Education and Schools

The newly elected head of the state’s largest union lives in Bloomington. Illinois Education Association members chose Karl Goeke who had been serving as interim president following the death of IEA president Al Llorens in September.

Unit 5 School Board member Stan Gozur noted four of its schools have mobile classrooms to accommodate overcrowding and two other schools are also at or near capacity.

A veteran McLean County educator is among seven Illinois finalists for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Leadership. Winners receive a $10,000 cash prize, split between the educator and their school.

New research showed public schools across the country intentionally evade federal reporting requirements by calling seclusion rooms something else. Students with disabilities, he found, were four times more likely to be restrained or secluded.

Parents of students at Glenn Elementary School have taken their pleas to keep the school as it is to the Normal Town Council. Ideally, they would like to see the council release a statement of support for their cause.

Illinois lawmakers want to increase funding for community schools because of the loss of federal grant money.

Mark Jontry is stepping down 14 months earlier than expected, likely paving the way for his successor to take office sooner. He's the regional superintendent of schools for McLean, DeWitt, Livingston and Logan counties.

The Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council and YWCA McLean County are proposing significant public and private sector investment in affordable child care for the community, after a yearlong study.

The monthly meeting has been rescheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28 at Normal Community West High School.

The four Republican Party candidates for governor of Illinois told a Central Illinois audience Thursday evening they favor property tax caps, pension reform, ending Illinois' status as a "sanctuary state," and rolling back the SAFE-T criminal justice reform act which ended cash bail.