Sandoval Community Unified School District 501
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Published – February 28, 2023
According to Wirepoints, data from the Illinois State Board of Education shows there are 30 schools statewide where not a single student can read at their grade level. Additionally, there are 53 schools statewide where zero students are proficient in math.
Within Sandoval Community Unified School District 501, Sandoval Senior High School made the list. According to the data, the school has zero students who are proficient at reading or math. However, despite their abysmal performance, the district has a “commendable” rating from the Illinois State Board of Education. This is the second-highest of four “accountability” ratings.
Wirepoints adds, “defenders of the current system are sure to invoke Covid as the big reason for the low scores. But a look at the 2019 numbers show that the reading and math numbers were only slightly better than they are now.” According to the 2022 data, only 29.9 percent of students statewide tested proficient in reading and 25.9 percent in math. In 2019, those numbers were 37 percent for reading and 32 percent for math.
Illinois State Senator Willie Preston, a father of six, went on “Fox & Friends First” to discuss the report. He stated:
“Government isn’t the anthem for all things. I think that we have to reengage parents, have parents actively take a role inside the schools when they can be, but in addition, we need to make certain that we … spend our money in the right way as it pertains to our children’s education.”
He also argued that the problem is multifaceted:
“I don’t know that it’s fair to lay this all at the feet of teachers. I think there are other factors. There are a lot of children that are facing homelessness that are not attending classes regularly … a lot of these children are coming from poverty-stricken communities. As a community, we just can’t focus on the dollars being put in the classroom. We have to reengage a working-class, rebuilding working-class communities.”
Sandoval Community Unified School District 501 has 427 students enrolled across three schools.
