State Senator William Delgado (D-Chicago) is concerned for the safety of students after a 15 year-old from Northwest Middle School was beaten and assaulted on her way to school. 

“I am horrified that this would happen in our community,” said Delgado. “I am working to pass legislation that will require the city to provide free transportation to any student who must walk or take a bus to school. My goal is to ensure no other incidents like this happen to students in the community.”

House Bill 3662 will require the Chicago Board of Education to provide free transportation to and from school for any student who must walk or travel along a “safe passage” route to get to school.

The girl, still in a coma, was only a half of a block from a “safe passage” route when the attack occurred. Since the closing of dozens of schools all over the city of Chicago, “safe passage” routes have been set up to help students, who now have longer walks, get to school safely.

The proposal by Senator Delgado and Representative Flowers would take this one-step further and require the school district to drive students door to door to ensure that they are not harmed on the way to or from school.

El Senador Estatal William Delgado esta preocupado por la seguridad de estudiantes después de que una niña de 15 años fue golpeada y asaltada en su camino a la escuela Northwest Middle School.

“Estoy horrorizado que esto pudo suceder en nuestra comunidad”, dijo Delgado. “Estoy trabajando para aprobar una ley que requerirá que la ciudad proporcione transporte gratuito a cualquier estudiante que tiene que caminar o tomar un autobús a la escuela. Mi objeto es asegurar que otros incidentes como este no vuelvan a ocurrir en nuestra comunidad”.

El proyecto de ley HB 3662 requerirá que la Junta de Educación de Chicago proporcione transporte gratuito desde y hacia la escuela para cualquier estudiante que tiene que caminar o viajar a lo largo de una ruta del “camino seguro” para llegar a la escuela.

La niña que sigue en un coma, estaba solo a media cuadra de la ruta “camino seguro” cuando se produjo el ataque. Desde el cierre de docenas de escuelas por toda la ciudad de Chicago, la ruta “camino seguro” se han creado para ayudar a los estudiantes, que ahorra tienen caminos más largos, llegar a la escuela con seguridad.

La propuesta del Senador Delgado y la Representante Flowers tomaría esto un paso más allá y exigir que el distrito escolar transporte estudiantes de puerta en puerta para asegurarse que no sean perjudicados en el camino hacia o desde la escuela. 

When authorities in July found the tortured, broken body of 8-year-old Gizzell Ford lying among trash in an Austin apartment, it became yet another heartbreaking example of the failings of the state’s child welfare system.

It’s a tragic scene that happens far too often in Illinois. Over the past five years, more than 450 children have died from abuse and neglect, and recent numbers from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services show the annual death toll is rising.

State Senator Mattie Hunter, a Chicago Democrat and longtime child welfare advocate, wants changes.

“People say these children are slipping through the cracks. That trivializes their lives and their deaths. When children ‘slip through the cracks’ at DCFS they end up dead. If our state isn’t able to protect its children, what good is it?” said Hunter, who, during a recent special Senate committee hearing, told DCFS’s top brass that they should all resign.

At issue is the embattled Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. An internal audit recently revealed 111 abuse and neglect-related deaths during the most recent reporting year, although the DCFS director recently revised that number down to 104. The most recent reporting period covered July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013.

That nameless, faceless tally of dead children doesn’t even include the horrific Gizzell Ford case that has put the state’s child welfare system under the spotlight. Now, police, prosecutors and policymakers are asking how this could have happened and are trying to learn from the tragedy to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“More than 100 of our children are dying a year. Think about those numbers. Those are entire classrooms of children dying because the state isn’t protecting them,” said Hunter, a member of the Senate Democrats’ leadership team. “Quite frankly, one death is unacceptable. These numbers are an atrocity.”

Hunter is among the Illinois lawmakers trying to drive meaningful change at DCFS. Hunter and fellow Democratic Senator Julie Morrison of suburban Deerfield initiated a series of hearings designed to force public discussion of the agency’s shortcomings with the goal of arriving at specific recommendations for program changes to reduce the number of children dying from abuse and neglect.

“I want this agency to be successful. Our neediest children rely on its success,” Hunter said.

The special Senate committee looking into DCFS issues is scheduled to meet next month with the intent of reviewing DCFS’s recommended proposals for potential legislation.

Hunter said the issue is her top priority heading into the 2014 legislative session at the Capitol.

ALTON – State Senator Bill Haine (D-Alton) joined students, faculty, staff, guests and other elected officials to dedicate the new $9.5 million lab space for Southern Illinois University’s School of Dental Medicine in Alton on Monday.

