By Samantha Smylie for Chalbeat Chicago

From the article:

The Illinois state board of education is in the process of changing its current assessment system from the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), a test currently given at the end of the school year, to a three-times-a-year test. The state board’s plan for the new assessment would include an optional kindergarten to second grade exam.

In response to the state’s plan, the Illinois Families for Public Education created “Too Young to Test” – a bill. Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago), a former state board of education member, plans to carry during this session.

The state already requires educators to complete a Kindergarten Individual Development Survey within the first few months of school; this legislation would not impact that survey or other local exams or diagnostic screeners to determine if a child has a disability. The bill, said Pacione-Zayas, would not impact those efforts.

“This is really about ensuring that our youngest children do not have to be subjected to a high stakes, accountability assessment,” said Pacione-Zayas.

Pacione-Zayas is also looking to boost funding for the Minority Teaching Initiative Scholarship, which provides assistance to people of color and bilingual student teachers. Usually the budget line for the scholarship is $2.1 million, Pacione-Zayas wants it to be $4.5 million. The increase in the scholarship amount will prevent students from leaving a teacher prep program for employment, she said.

Read the full article here. 

Check out my first town hall of 2022, where we go over my legislative priorities, community resources and more!

Spanish versions:

Para leer en español, haz click aquí.

Dear friend,

January is almost over, and I wanted to give you an update on what I’ve been up to in these first few weeks of 2022.

Read on to learn about the series of vaccine clinics we’ve put on, my priorities for the spring legislative session and various upcoming events, both virtual and in the district.

I also wanted to remind you that you are now able to order four at-home COVID-19 rapid tests for your household free of charge. Visit https://www.covidtests.gov/ to order yours today!

Sincerely,

State Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas | 20^th District

Read more ...

This month, we’re spotlighting ASI Healthcare Services.

Their mission is to provide quality, supportive, home care services to post-acute patients, senior citizens and persons with disabilities throughout metropolitan Chicago with an emphasis and commitment to Chicago’s Hispanic and African American communities.

In the last year, ASI has dedicated a lot of their efforts to providing our community with COVID-19 vaccines. In fact, in December and January alone, ASI teamed up with our office to host five vaccine clinics with even more to come.

Thank you ASI, for all the hard work you do to keep us safe!

We also want to shout out Sussie González, who works at ASI and acts as our Vaccine Navigator. Learn more about her and all she's done for our community here. Thank you, Sussie!