Illinois Deputy Governor Jesse Ruiz made a suggestion this week that it’s likely students won’t be returning to classrooms this school year. Ruiz’s comments came on Wednesday while speaking at a news conference when he said, “We’ve applied and received a federal waiver to exempt all students from accountability assessments for one year, as soon as it became clear that suspension of in-person instruction would extend beyond the initial two week announcement and most likely again through the end of the school year.” A newspaper report out of northern Illinois implies an official announcement is expected by the week’s end. Twenty states have already made the call to close school for the remainder of the academic year.
On the same day, the College Board announced it was cancelling nationwide administration of the SAT college entrance exam on June 6 and has scheduled fall testing dates beginning in August. All current Juniors in Illinois will be permitted to take the test this fall for no cost. Just under half of all Illinois students qualify as low income and are able to take advantage of the state provided free SAT for college entrance. The College Board says if by some chance schools don’t reopen in the fall, a digital SAT will be provided that students can take. Students in some states have been taking a digital exam for up to nearly a decade.
