“In California, 90 percent of students cannot do math or read well. In New York, the numbers are 85 percent and 82 percent. In Illinois it is 86 percent and 85 percent. In Texas the numbers are 84 percent and 89 percent…To use Mrs. (Winsome) Sears’s words, they are ‘functionally illiterate,’ meaning that they are ‘unable to manage daily living and employment tasks.'”

“It’s another instance of a corruption cycle that costs Illinoisans an estimated $556 million every year and ranks it No. 2 in the nation for public corruption”

“I did eight years,” Mark Batinick told the Sun-Times. “This was never meant to be a career for me personally. I certainly respect people who are there longer and do hard work, and there’s a lot of good people down there, but I’m kind of a ‘move up or move out’ guy, and I’m choosing to move out.”

“In mid-March, most substantive legislation is still working through the committee process. There’s rarely a hot-button floor vote that takes place that early. But next year, the spring session will be complete by the time lawmakers face primary voters at the end of June. It’s hard not to imagine heightened political calculus being behind every move state lawmakers make next year, especially if faced with the prospect of a primary challenge.”

While some reports say the fines for noncompliance by an employer could be up to $14,000 per infraction, Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch said it could be much more. Maisch also said the rule published and in effect Friday opens the door for a flood of COVID liability lawsuits against employers. “It allows someone to go ahead and charge that their employer didn’t execute on the mandate as well as they should have and consequently they received COVID in the workplace.” It’s expected there will be lawsuits opposing the rule.

“I think this bill has some massive flaws, and the sponsor has been unwilling to work with opponents to get to a better place,” state Rep. Avery Bourne said. “We have heard from many school districts that this is a massively unfunded mandate. It was not negotiated at all with the stakeholders.”

“People will die for their children. They don’t appreciate others telling them how to raise their kids, particularly if those pushing advice are racist political hacks, ordering the FBI and the Department of Justice to use the Patriot Act to treat dissenting parents as if they’re domestic terrorist and silence dissents.”

High rates of absenteeism were accompanied by a drop in academic achievement, revealing 17% fewer students met grade-level standards for English proficiency while 18% missed benchmarks for math, according to the state’s recently released school report card.

Mark Konkol: “Judges don’t make motions. They rule on them. But, as the Daily Herald reported, reassigning the cases was (U.S. District Court Judge John Robert) Blakey’s idea. That’s a concern for lawyers defending local jab mandates.”

“The celebration of the triumph of light over darkness is especially important during this pandemic,” Krishnamoorthi said on social media. Currently there are 11 recognized federal holidays, with the latest holiday, Juneteenth National Independence Day, being added to the calendar in 2021.

“The mind-numbing frustration is how often these kinds of political shenanigans take place is how repeatedly unnecessary they are. Springfield starts to feel like a black hole into which money, fairness and common sense goes in but doesn’t come back out.”