Crawford Champions Legislative Agenda Focused on Education, People with Disabilities, Lauds Passage of Key Bills

CHICAGO – Multiple pieces of legislation championed by state Rep. Mike Crawford, D- Chicago, focused on education and addressing the needs of people with disabilities, were approved by the governor, marking a successful end to Crawford’s first year as state representative.

“The past few decades of the same leadership has not produced any substantial change for the lives and livelihoods of the thousands of families that call our community home,” Crawford said. “This year, I can say confidently that we are moving our community and our state in a fundamentally better direction. I am honored to have worked with my colleagues in the General Assembly to pass legislation banning unpaid student-teaching requirements, investigating chronic absenteeism in our schools, creating a more comprehensive understanding of the services students with disabilities receive and expanding the rights of those involved in securing the welfare of a child. While these issues address specific challenges facing our families, this year shows that the momentum continues to grow and Illinois is becoming a better state day by day.” 

Crawford championed several critical pieces of legislation being approved by the governor, including:

● House Bill 2907 ensures that birth parents of children who are involved in the child
welfare system have rights when they are working to reunite with their child;
● House Bill 3258 requires that no institution of higher education shall establish or
maintain any policy which requires student teaching for preservice teachers to be unpaid;
● Senate Bill 407 establishes the Chronic Absence Task Force to study the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on chronic absence and to develop a strategy to address the
ongoing challenges presented by chronic absenteeism for students in early childhood
education;
● And, Senate Bill 408 ensures that student records where supportive services for their
disability are chronicled are accessible to DHS for the purposes of securing healthcare
services as an adult.

“Together, we’re building a state where all have a shot at climbing the economic ladder,” Crawford said. “These bills are not only important to my community, but hit home. As a post- secondary educator and parent to children with autism, navigating the day-to-day is all about outmaneuvering obstacles, getting the right paperwork and hoping for the best. Raising a child should not and cannot be this way going forward. I’ll continue making it my mission to advance people-focused policies that make that happen.”

For more information on Crawford’s legislation, visit ilga.gov.