SPRINGFIELD – As school districts around the state continue struggling to fill teaching positions, Senate Democrats hosted a press conference in Springfield on Thursday announcing a number of legislative measures that would help address the void.

“Teachers have a significant, lifelong impact on their students. The impact involves not just teaching particular academic skills, but fostering life skills, creativity and productivity that leads to positive outcomes for years to come,” said Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood). “Attracting quality educators to our state is vital to our education system and providing our children with the best possible education.”

According to the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, there are more than 5,300 unfilled positions in schools. In an attempt to address the vacancies and increase the substitute teacher pool, State Senator Meg Loughran Cappel introduced a plan – House Bill 3442 – which would allow a substitute teacher who has filled a vacancy left by a licensed teacher in an emergency situation for 90 days or until the end of the semester, whichever is greater, if the school distinct files a written request with the appropriate regional office of education.

“As a former special education teacher, I saw firsthand the impact the teacher shortage had on our students, teachers and staff,” said Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). “We have to continue uplifting the education profession and encouraging more people to join it.”

BROADVIEW – Sixteen permanent supportive housing units, which will serve individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and have a long-term disabling condition, will be created as Housing Forward broke ground on a construction project Monday, April 24, shared Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford.

“Housing is the basis of stability for an individual or family. A home should be the center of our social, emotional, and sometimes economic lives — a place to live in peace, security, and dignity,” said Lightford (D-Maywood). “Together, we are bringing housing resources to the area to help our neighbors who are experiencing housing crisis find the stability and security they deserve.”

The residential building will house up to 22 people and includes dedicated units for veterans and youth aging out of the Department of Children and Family Services’ care. Housing Forward has been providing permanent supportive housing since 2006 and today has over 250 site units across the agency’s 26-community service-area footprint. This new building will serve to add to those numbers.

SPRINGFIELD – Recognizing staff shortages in the EMS workforce, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford advanced legislation in the Senate to attract and retain EMS workers.

“The pandemic further exacerbated how vital the EMS professionals are,” said Lightford (D-Maywood). “We need to expand the workforce by prioritizing recruitment and retention of highly-skilled workers.”

Senate Bill 761 works to tackle the emergency medical field workforce shortage head on by allowing more flexibility for EMS directors to use alternative staffing models and creating a task force to bring greater training, recruitment and retention to the field. 

Measure adopts several recommendations of the Whole Child Task Force, passed as part of the Black Caucus’ four-pillar agenda

SPRINGFIELD – Building upon her steadfast leadership to take a more holistic, trauma-informed approach in schools, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford passed a measure to equip schools with the training and resources they need to meet the diverse trauma and mental health needs of students.

“While there are individual schools, centers and programs that do a strong job supporting the well-being of students, these efforts are locally driven. They are not systemic,” said Lightford (D-Maywood). “We need a real shift toward a systemic approach to supporting students’ cultural, physical, emotional and mental health needs.”

Schools across the state would be equipped with training and resources to meet the diverse trauma and mental health needs of students, under Lightford’s measure. The Illinois State Board of Education would create a Children’s Adversity Index, which would measure community childhood trauma exposure across the population of children 3-18 years old by May 31, 2025.