Here are 5 bills that could impact your child's classroom in Illinois

Illinois students returning from spring break are now entering the home stretch of the 2023-2024 academic year. Upcoming school years, however, could be significantly different as state lawmakers consider new legislation and budget funding requests from Gov. JB Pritzker.

Lawmakers are crafting a budget for the upcoming fiscal year starting in July, where education is again expected to be a major focus. For the Illinois State Board of Education, Pritzker is requesting $10.9 billion in state funds mostly going towards evidence-based funding for public schools.

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It's also year two of the Smart Start Illinois initiative, a signature program for the governor aiming to provide universal preschool by 2027. This year, Pritzker calls for $400 million for Smart Start along with $13 million to establish the new state Department of Early Childhood.

Along with the budget there are several pieces of education legislation advancing in committee. Here's five bills to know that could be affecting your classroom.

Electric school buses

How your student gets to school could be changing in coming years.

Through House Bill 2287, led by Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, newly purchased and leased school buses would have to be electric starting in 2028. By 2035, all school districts would be required to have solely electric school buses.

The state is targeting having one million EVs on the road by 2030 but is not on pace to accomplish this goal. According to data from the Illinois Secretary of State's office, there are just less than 98,000 EVs in the state as of March 2024 — the plurality of which being in Cook County and surrounding counties.

Those purchasing EVs can receive up-to a $4,000 rebate from the state. Similarly, the new legislation would offer grants up to $200,000 to purchase or lease an electric school bus.

Teacher planning period

As a way to help teachers during the school day, Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel, D-Shorewood introduced Senate Bill 2721, a bill that would carve out at least 45 minutes during the school day for teachers to plan. The bill states that during the plan time an educator cannot be forced to substitute or attend meetings or training sessions. If this bill passes it will become a requirement for all public-school districts across the state.

The bill has caught the attention Springfield are school districts, including Rochester School District superintendent of schools Dan Cox, who expressed his concerns about the pending legislation.

“The nuance with this particular bill as it stands today is it can have a disproportionate or negative impact on instructional time for students,” Cox said in a recent interview. “This bill would also likely have a greater impact on smaller school districts that don’t have staff.”

Corporal punishment

Illinois has banned corporal punishment in public schools since 1994. That same policy has not been applied to private schools, yet new legislation could change that.

House Bill 4175 would prevent nonpublic schools from slapping or paddling a student, placing a student in a physically painful position and the intentional infliction of bodily harm on a student.

The bill comes from Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, and passed unanimously out of a House committee. It now awaits a full House vote before advancing to the Senate.

Passage of the legislation would make Illinois the fifth state in the nation to ban corporal punishment in private schools, joining New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Iowa.

Intentional down-time for students

In recent years it has been reported that more students are dealing with higher levels of stress and anxiety in school. This bill aims to help reduce those stress levels and help keep kids focused during the school day.

Introduced by Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, Senate Bill 2872 would require each school district to offer relaxation time or relaxation activities for at least 20 minutes a week. The time would be used to emphasize self-care and downtime as a way to improve overall health.

The bill would also encourage schools to use various practices like yoga, meditation, mental health education and mindfulness practices.

New curriculum

What's being taught in the classroom could change in the coming years.

Before the House Elementary and Secondary Education: School Curriculum and Policies Committee are several bills that would require the teaching of Arab-American history, the impacts of climate change and a one-semester course on personal finance.

Contact Hope Gadson: hgadson@gannett.com; Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois education: 5 bills that could impact your child's classroom