McHenry Times

In an effort to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed schools to do remote learning — an effort constantly criticized by the GOP.

“Students fell behind in baseline performance in many categories compared to 2019 levels,” Sen. Don DeWitte said. “I believe it was the Governor’s forced lockdowns and school closures that led to the poor results in our schools.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported the state has seen approximately 3 million coronavirus infections.

The results from the 2022 Nation's Report Card show that only 37.5% of Illinois fourth-graders are at or above grade-level proficiency in math. In addition, only one-third of the state's fourth-grade students can read at grade level.

“To say that these last two-and-a-half years have been difficult for our teachers and our students would be an understatement,” Pritzker said, Capitol News Illinois reported. “What now seems like lifetimes ago, our educators in Illinois and throughout the nation had to navigate the sudden transition to online learning, all while working to give their students the support and resources they needed to not only thrive, but to survive.”

Illinois' eighth-graders are faring even worse, as 26.5% are proficient grade level in math, and 32.4% can read at grade level.

WTTW reported Pritzker made an executive order to close schools on March 2020. The Center Square noted he continued making orders throughout the school year.

Reading and math scores dropped nationwide, AP News reported. The Nation's Report Card draws on findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is typically administered every two years. However, due to the pandemic, the latest test results from before 2022 were from 2019, as there was no report card in 2021. 

Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, said the results are "a serious wakeup call for us all. In NAEP, when we experience a one- or two-point decline, we’re talking about it as a significant impact on a student’s achievement. In math, we experienced an eight-point decline — historic for this assessment.”

Capitol News Illinois reported J. Sterling Morton West High School saw an increase of seniors graduate compared to 2019.

A Unicef report found that government-mandated lockdowns and school closures negatively impact children, leading to more fear, stress, anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, loss of learning, and poor physical activity and sleeping habits.