Press Releases

“These changes are necessary to ensure that children can move to our state with as little disruption to their education as possible.” - Senator Melinda Bush

SPRINGFIELD - State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) today passed a proposal out of the Senate Education Committee that seeks to make school transfers easier on military students and their families.

The hassles of transferring schools when moving from state-to-state are a primary concern for military personnel with children. Bush’s proposal would ensure that children of active duty military personnel that move to Illinois can stay in the same grade and placement as at their previous school.

“If a military child moves to Illinois from Nebraska, where he or she was in 2nd grade, Illinois schools must also place that child in 2nd grade,” Bush said.

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Early childhood education is integral to the lifelong success of our children. State Senator Melinda Bush, a strong advocate for early childhood education, spent time yesterday with members of the Ounce of Prevention, an organization dedicated to furthering quality early childhood experiences in the crucial first five years of life.

The Ounce of Prevention serves more than 4,000 children and families directly through birth-to-five programs in Chicago and throughout Illinois.  Their program provides opportunities for children born into poverty that they would likely not otherwise receive.

“I am glad to be working closely with the Ounce of Prevention and Governor Quinn to ensure that early childhood education is a priority in our fiscal year 15 state budget. More cuts to education, early childhood education, child care services, early intervention programs and health care would put the lives and futures of many children in our communities in jeopardy.”

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SPRINGFIELD – Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a local government transparency and accountability proposal out of the Cities and Township Committee. State Senator Melinda Bush is the Senate co-sponsor of the measure, which enables county boards to adopt a code of conduct ordinance for county appointees.

In Lake County, there are 57 different appointed boards and commissions. They include the Metra Board, Pace Board, fire protection districts, zoning boards, mosquito abatement districts, drainage districts, merit commissions and more. Under Bush’s proposal, Lake, McHenry, Kane, Will and DuPage counties would all be able to create codes of conduct.

“We need to create a culture of accountability in appointed positions that includes real consequences,” Bush said.

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SPRINGFIELD - Senator Bush (D-Grayslake) passed a proposal out of the Senate Education Committee yesterday to address Illinois school districts’ lack of guidance in teaching dyslexic students.

“Dyslexic students can quickly fall behind because teachers cannot identify their disability or do not have learning materials adapted to their needs,” Bush said. “It is important that we implement the same level of awareness and services for this group of learning disabled students as we do for all other groups.”

The proposal would add the international definition of dyslexia to the Illinois school code in an effort to bring an appropriate level of institutional awareness to the disability in all schools throughout Illinois.

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