education

Recognize any of these faces? In this edition of "In 60 Seconds or Less" we highlight some famous names and faces who attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

Dave Dahl -- Illinois Radio Network Can you imagine a 17-year-old Bruce Rauner as a public speaker? The governor told a Springfield classroom Tuesday he was a natural resources advocate and testified at land-use hearings. “My high school club and I,” he said in the Lanphier High School library during a tour of downstate schools, “we won a little award for our work for wilderness preservation … and

CHICAGO (AP) — University of Illinois trustees are expected to freeze in-state tuition rates at the school's three campuses. Trustees meet in Chicago on Thursday and will to vote on a plan announced last week to freeze tuition for the coming school year at current rates...

Some good news on the education front. Officials with Rockford Public Schools have announced it has been named a Ford Next Generation Learning Community. Rockford is now among just 17 communities in the nation to receive the distinction. The distinction celebrates the high school redesign in the Rockford Public Schools, which began with the rollout of the Academy model in 2010...

John Gregory -- Illinois Radio Network The Republican legislative leaders are sounding the alarm about what a change in the state’s school funding formula would mean for some districts. The proposal would base state funding to schools more on need...

Following yesterday's post about enrollment increasing at Rockford University, I have another encouraging education story to share. Prairie Hill Elementary School in South Beloit has been recognized by the Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School for 2014...

Last week I shared the story that the Rockford area ranked as the third least-educated metro area in the U.S. Well, now it's only fair to point out the good news coming from Rockford University. Officials say enrollment of full-time undergraduate students at Rockford University has reached a 20-year high of 878 students for fall 2014...

It's topic we've discussed on the show a number of times, but one that still is surrounded by some level of confusion and uncertainty. It's Common Core, the new K-12 school curriculum standards in Math and English. There's an opportunity soon to learn more from an expert on the topic...

Jim Anderson -- Illinois Radio Network Illinois Senate Republicans have introduced a bill on education funding. The measure would require the state to cover the full recommended per-pupil amount of general state aid recommended by the Education Funding Advisory Board, an amount the state now covers at 89 percent “We will fully fund the foundation formula – no proration, we will fully fund the form

Jim Anderson -- Illinois Radio Network A handful of school superintendents are jumping on board a proposal to change the way the state distributes money to school districts. They’re for S.B. 16, sponsored by State Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill), which adjusts the funding formula to take into account not only the level of poverty in a school district, but also the amount of taxable property wealth