Will County Gazette

State Rep. Mark Batinick spoke out this week about how school closures have negatively impacted school-aged children during the pandemic and beyond. 

Batinick said in a post on Facebook, "There's no doubt that the pandemic has disrupted our state's education system. It's time to renew our focus on providing Illinois students with a high-quality education and the essentials for a successful future."

According to Capitol News Illinois, Pre-K-12 enrollment in Illinois decreased by 3.6%, or about 70,000 students, for the 2020-2021 school year, which also saw an increase in chronic absenteeism, with 22.8% of Illinois students missing 10% or more school days. Math proficiency also decreased by 17.8%, and English proficiency decreased by 16.6%.

“We know from national studies from the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that school districts serving primarily Black and Hispanic students provided the least access to in-person learning last year," Brenda Dixen, research and evaluation officer for the Illinois State Board of Education, said. "We suspect that less access to in-person learning contributed to lower engagement among Black and Hispanic students.” 

Illinois Policy reported that schools with a greater number of in-person learning opportunities suffered smaller enrollment declines than those that used a large number of remote learning opportunities.

According to a press release, the Illinois State Board of Education announced a $17 million grant to establish a supplemental learning program for students affected by school closings. The program will be geared specifically toward low-income students.

According to an October 2021 Unicef report, government-mandated lockdowns and school closures negatively affected children, resulting in more anxiety, fear, depression, alcohol, drug abuse, lost learning, poor physical activity and sleep habits.