November 18, 2020 – Gov. J.B. Pritzker continues to resist calls to close schools despite an increase in COVID-19 and a call from the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
About 63 percent of the state’s 1.9 million students are attending fully remote classes. The Illinois Federation of Teachers urged the Illinois State Board of Education and Pritzker to close all schools during the “COVID-19 surge.”
“We call on every school district – as well as Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education – to do the right thing and take immediate action to protect students, educators, staff, and communities by closing school buildings during this COVID-19 surge,” IFT President Dan Montgomery said.
Decatur Public Schools have opted to stay with remote learning until at least January 15th. In addition, Springfield District 186 and Champaign schools have moved to remove learning.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday responded to a call from the Illinois Federation of Teachers to close schools.
“It’s right now not something that we’re doing, but I will say that what we’ve made sure is to set parameters that are safe for schools. We need schools to follow those parameters. Most are.”
The most recent data from ISBE shows of nearly 850 districts reporting for a total of 1.9 million students, 1.2 million are fully remote, nearly 600,000 are in a blended option, and just 170,000 are in-person.
Illinois schools are funded primarily through local property taxes with some resources from state tax dollars.
