Blogs

New Laws Effective Immediately

By Alison Maley posted 09-08-2021
1 person like s this.
As new bills have been signed into law, we have been posting about them here on Connect. In case you missed any updates, please see below for laws that are immediately effective and are of interest to school leaders. Public Act 102-0051 - Effective Immediately, a school board must allow a student athlete to modify his or her athletic or team uniform for the purpose of modesty in clothing or attire that is in accordance with the requirements of his or her religion or his or her cultural values or modesty preferences. The modification of the athletic or team uniform may include, but is not limited to, the wearing of a hijab, an undershirt, or leggings. ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (6/1/21) - Session Continues...

By Advocacy In Action posted 06-01-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser June 1, 2021 Not interested in receiving emails like this? Click here to opt-out of further Advocacy in Action communications . Session Continues... May 31st came and went and the General Assembly continued working past midnight. After May 31, bills with an immediate effective date require a three-fifths supermajority vote. The House passed both the FY22 budget and the Budget Implementation Bill (BIMP) shortly before midnight, and the Senate ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (5/31/21) - Session Wrapping Up

By Advocacy In Action posted 06-01-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser May 31, 2021 Not interested in receiving emails like this? Click here to opt-out of further Advocacy in Action communications . General Assembly Winding Down; Budget Emerges With adjournment scheduled for May 31 at midnight, the Illinois General Assembly is winding down their work today. Action on a FY 2022 budget, budget implementation legislation, and other issues still need to be finalized. School legislation of note that has passed both ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (5/24/21) - Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Bill

By Advocacy In Action posted 05-31-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser May 24, 2021 Not interested in receiving emails like this? Click here to opt-out of further Advocacy in Action communications . Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Bill Passes Senate Senate Bill 818 , legislation concerning personal health and safety and comprehensive sexual health education, passed the Senate this week. The bill has been changed to remove a mandate that all school districts must provide personal health and safety ...
0 comments

Boldly Bring them Back: Summer interventions for student re-engagement during Covid-19.

By Tesha Robinson posted 05-26-2021
2 people like this.
The school structure during the pandemic has made it easier for students to disengage from school. Spontaneous pop-ins on google meets and sporadic responses to an email have served as maximum engagement for some students. Their lack of engagement places them at risk of dropping out of high school. School districts must use every opportunity to intervene and re-engaged those students before the issue progresses. Below are some practical interventions that can be applied this summer. Overall, students want to feel connected and cared for. The school has to initiate those connections and provide social-emotional support for students. R&R: Re-engagement ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (5/18/21) - Action Alert HB 3223

By Alison Maley posted 05-23-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser May 18, 2021 Not interested in receiving emails like this? Click here to opt-out of further Advocacy in Action communications . Urgent Alert - File a Witness Slip on HB 3223 Today House Bill 3223 will be considered in the Senate Education Committee at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The bill creates a multitude of onerous, unfunded requirements for school districts involving the delivery of services and confidentiality provisions that do not permit ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (4/26/21) - Bill Requiring Instruction and Credit for Suspended and Expelled Students Remains Viable

By Advocacy In Action posted 05-20-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser April 26, 2021 Not interested in receiving emails like this? Click here to opt-out of further Advocacy in Action communications . Summary of this Week’s Legislative Action Last week, the Illinois House and Senate focused on “final action,” meaning bills were debated and voted on before the full membership of each chamber. Friday, April 23rd marked the third reading deadline for both the House and Senate. Most bills that failed to advance out ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (4/16/21) - Legislature Gets Down to Work After Spring Break

By Advocacy In Action posted 05-20-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser April 16, 2021 Legislature Gets Down to Work After Spring Break This week saw a great deal of activity in both the Illinois House and Senate. While the House focused its attention on floor debate, the Senate heard bills in committee. Next week promises to be busy as well, with April 23 rd being the deadline for all bills to advance out of their chamber of origin. Those bills that pass either the House or Senate will switch chambers, and the process will begin ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (3/26/21) - Slew of bills move out of committee

By Advocacy In Action posted 05-20-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser March 26, 2021 Summary of this Week’s Legislative Action This week the Illinois House and Senate spent most of their time hearing bills in committee. The House deadline for bills to pass out of committee is today, March 26th, while the Senate extended their committee passage deadline until April 16th. Many of the bills passed out of committee were done so with the commitment of the bill’s sponsor to continue working with the IPA and other stakeholders. Additionally, several ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (3/19/21) - Legislative Action This Week

By Advocacy In Action posted 05-20-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser March 19, 2021 Editor’s Note: Due to Alison Maley’s maternity leave, please contact Brian Schwartz with any legislative questions or comments through April 30, 2021. Summary of this Week’s Legislative Action This week the Illinois House and Senate focused on committee action. The deadline for bills to pass out of their respective committees is next Friday, March 26 th . Not many substantive education bills advanced out of committee this week. However, ...
0 comments

Navigating Your IPA Account Webpages

By Drew Thomason posted 05-11-2021
Be the first to like this.
The details of all events you register for with the Illinois Principals Association are available via your account online. Below you will find a video and accompanying text instructions on how to access these details. If you need any assistance, or have any questions about the above instructions, please email support@ilprincipals.org . Navigate to www.ilprincipals.org Click on My Account Click on My Account Details Log into your account by entering your registered email and password Click on My Events Click on the event whose details you need If your event is an administrator academy: Complete your required preactivity (Handout #1) ...
0 comments

