Senate Majority Leader Lightford had an amazing kick off to the State Of Education Town Hall Informational in the 4th Senate District, which was well attended last night with over 80 people. The expert panelist made participants aware of the current issues and concerns children in the CPS school system are faced with daily. The issues and concerns we learned about are inequity, reasonable classroom sizes, resources in black and brown schools and geographic areas. We learned that literacy levels are some of the lowest in the country and that truancy is one of the biggest issues schools are facing. Teacher shortage is an ongoing issue for CPS as well as across the nation. In Illinois, the need for diversity and inclusion in CPS Administrators and teachers is at an all time high. The question was posed: how beneficial is standardizing testing for students' academic progress? Or, should CPS focus this time on classroom learning. The need for students to learn current history and past history of interest, should be driven by Cultural Learning Curriculum. Lastly, The Parent University is a growing support system, however the need for more parents involvement is critical to the development of the whole child.

Hosted at Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School. The panelist consisted of the following: Felica Sanders Chief School Officer for Chicago Public Schools; Tara Stamps Administrative Director of New Teacher Development, Chicago Teachers Union; Dr. Monique Redeau President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers; Jessica Handy Executive Director for Stand; Ralph Martire Executive Director for Center for Tax and Budget Accountability; Claiborne Wade a Parent Advocate of Family Focus; and Valerie Leonard Co-Founder of Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting.