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Saturday, November 28, 2015
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Not as good as it sounds ... Illinois Policy Institute releases labor report By Dave Cook dcook@bcrnews.com
On Nov. 20 the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released the economic and unemployment statistics for the states. The Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research and education organization, has headlined its’ press release to say the report shows Illinois is beginning to keep pace with neighbor state job growth. However, a closer look at the
numbers show the state is still far behind the rest of the Midwest, and its’ economic condition is far from favorable. The figures which are being shown as a positive sign are from October, when Illinois added 14,100 payroll jobs on net, which brings the total job growth for 2015 to 20,200 new jobs. According to the release, Illinois’ manufacturing district, which is an important indicator
of the economic health of the middle class, lost 1,900 jobs in October and 14,100 in 2015. Illinois has the worst loss of manufacturing jobs in the region for October and the year overall. “Although it’s only one month, this is a positive sign for the state that has had the slowest recovery from the Great Recession in the country. However, Illinois’ manufacturing and blue-collar industries are continuing to fall dan-
gerously behind its neighbors. Illinois’ inability to keep manufacturers in our state is devastating areas around Illinois where families rely on these blue-collar jobs to survive. It is always a positive sign to see job growth in the state, but Illinois lawmakers should be looking at what policies can improve jobs across the economic spectrum, not just for white-collar service jobs,” said Michael Lucci, vice president of policy at the Illinois Policy Institute. Compared to the over-
all growth of 20,200 jobs which Illinois has gained so far this year, Indiana gained 45,100; Michigan gained 59,300; Ohio gained 58,400; and Wisconsin gained 36,900. The manufacturing job growth report for the region shows Indiana has gained 10,900 manufacturing jobs so far this year; Michigan has gained 17,100; Ohio has gained 13,500 and Wisconsin has gained 3,700. By comparison, Illinois has lost 14,100 manufacturing jobs so far this year.
The state’s unemployment rate remained at 5.4 percent for October. Illinois has lost manufacturing jobs during every month but one in 2015 and is the state in the Midwest which has lost the most manufacturing jobs in 2015. Illinois has 67,000 fewer jobs than it did before the recession began in 2008. According to the report, Illinois is home to the worst economic recovery of any state in the country. Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.
Putting test results in PARCC PES Board associate poor test results with students’ lack of experience B y E ric E ngel eengel@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Princeton Elementary School (PES) Superintendent Tim Smith said the PARCC test results for the district were “every bit as bad as we thought they would be,” yet he isn’t worried, seeing as how Illinois State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith recently told administrators not to take the test results too seriously. The PES Board met Monday, Nov. 23, and discussed the PARCC test. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test was administered to district students last spring, yet results were not received until November. Tim Smith said he’s going to talk to principals at their buildings and meet with staff to discuss the individual results, but “there’s a litany of reasons why we won’t take them seriously at this point in time.” Smith stated PARCC is not a valid test at this juncture because students are being evaluated on practices they haven’t had for more than two or three academic years.
PES Page 4 Year 169 No. 142 Two Sections - 28 Pages
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BCR photo/Dave Cook
Eat, nap, shop ... Shoppers finished their day of family, food and football by filling up the aisles of stores offering early opportunities to take advantage of Black Friday sales. This holiday weekend marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and parking lots are sure to be full. Today (Saturday) is Small Business Saturday where shoppers are encouraged to shop local retailers.
More Chrome at Bureau Valley BV OKs Chromebooks for junior high educators By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
MANLIUS — The Bureau Valley School Board is moving forward with its technology plan and is now ordering Chromebooks for all junior high teachers. At the board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 24, Superintendent Stephen Endress said he had sat down with teachers during a school improvement day and learned
they would like to upgrade from old, unreliable laptops to the Chromebooks. BV South Principal Kristal LeRette was also at the meeting on Tuesday and confirmed teachers are interested in getting trained on them before they are purchased for students. Mainly, teachers want to feel comfortable with the devices before they have to incorporate them into lesson plans for students. “They are ready and want to do it,” she
said. Endress mentioned community members have already stepped up to offer financial support for getting Chromebooks in the junior high schools, as well. As previously reported, community members, organizations and businesses recently donated enough funds to cover the cost of purchasing all high school student Chromebooks. The largest concern with the technol-
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