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Archive for the ‘Saint Viator High School’ Category

Beyond degrees: Empowering Illinoisans through career-first education

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington High School, Education, Elgin Community College, Harper College, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Saint Viator High School, School Districts, Taxes, Topics Of Interest on June 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

By Josh Bandoch, Lauren Zuar | Illinois Policy Institute

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The best path to empowerment and success, especially for poor people, is work. Work allows us to prosper while providing dignity, upward mobility, the means to support ourselves and create value for others. It’s how we become thriving members of our community.

Central to this process is our education system. One of its core functions is to equip all students with the knowledge and skills necessary to find gainful employment and, ideally, careers. It’s falling woefully short, as Illinois faces a massive skills gap with over 324,000 job openings and over 283,000 Illinoisans looking for work as of November 2024. Workers lack the skills companies need. That’s a key driver of Illinois’ steep unemployment rate – one of the highest in the nation.

Why is this happening? A primary reason is Illinois’ education system mistakenly pushes college degrees as the best path to success. They aren’t. Pushing this harmful narrative creates a host of other problems. Statewide, fewer than half of students who enroll in college graduate, while student debt continues to soar – approaching $2 trillion nationwide.

Illinois can become a true leader by going beyond degrees and establishing a career-first education system. Such a system emphasizes empowering students with practical skills to maximize their chances of building lasting careers. For some students, this means earning a college degree. For many others, it means emphasizing skills-based learning opportunities such as apprenticeships or other workforce development training.

The economic and social benefits of apprenticeships are abundant. Apprenticeships are paid work training programs in which participants take on zero debt. Apprenticeship completers earn an average national starting salary of $80,000, surpassing the average $55,000 for workers who do not pursue or complete one. The hiring rate for people who complete vocational training, such as apprenticeships, is 44% higher than people with a bachelor’s degree and 46% higher than people with a graduate degree. Career satisfaction is high, too, with nearly 90% of surveyed tradespeople reporting they are very or somewhat satisfied.

Despite these enormous benefits, Illinois shortchanges apprenticeships in favor of colleges and universities. In 2025, Illinois has allocated $2.6 billion in general funds to colleges. Meanwhile, the state is projected to spend only $148.7 million in general funds on apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships and workforce training – less than 6% of the college funding.

To adopt a career-first educational model, Illinois should:

  • Expand apprenticeships, especially youth-focused and non-registered programs.
  • Reform occupational licensing laws to allow apprenticeship as an alternative to formal education.
  • Raise public awareness of apprenticeship benefits and opportunities.
  • Regularly assess workforce trends to align education with labor market needs.
  • Shift funding from universities to support additional apprenticeship programming.

Read more of their insightful report here or download it here.

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9 things Illinoisans should know before letting ‘Homeschool Act’ become law

Posted in Barrington Education Association, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Saint Anne Parish School, Saint Viator High School, Springfield, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on April 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

House Bill 2827 would regulate both homeschool families and private schools in Illinois. Its extensive provisions have generated historic opposition. Here are nine things you should know about how it will impact education, privacy and your family.

By Mailee Smith | Illinois Policy Institute

A bill that would regulate the families of nonpublic school students has generated historic opposition in the Illinois General Assembly.

House Bill 2827, filed by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Lombard, would impose extensive regulations on homeschooling and private schools.

It’s been downplayed as simply filling out a form, but the “Homeschool Act” involves much more. Here are nine things you should know about HB 2827:

  1. The homeschool regulation creates a child registry, including children’s gender.
  2. Failing to file the form carries jail time.
  3. An “education portfolio” can be demanded at any time from homeschool families, allowing government abuse of power.
  4. The homeschool regulation requires more of homeschool administrators than the state does of public schools.
  5. The bill isn’t clear on how the regulate on would be enforced, creating substantial legal questions.
  6. The regulations would eat into education funding or other resources.
  7. The bill also regulates private schools.
  8. The bill creates a registry of residents’ religions.
  9. The bill has generated historic opposition.

