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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, All students, educators, and families in Illinois
3have been deeply affected by COVID-19 in ways that will be felt
4for years to come; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The pandemic has laid bare systemic inequities in
6American society and has disproportionately impacted Black and
7Latinx students, students from low-income households, English
8Learners, and students with special needs; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Even prior to COVID-19, Illinois students faced
10significant unmet academic and social-emotional needs; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has
12forced districts to disrupt traditional in-person learning and
13educator professional development, and schools have been
14implementing variations of in-person, hybrid, and remote
15learning models; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Research suggests that the disrupted schooling
17over the past year, left unaddressed, will impact students'
18academic and social-emotional learning and development and
19will disproportionally impact historically underserved
20students' educational and lifelong outcomes; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The path to recovery for Illinois students
2requires a commitment to address their academic, emotional,
3and mental health needs and requires adults in the State of
4Illinois to provide our children with stronger, more systemic
5supports and interventions; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Teachers and administrators will need additional
7time to plan and adapt practice to best support student needs;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, Both research and practice indicate that adding
10time to the school day and/or year can have a meaningful
11positive impact on student outcomes; and
 
12    WHEREAS, To be most effective, this additional time needs
13to be of both a sufficient quantity and quality, including
14engaging instructional and enrichment time for students and
15planning and collaboration time for educators; and
 
16    WHEREAS, There are meaningful equity considerations that
17schools and districts must consider in how they elect to add
18additional time to the school day and/or school year so that no
19student or group of students is excluded or faces opportunity
20gaps; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Illinois school districts have received

 

 

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1significant federal stimulus dollars to address both the
2COVID-19 related immediate and recovery needs of students, and
3extended time is an allowable use for these funds; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Absent additional time, in order to provide the
5needed academic and social-emotional supports, schools may be
6forced to eliminate or decrease time and support for
7enrichment opportunities or focus on a subset of content
8instead of the breadth and depth of knowledge the State and
9Illinois institutions of higher education have deemed
10necessary for post-secondary success; and
 
11    WHEREAS, National and local education and civil rights
12leaders, as well as state education leaders, have advocated
13for additional time as a critical strategy to address learning
14disruption; therefore, be it
 
15    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
16ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Illinois
17school districts to add additional time to the school day
18and/or school year, beginning in the School Year 2021-22 and
19for the next three years, to help all students address the
20unprecedented need brought by the COVID-19 learning
21disruption; and be it further
 
22    RESOLVED, That this additional time should be added based

 

 

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1on research-based best practices, including ensuring there are
2sufficient additional minutes added to the calendar with a
3focus on quality instructional, social-emotional, and
4enrichment programming; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That additional consideration should be given to
6the need for additional time for educators to plan and
7prepare; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That districts should prioritize equity
9considerations in the planning and implementation of this
10additional time, including how this time is (1) prioritized
11for those schools and communities that serve predominantly
12historically underserved student populations, (2) supported by
13qualified educators and staff, (3) accessible by sufficient
14transportation services and not at the exclusion of
15participating in extracurricular activities like sports,
16internships and clubs, (4) inclusive of programming that takes
17into consideration the language needs and diverse learner
18needs of the community's students, (5) not prohibitive for
19students based on fees, and (6) executed in partnership with
20caregivers, students, and school staff.