SE Illinois News

Rep. Dave Severin (R-Benton) is keenly focused on education in the 103rd General Assembly.

Severin has been appointed House Republican spokesman for the House’s Higher Education Appropriations Committee. 

“In the General Assembly, I'll serve as a member of the House Elementary and Secondary Appropriation Committee and the House Higher Education Committee,” Severin said in a press conference. “COVID-19 changed everything for our kids, as you well know. We learned that tragically, the government-imposed shutdowns have badly harmed our students reading math and science development.”

Severin added education is important to his family. He served as a school board member for 29 years and his wife was an elementary school teacher for 30 years.

“Our schools stand as pillars in our communities, especially in the area that I represent," he said. "They are places where we teach, we learn, we gather, We participate in music, sports activities, art. I'm saddened that we're falling behind other states. Our kids deserve better, our children, our future. These are some of the alarming statistics that we need to address in 2022 22, a report from the Illinois State Board of Education revealed that less than 30 percent of eighth graders in Illinois are passing algebra.”

Academic performance has dropped considerably for Illinois students post-pandemic. Wirepoints recently noted the schools in the state where no students are performing at grade level. “30 schools in Illinois where not a single student can read at grade level. Twenty-two of those schools are part of the Chicago Public Schools and the other eight are outside Chicago,” Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner wrote for Wirepoints. “The failure list in math is even longer. There are 53 schools statewide where not one kid is proficient in math.”

School scores plummeted during former Illinois State Board of Education state Superintendent Carmen Ayala’s tenure and rancor and community disputes within many local school districts increased. Illinois stands apart from surrounding states in that its kids missed more classroom instruction than across-the-borders peers. According to the Associated Press, Illinois kept its schools closed long after it became clear that they were not the "super spreaders" that had been feared. As a result, between March 2020 and June 2021, the typical Chicago student missed half a school year or 21 weeks in reading and 20 weeks in arithmetic. The pandemic seems to have had less of an impact on academic uptake in the states and school systems that prioritized in-person instruction.

Severin was speaking on behalf of a united GOP plan to address structural deficits in Illinois. The implications of the plans are varied. The implications of the plans are varied. "The economic agenda includes establishing worker protections while using the state’s resources and Midwest location to make the state attractive to job creators,” Troy E. Taylor wrote for Shaw Local. “Helping families would be achieved by making Illinois attractive as a place to move to.” He also noted, “The literacy agenda says the state must address learning loss, improve learning literacy and restore students so they are competitive in the modern workplace.” Taylor added that “The policing agenda aims to make neighborhoods safe, protect law-abiding citizens and respect law enforcement.”