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Education
Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
2:14pm
Tue Jun 18

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Would Mean Big Gains For Social Security & Medicare, Analysts Say

Medicare and Social Security would see a significant boost in payroll tax contributions if America’s 11 million undocumented immigrants were provided legal status and an earned pathway to citizenship, say health and economic policy experts.

Specifically, if 85 percent of the country’s eligible undocumented immigrants gained legal status and earned citizenship, they would contribute a net gain of $606.4 billion to the Social Security system over a 36-year period, a new report from the Center For American Progress Shows.  

It is estimated that undocumented workers would pay $1.2 trillion in Social Security taxes from their earnings, yet only $580.9 billion in benefits would be doled out to them over those 36 years, according to the report.

The potential net gain is enough to fund the retirement of 2.4 million Americans, said Patrick Oakford, an economic policy research assistant at the Center for American Progress and co-author of the report.

“That’s your parents, my parents, grandparents, someone’s neighbor,” Oakford said. “Those retirement benefits will be supported by the undocumented population if we allow them to travel the earned pathway to citizenship.” 

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PI Original
by Ellyn Fortino
4:41pm
Mon Jun 17

West Side ‘Peace Corner’ Provides A Safe Haven For Youth (VIDEO)

Crime

The Peace Corner Youth Center on Chicago's West Side offers youth a safe and recreational space after school and during the summer. Just before a violent weekend of shootings across the city left eight people dead and more than 40 wounded, Progress Illinois attended the non-profit's open house to learn more about its violence-prevention programs.

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
2:16pm
Fri Jun 14

CPS' Per-Student Budgets Will Exacerbate School Inequality, Education Experts Say

The Chicago Public Schools' (CPS) new per-student budgeting system spells big cuts for some schools, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and local school officials are learning.

CPS released next year’s individual school budgets to principals last week and, according to the CTU, schools across the city are seeing 10 percent to 25 percent cuts in funding. The union and education experts predict these cuts will lead to eliminated positions and more split-level classes, among other negative outcomes.

So far, a handful of schools have reported to seeing their budgets slashed by more than one million dollars.

“What we’re going to see is a degradation of education in neighborhood public schools, which is likely to result in even a widening of the inequalities that we already have in CPS,” said Pauline Lipman, professor of educational policy studies and director of the Collaborative for Equity and Justice in Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
3:26pm
Tue Jun 11

Report Reveals 1 In 5 Schools Considered 'High-Poverty'

About one in five public schools was classified as high-poverty in 2011, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics.

In comparison, about one in eight schools was considered high-poverty in 2000. Schools are labeled high-poverty when 75 percent or more of the enrolled students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

Over the past two decades, the percentage of school-age children living in poverty has also increased, according to the report, “The Condition of Education 2013." 

“If poverty is increasing, there should be an increase in support for education, and instead our education policies nationally and locally are going the opposite direction,” said Pauline Lipman, professor of educational policy studies and director of the Collaborative for Equity and Justice in Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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