Proficiency rates “would have increased if we had kept the same cut scores. However, we changed the cut scores, so we can’t tell you what they would have been. But we know they would have improved.”

When tragic things happen in our community, those of us at your local newspaper share in the loss and sadness. 

SB 2111 doesn’t represent a comprehensive, statewide solution and its passage puts the onus back on those dissatisfied with the status quo to push lawmakers to keep working on the challenges even without an imminent financial disaster.

The Budget Reserve for Immediate Disbursements and Governmental Emergencies is only $100 million. Democrats created the pool by sweeping money from 57 other funds in anticipation of federal decisions with negative fiscal implications for Illinois.

Clearly $20 is significant to someone counting every penny, but as a yearly figure it won’t sway anyone’s vote. The loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits is a different story, with an average of about $184 per beneficiary each month.

Alzheimer's disease has a way of turning a milestone anniversary into a bittersweet celebration.

It is simply too late. Candidates have expended considerable time and resources gathering petition signatures, the filing deadline is Nov. 3 and any alteration now costs money the state doesn’t have while inviting legal exposure that could exponentially increase fiscal liability.

From pure cynicism, there may be wisdom in getting Republicans on board with anything Democrats could present as endorsement of gun registration. But more practically, there’s no faster way to clear an administrative backlog than to erase it altogether.

"For my parents, fire drills were safety practice. For us, lockdowns are survival training. We’ve grown up expecting the sound we’ve only heard on TV," Tyler Barrus of Huntley writes in a letter to the editor.