CHAMPAIGN – The University of Illinois called police on a small graduate student worker protest on Wednesday and is threatening to suspend one or more participants. The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) held the protest, in opposition to administration plans to relax campus-wide mask requirements. The university alleges one or more protesters kicked and shoved someone…
DECATUR — Decatur Public Schools has long wanted to offer classes before and after school. It took federal COVID-19 relief to make that happen. When DPS tried to launch this optional, extended school day in the past, families had to pay. Now, thanks to COVID relief, it’s free. “Three years ago, this priority bubbled to…
CHAMPAIGN — Schools should change to fit their students’ cultures, not the other way around. That was one theme at Illinois Public Media’s News, Brews and Beatz conversation on Monday night. “Like we all know, if you’re a person of color, you are constantly reprocessing what you’re saying to make sure it fits in,” said…
RANTOUL — Learning slowed across Illinois when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Now, schools have the money to do something about it – in the form of federal COVID-19 relief. School districts in Rantoul have chosen to use the money to establish teacher “office hours.” “The philosophy is similar to a study hall, if study halls…
DECATUR – Decatur’s new superintendent has just finished one week on the job. Rochelle Clark steps into the top position in Decatur Public Schools at a challenging time in education. Schools are trying to catch up students who fell behind during remote learning, while both adults and children grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “In…
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign Unit 4 teachers have voted to authorize a strike rather than accept a recent contract offered by the district. If negotiations falter over the next month and teachers do strike, families may suddenly need to find childcare. One place families can turn for help is the Child Care Resource Service. Based on…
CHAMPAIGN — Governor J.B. Pritzker visited the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus on Wednesday to promote an increase in student financial aid in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2023. Pritzker highlighted his plan to send a total of $601 million to the state’s Monetary Award Program to help low-income college students with tuition and…
CHAMPAIGN — Two weeks after Champaign teachers voted to allow a potential strike, one parent is experiencing déjà vu. Amy Dunn was in sixth grade in 1986 when negotiations broke down between Homer teachers and their school board. Teachers went on a strike that lasted eight months – possibly the longest teachers’ strike in U.S….
DANVILLE – A clinic for addiction and mental health treatment could open in Danville High School by the end of March. Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation has agreed to run the clinic. Danville School District 118 is renovating the school’s basement as the clinic’s future home. Deanna Witzel is a McDonald’s owner and operator. She also…
URBANA — During snowstorms, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District calls on both employees and volunteers to “plow” the sidewalks. Cynthia Hoyle chairs the C-U Safe Routes to School Project. The project coordinates volunteer “snow angels,” who commit to clearing snow from stretches of sidewalk near them. “Because you can’t get compliance by fining people. You…
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign teachers are willing to strike to protest Unit 4’s latest contract offer. That contract would extend the elementary school day by 50 minutes, starting in the fall of 2023. On Wednesday, about 700 Unit 4 teachers gathered at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign. 91 percent voted to authorize their union to strike….
CHAMPAIGN – More than 350 Champaign teachers rallied on Monday over contract negotiations, and they will vote on Wednesday about authorizing a strike. At issue — whether Unit 4 should extend the elementary school day. Contract negotiations between the Unit 4 School District and the Champaign Federation of Teachers have stalled in recent weeks. The…
CHAMPAIGN – Cooks and custodians at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana say the univeristy rejected their proposal this week for stricter safety measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Dena Gary is a head cook at the University of Illinois and the president of the Champaign-Urbana chapter of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73. She and other…
CHAMPAIGN — Catalytic converters keep disappearing from Champaign-Urbana cars. The University of Illinois Police Department has already reported seven catalytic converter thefts in 2022. Why someone would steal them, though, is a bit of a mystery for local law enforcement. The metals in the devices are precious, for sure. Palladium, for example, fluctuated in value last…
URBANA — The University of Illinois is expecting a surge of COVID-19 cases as students return to Champaign-Urbana for the spring semester. The goal now is to prevent those who have caught COVID from spreading the virus further, according to epidemiology assistant professor Rebecca Smith. “We really encourage people to be cautious over the next…