Governor Pritzker Delivers Virtual State of the State & Budget Address

By PrinciPal Connection posted 02-18-2021
Be the first to like this.
On Wednesday, February 17, 2021, Governor JB Pritzker delivered a combined State of the State and Budget Address . The address was delivered from the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield . In his address, Governor Pritzker focused on COVID-19 recovery and Illinois’ mounting fiscal debt. In terms of education funding for Fiscal Year 2022, which begins on July 1, Governor Pritzker committed to holding pk-12 education harmless and providing the same funding levels as the current fiscal year . This is in addition to f ederal funding for schools that was recently approved by Congress. The Governor’s proposed budget also includes ...
0 comments

IPA, IASA, IFT, & IEA Support ESSA Assessment Waiver

By Jason Leahy posted 02-10-2021
1 person like s this.
The following letter was sent to Acting U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona calling for a federal standardized testing waiver. February 9, 2021 Dear Acting Secretary Cardona: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact every corner of our state. The gross inequity the pandemic has reinforced, both in health and economic outcomes, means our least resourced students feel the brunt of the pandemic’s impact. Even as our newly elected national leadership signals that providing sustained COVID relief is a priority, we are still faced with the consequences of the paucity of relief and guidance provided by the former administration. These consequences include ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (1/13/21) - Session Update - Omnibus Package; Seclusion Legislation

By Alison Maley posted 01-13-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser January 13, 2021 101st General Assembly Wrapping Up The 101st General Assembly is quickly wrapping up their business before the 102nd General Assembly is sworn in. Both chambers worked into the early hours of Wednesday morning and are expected to finish their business before inauguration at noon Wednesday. After Speaker Madigan suspended his candidacy for Speaker of the House, Representative Emanuel ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (1/9/21) - Education Omnibus Update

By Alison Maley posted 01-10-2021
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser January 9, 2021 Changes to Education Omnibus Bill As previously reported, the Illinois General Assembly has returned to Springfield to convene a “lame duck” session prior to inaugurating the 102nd General Assembly members. Amendments were filed Saturday afternoon to the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus education omnibus bill ( Senate Am. 2 to HB 2170 & House Am. 2 to SB 458 ), shortening ...
0 comments

Request for Federal ESSA Waiver for Standardized Testing

By Jason Leahy posted 12-17-2020
Be the first to like this.
The following was co-signed by the Illinois Principals Association, Illinois Association of School Administrators, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Chicago Teachers Union, and Illinois Educators Association. A PDF of the letter can be downloaded here . A call to action from ISBE regarding accountability is at the bottom of this post. Please note that this call to action is separate from the letter sent to ISBE by IPA, IASA, IFT, CTU and IEA. December 10, 2020 Dr. Carmen Ayala State Superintendent of Education Illinois State Board of Education 100 N. 1st Street Springfield, IL 62777 Dear Dr. Ayala: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact every ...
0 comments

Find Joy in the Moment

By PrinciPal Connection posted 12-17-2020
Be the first to like this.
We've asked the 2019-2020 IPA Region Award winners to give us a few sentences about their why, education leadership philosophy, or just something special they are working on. We hope these dispatches will lift you up, give you inspiration and remind you of your why. This note comes from Michaela Rychener, assistant principal at Hickory Grove Elementary School. During the school closure this spring, I was tagged in a retweet on Twitter, ‘Five Words.’ It got me thinking, what are five words that define how I am leading or what five words do I aspire to have guide my practice? As I was reflecting, the five words that resonated with me were, “Find joy in the ...
0 comments

Leadership Through Navigation

By PrinciPal Connection posted 09-10-2020
1 person like s this.
We've asked the 2019-2020 IPA Region Award winners to give us a few sentences about their why, education leadership philosophy, or just something special they are working on. We hope these dispatches will lift you up, give you inspiration and remind you of your why. This note comes from @Duane Ehmen . Duane is Iroquois West Middle School. Leadership can seriously be attributed to navigation. With navigation, you have to continually be making forward progress. Essentials to this would be knowing your destination, employing a crew that will help this become achievable, and remaining cognizant of the reefs and storms that will happen. At IWMS, I have been ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (8/4/20) - Take Action Today on COVID Relief, E-Rate, and Legislator Introductions

By Alison Maley posted 08-07-2020
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser August 4, 2020 K—12 schools across the country desperately need Congress to act before its August recess and provide significant additional emergency COVID-19 relief funding before the start of the 2020-21 school year. Now is the time for school leaders to contact their senators and representatives and urge them to support the emergency funding that schools desperately need. Time is running out. Take Action Now ...
0 comments

Advocacy in Action (7/23/20) - Tell Congress to Act Now to Support Schools

By Alison Maley posted 08-07-2020
Be the first to like this.
View in a browser July 23, 2020 K—12 schools across the country desperately need Congress to act before its August recess and provide significant additional emergency COVID-19 relief funding before the start of the 2020-21 school year. Time is running out! Please take a moment to contact your members of Congress to advocate for an investment in COVID-19 relief funding to schools. Send a Message ...
0 comments