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As federal COVID funds run out, the district is grappling with how to pay for universal preschool going forward.
The governor will work with the legislature in spring 2024 to formalize the new agency’s structure. He is appointing a transition director and advisory committee to help figure out how to bring together preschool funding, daycare licensing, early intervention, and the state’s child care assistance program.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces a plan that will give $250 million more toward the state’s early childhood education and child care programs.
Illinois is set to receive $760 million over the next 18 years after winning a lawsuit against major pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid epidemic. Law enforcement officials want part of the money to go to early childhood programs.
The governor's early education agenda is beginning to crystallize, and it will center on expanding home visiting programs statewide and improving pay for educators.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday named a commission tasked with tackling a big question in Illinois early childhood education: How to reach more babies, toddlers, and preschoolers on limited funds.
For the second time in four months, a top administrator in Chicago's early learning program is stepping down, amid a critical rollout universal pre-kindergarten.
‘Hoping for a miracle’: Chicago parents express confusion, anxiety as preschools and day care centers lay off staff, threaten downsizing
After yanking funding from them earlier this year, Chicago has found $5 million to stave off the impending closures and layoffs of established child care centers.
How Illinois can fortify its system, which is recognized nationally for its high quality but only reimburses centers between $24 and $32 a day to care for preschoolers, is one of the questions facing the administration of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Erickson Institute will open a mental health clinic for infants and toddlers in a Chicago neighborhood beset by violence and deportations.
"It’s not an us-versus-CPS thing. We are really partnering with them closely."
At least 30 early learning centers that serve more than 1,000 children across Chicago face deep cuts, according to a survey.
In 2017, Illinois spent an average of $15,337 per student in K-12 but only $3,306 for a child under age 6.
A new documentary from Chicago filmmaker Greg Jacobs takes a close look at early childhood education — highlighting the struggles of exhausted parents, underpaid providers and traumatized children.
In Illinois, early childhood advocates are also fretting over a group that has long been undercounted: babies and toddlers.