates.
Milken Family Foundation
School & District Management How Two Award-Winning Educators Created Schoolwide Systems for Academic Support
Boosting student achievement should be a building-wide mission, they say.
Sarah Schwartz, February 9, 2026
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3 min read
Stephon Thompson, an administrator at Stevenson Elementary School, directs students through the doors at the beginning of the school day in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Stephon Thompson directs students through the doors at the beginning of the school day at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024. The school has added on-site social services in recent years as a community school. The Trump administration has recently discontinued 19 federal grants that help schools become local service hubs for students and their families.
Samuel Trotter for Education Week
Education Funding Educator Layoffs Loom as Canceled Community Schools Grants Remain in Limbo
Three legal challenges and bipartisan backlash have followed the Trump administration's funding cuts.
Mark Lieberman, January 6, 2026
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5 min read
Demonstrators hold up signs protesting an immigration bill as it is discussed in the Senate chamber at the state Capitol Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. The bill would allow public school systems in Tennessee to require K-12 students without legal status in the country to pay tuition or face denial of enrollment, which is a challenge to the federal law requiring all children be provided a free public education regardless of legal immigration status.
Demonstrators hold up signs protesting an immigration bill as it was discussed in the Senate chamber at the state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on April 10, 2025. The bill, which legislators paused, would have allowed schools in the state to require undocumented students to pay tuition. It was one of six efforts taken by states in 2025 to limit undocumented students' access to free, public education.
John Amis/AP
States Undocumented Students Still Have a Right to Education. Will That Change in 2026?
State-level challenges to a landmark 1982 Supreme Court ruling are on the rise.
Ileana Najarro, December 29, 2025
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5 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Opinion 'Am I Doing Enough?': Chicago Teachers Share Their Heartache Over ICE Raids
Teachers in Latino areas describe the trauma and economic disruption federal raids are causing.
Larry Ferlazzo, November 7, 2025
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8 min read
Sylvelia Pittman stands for a portrait outside of Nash Elementary School in Chicago on Oct. 30, 2025.
Sylvelia Pittman stands for a portrait outside of Nash Elementary School in Chicago on Oct. 30, 2025. She spoke with Education Week about the fears she is grappling with regarding immigration raids and federal agents' increased presence near her school.
Jim Vondruska for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Q&A Inside the Fear at Chicago Schools Amid Federal Immigration Raids
Sylvelia Pittman has never experienced something like the current federal crackdown in her city.
Ileana Najarro, October 31, 2025
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5 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Families & the Community Opinion 'Constant Anxiety': What a Chicago Teacher Witnesses as ICE Swarms
What federal immigration agents are doing in Chicago doesn't look like democracy, an educator says.
Larry Ferlazzo, October 20, 2025
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4 min read
Photo of girl sitting alone in courtyard.
E+
Student Well-Being & Movement RFK Jr., McMahon Say School Mental Health Screenings Turn Students Into Patients
The cabinet secretaries recently called for a focus on nutrition, exercise, and cellphone use to boost students' mental health.
Evie Blad, September 19, 2025
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9 min read
Students file in for the first day of school at Courtenay Language Arts Center in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, Aug. 18, 2025.
Students file in for the first day of school at Courtenay Language Arts Center in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, Aug. 18, 2025.
E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/TNS
School Climate & Safety Chicago Schools Prepare Students and Parents as Trump Threatens National Guard
The district is pledging not work with or share student records with ICE officers.
Kate Perez, Chicago Tribune, September 3, 2025
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3 min read
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker talks with two crossing guards on Aug. 27, 2025, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker talks with two crossing guards on Aug. 27, 2025, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. On Aug. 15, 2025, he signed into law a bill that protects all students' right to a free, public education regardless of immigration status.
Erin Hooley/AP
States How This State Is Protecting Undocumented Students’ Right to an Education
Illinois lawmakers passed a bill locally codifying the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler v. Doe.
Ileana Najarro, August 28, 2025
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4 min read
Thu., August 21, 2025, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
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A teacher teaches the Korean alphabet to kindergarten and first-grade students in a dual-language immersion class.
A teacher teaches the Korean alphabet to kindergarten and first-grade students in a dual-language immersion class.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
School & District Management How 2 School Leaders Limited Distractions and Carved Out More Time for Learning
They removed extra responsibilities from teachers' days and carved out a dedicated academic intervention time.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, March 26, 2025
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3 min read
Image of a boy with a blue backpack standing in front of the entrance to school.
bodnarchuk/iStock/Getty
States Tracker Which States Are Challenging Undocumented Students’ Right to Free Education?
States are reviving efforts to challenge the 1982 Plyler v. Doe ruling that guarantees undocumented students a free, public education.
Ileana Najarro & Daniela Franco Brown, March 17, 2025
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2 min read
Dr. Jennifer Norrell, superintendent of East Aurora School District 131, visits East Aurora students at the Music Recording Studio at Resilience Education Center in Aurora, Ill., on Dec. 4, 2024.
Jennifer Norrell, superintendent of East Aurora School District 131, visits students at a recording studio at the district's new Resilience Education Center in Aurora, Ill., on Dec. 4, 2024.
Jamie Kelter Davis for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Leader To Learn From This Leader Said All Kids Will Do College-Level Work. What It Took to Get There
Jennifer Norrell led an effort to more than double the percentage of high schoolers taking AP in her district.
Sarah Schwartz, February 3, 2025
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12 min read
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