You can tell your lawmaker to vote “no” on HB 2827 by using our Take Action tool.

1) The homeschool regulation creates a child registry, including children’s gender

The current version of HB 2827 requires homeschool families to file a “homeschool declaration form” each year with their local school district. But it’s much more than a simple form.

Instead, it mandates the reporting of personal information including, at a minimum, the child’s name, birthdate, grade level and home address, as well as the name, birth date, contact information and home address of the homeschool administrator.

But there is no limit on what information could be required on the form. The Illinois State Board of Education is simply tasked with creating the form and could require any information it wants. Other provisions in the bill indicate additional information will be required for government authorities to generate required annual reports.

For example, each year the regional office of education must create an annual report that includes the total count of homeschooling students broken down by grade level and gender. While a child’s gender is not required in the initial provision outlining the minimum requirements in the form, the form is clearly intended to gather more than just the information explicitly mentioned in the bill. And the state board of education is given the extensive authority to “adopt any rules necessary” to implement and administer the act.

With name, age, grade, address and gender already included, there’s no reason to think other questions – such as race, ethnicity or other affiliations – would not also be included.

There is no provision allowing parents to opt out of having their children and their personal information tracked by state and local authorities.

Read much more here.

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Committee Oks ‘Homeschool Act;’ Fight moves to Illinois House floor

Posted in Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Ethics, His Master's Voice, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Saint Anne Parish School, Saint Viator High School, Springfield, Unions on March 20, 2025| 2 Comments »

Illinoisans over 90,000 times said they opposed a bill regulating homeschools and private schools, but an Illinois House committee passed it anyway. Now the full Illinois House must face constitutional issues and fierce opposition to the bill.

By Dylan Sharkey | Illinois Policy Institute

A measure regulating homeschool and private schools in Illinois saw a record 90,000-plus public declarations of opposition, but an Illinois House committee ignored them March 19 and advanced the bill for a full House floor vote.

The Illinois House of Representatives’ Education Policy Committee voted 8-4 in favor of House Bill 2827, with one voting “present.” The vote was along party lines.

HB 2827, the “Homeschool Act,” requires all elementary and secondary private schools to register annually with the state and report sensitive information on all enrolled students. It also requires homeschooled children’s information be registered annually and that a curriculum portfolio of their school work be produced on demand.

Illinois Policy staff attorney and director of labor policy Mailee Smith testified before the committee, urging members to vote “no.”

“Nothing in HB 2827 is about what’s best for kids or somehow improves education for those students who are struggling. Instead, it’s about tracking and regulating every single family and school that is not a government public school,” Smith stated in written testimony.

By making private schools disclose the names, addresses and other information about their students, the state government is essentially requiring families’ religions to be disclosed.

HB 2827 would empower the state to ask for an annual “homeschool declaration form” and an “educational portfolio” any time for any reason among other requirements. The portfolio must include a log of curricular materials used and samples of writing, worksheets or other materials written by the child. Public schools are not required to share that same information with the families of enrolled students.

Read more here.

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Illinois lawmakers attack parents’ constitutional rights

Posted in Ethics, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Privacy, Saint Anne Parish School, Saint Viator High School, Springfield, Unions on March 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

House Bill 2827 would require all Illinois private schools to report personal information about students to local and state authorities – a prime example of Illinois government overreach and an infringement of parents’ constitutional rights.

By Mailee Smith | Illinois Policy Institute

The parental right “to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control” was recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court 100 years ago.

But Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill attacking that right. If passed, the bill would require private schools to report the personal information of all enrolled students and their parents to state and local authorities.

