Fewer, Poorer Kids In Illinois Schools
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) -- A new report shows Illinois now with fewer, and poorer, schoolchildren.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Regine Schlesinger reports, the data come from the Annual Illinois School Report Card. They show that the number of public schoolchildren in Illinois dropped by more than 13,500 since 2007 – the biggest drop in two decades.
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Students are also growing poorer. Nearly half the state's more than 2 million public school students come from families now considered low-income, and nearly half qualify for government-subsidized meals.
Illinois Schools Supt. Christopher Koch tells the Chicago Tribune he is worried about the trend.
"We are seeing additional stress on families ... and we know this impacts students," Koch told the Tribune.
The report also showed that student mobility – or the number of times students transfer schools in a given school year – dropped last year, the Tribune reported. Teachers and principals welcome the trend, given the struggle to keep students on the same page when they are coming and going in the middle of the year, the newspaper reported.
