1.  The City Colleges of Chicago has announced that they are closing 5 of the 6 child development programs across the city.  The only child development program that will be left will be housed at Truman College on the north side.  This will drastically limit access to affordable early childhood education to people who want to become teachers of young children on the south and southwest sides of the city.  To get involved, you can sign the petition here, and read more here and here.

2.  Governor Rauner continues to threaten the Child Care Assistance Program.  Yesterday, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules failed to stop his plan.   Read about it here at Progress Illinois.

3.  Over 450 people were notified of layoffs at Chicago Public Schools over the past 2 days. Read about that here.

There are other troubling decisions being made but I thought I would focus on these big three.  Everyone will be affected in some way by the three decisions above, so it is now time to get educated, speak up, and speak out for the children and families you serve, for your teachers, for your friends, for your neighbor’s children, for your own children, and for your grandchildren.

Read more about the goings-on of Illinois politics here at the Better Government Association.

Many of you might also know that the new Governor’s wife is an early childhood professional and has been in the field for years and years.  This might tether him to our world in a way that nothing else can.

There is a lot of money coming into our state earmarked for early childhood education initiatives.  If you are not completely up to date on all of these exciting projects and advancements, check out the Illinois Early Learning Project website.  They publish a periodic newsletter that provides up-to-the-minute information about all sorts of early childhood goings on in the state, as well as tons of links to interesting resources, access to professional development and trainings, and videos.

Check it out.

Get ready for change in 2015.