House Bill 2827 was filed by state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Lombard, and has been co-sponsored by 15 other Democratic members of the House as of March 5. Teachers unions – ardent opponents of parents’ ability to choose alternatives to public school – have invested over $3 million in the 16 sponsors’ campaign committees, according to records with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Restricting parents’ rights and limiting educational choice is nothing new in Illinois. Despite voter support for Illinois’ private school choice program, Illinois lawmakers listened to teachers unions and ended the Invest in Kids tax-credit scholarship program in 2023, taking away scholarships from more than 15,000 low-income students benefiting from the privately-funded program.  Lawmakers let the program expire after teachers unions dropped nearly $1.5 million into their campaign coffers in the months ahead of the decision.

Now Illinois parents are seeing their rights attacked once again, with HB 2827 aimed at regulating every single family and school that is not a government public school.

What does HB 2827 mean for private school students and parents?

House Bill 2827 is framed as a regulation of homeschool parents, and to that end it is already an attack on parental rights. But it goes farther, regulating private schools and requiring them to hand over personal information about their enrolled students.

Currently, private schools do not have to register with the state. HB 2827 changes that, making registration an annual requirement for all elementary and secondary private schools beginning in August 2026. It also requires private schools to report the following on all enrolled students:

  • Student name
  • Student date of birth
  • Student grade
  • Student address
  • Parent or guardian name
  • Parent or guardian address.

That information must be reported to both the Illinois State Board of Education as well as to either Chicago Public Schools, for children residing in Chicago, or the regional office of education for non-Chicago children.

Read more here.

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Saint Viator named 2024 Blue Ribbon School

Posted in Education, Resident Spotlights, Saint Viator High School, Topics Of Interest on September 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Submitted by Kaitlin Stewart

Saint Viator High School is proud to announce its selection as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon by the U.S. Department of Education. Saint Viator High School is honored to be recognized as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School, marking the third time the institution has received this accolade. Previously, the school earned the Blue Ribbon Award in 2008 and again in 2014.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona today recognized 356 schools as the 2024 cohort of National Blue Ribbon Schools. This prestigious recognition highlights schools that excel in academic performance or make significant strides in closing achievement gaps among different student groups.

“The National Blue Ribbon Schools Award is a testament to the exceptional achievements of students and educators at each of these schools,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “The 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools are raising the bar for our nation’s students, serving as models for effective teaching and intentional collaboration in their schools and communities. As we celebrate their achievements, let us look to these schools for inspiration as we champion education as the foundation of a brighter future for every child.”

The 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools reflect the full diversity of American education and serve students from all backgrounds. While awardees represent a wide array of schools, they share common traits. National Blue Ribbon Schools are led by leaders who articulate a clear vision of instructional excellence and uphold high standards. They showcase effective teaching methods and offer robust professional development for their staff. Data-driven instruction is a hallmark, and there is a concerted effort to ensure every student succeeds. Collaboration among families, communities, and educators is a key component of their success.

“This is an incredible honor for our school community,” said Principal of Saint Viator Jon Bafficol. “To receive the Blue Ribbon Award three times in our history is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and talent of our students, staff, and parents. We are truly grateful for this recognition and will continue to strive for excellence in all that we do.”

A National Blue Ribbon School award flag displayed in a school’s entryway or on a flagpole is a widely recognized emblem of exceptional teaching and learning. These schools serve as models of effective and innovative practices for educators across the nation. The Department recognizes all schools based on student performance data including assessment results, student subgroup performance and graduation rates. Schools are recognized in both or either of two performance categories:

— Exemplary High Performing Schools: These schools are among the top performers in their state as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.

— Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools: These schools excel in narrowing achievement gaps between different student groups and the overall student body.

Each nominated school submits a comprehensive application detailing its school culture, programs, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership, family, and community involvement. Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year. The Department invites nominations for the National Blue Ribbon Schools award from the top education officials in all states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. Private schools are nominated by the Council for American Private Education.

“I’m so proud of our incredible faculty, staff and administrators who work tirelessly to offer an unparalleled educational experience to our students,” said President of Saint Viator Ryan Aiello. “This third Blue Ribbon award is a testament to their hard work and dedication.”

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