The 18,000-square-foot John and Anna Markarian Multidisciplinary Simulation Laboratory offers students and instructors the ability to simulate procedures and gain practical experience before practicing in a clinical setting.

“The School of Dental Medicine is unique and vital part of SIU and Illinois. It is spectacular to see the school’s dedication to new technology and the state’s dedication to investing in our universities and professional colleges,” Haine said. “This lab is the latest addition to outstanding new facilities in the SIU system and in the Metro East—following the dedication of SIUE’s $52 million science building last month.”

The lab will house most of the classes for 100 pre-doctoral students and contains 60 simulation units, X-ray facilities and spaces for creating ceramic dental restorations.

John and the late Anna Markarian—for whom the building is named—are the parents of three successful dental school alumni who contributed financial gifts to the project.

“This addition to the School of Dental Medicine is not only a commitment to the University, but also a commitment to Southern Illinois,” SIU President Glenn Poshard said.

Construction of the lab began in October 2012. SIU received $4.1 million for the project from the state. Haine and Representative Dan Beiser (D-Alton) helped secure the funding as part of the state’s construction program in 2009.

“This will provide our students with all the tools, technology and confidence they need to offer the best possible care for patients,” SIUE Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe said.

“There is a special blending of the old and the new: a state-of-the-art dental facility at one of the most venerable and oldest college campuses in the Midwest, Shurtleff College, where the dental school resides,” Haine said.

PHOTO: Haine, university officials and other guests pose as dental student Erin Syzdek cuts the ribbon for the $9.5 million lab.

From left: Deputy General Counsel for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Allen Mayer, Alton Mayor Brant Walker, Representative Jay Hoffman (D-Belleville), Senator Bill Haine (D-Alton), SIUE Chancellor Julie Furst-Bowe, Syzdek, John Markarian (partially hidden), Randall Markarian, dental school dean Bruce Rotter, SIU President Glenn Poshard, Ronald Markarian and John Markarian. (SIUE Marketing & Communications/Howard Ash)

PEORIA – Owners of all-terrain vehicles will be protected when using their vehicles on private property under a new law proposed by State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

In 2012, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law to help finance the Department of Natural Resources through a series of new and expanded fees – part of an effort to keep the desperately underfunded agency afloat. However, after hearing from a number of ATV owners who believe the fees for all-terrain vehicles are unfair, Koehler began working with DNR to find a solution that ensures the agency gets the funding it needs while ATV owners get a better deal.

"The Department of Natural Resources plays a vital role in keeping state parks and wildlife areas open for Illinois families, and we need to make sure it has adequate funding," Koehler said. "But the 2012 law asked too much of ATV owners. We need to fix this problem."

The flawed 2012 law failed to differentiate between golf carts, vehicles used by people with disabilities and ATVs used in state and local parks and preserves. It also charged a flat fee for all ATVs, failing to differentiate between adult ATVs and vehicles used by children.

Koehler's plan (Senate Bill 2633) cuts the current $15 registration fee down to $10 for vehicles with smaller than 75 cc engines (normally used by children). It also provides clear exemptions for golf carts, vehicles for people with disabilities, ATVs used by governments and ATVs used by farmers. It clarifies that ATVs used only on a family's own property are also exempt, as are vehicles used only in ATV competitions.

In addition, DNR has pledged to use much of the money raised by the new fee to develop and maintain ATV trails on state property. This new money allows the agency to qualify for hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal matching funds.

"When ATV owners pay these fees, they should get something out of it," Koehler said. "New, improved, better maintained ATV trails will be a great family-friendly resource that should help raise the profile of Illinois' state parks."

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois General Assembly passed major changes to the state’s pension systems earlier today to address the state’s more than $100 billion pension debt. State Senator Michael Hastings (D–Orland Park), one of 27 senators who did not support the measure, provided the following statement.

“This issue should have never reached this point as past lawmakers and governors ignored this problem for too long. Until we resolve it, our state’s economy will continue to struggle. But like many of my colleagues, I believe the proposal crafted by the legislative leaders will have a catastrophic impact on current and future retirees, many of whom have diligently paid into the retirement systems.

These changes will have a ripple effect on our state’s capacity to recruit and obtain quality employees, which will negatively impact our health, education and safety services. There have been alternative solutions provided and I remain committed to finding a practical solution to our pension crisis, one that provides meaningful savings to taxpayers and reasonable protections for retirees.”