CGCC Treasurer Pam Shaw is also President and Policy and Advocacy Committee Co-Chair for the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC). IAGC advocates for the needs of advanced learners in the Illinois General Assembly.
How can you help at this time? SB1983 has passed the Senate and is scheduled to be heard this week by the Illinois House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 8:00 AM. You can help by submitting a witness slip as a proponent of the bill prior to the committee hearing.
What Does SB 1983 Accomplish?
Language has changed to align with the move away from categorical grant funding toward the Evidence-Based Funding model, so references have been removed that tie gifted education provisions to state grant funding. Guidance for gifted programming is still present, but programming decisions are left to local schools and districts. The language change also removes the priority emphasis on language arts and mathematics, acknowledging that students may demonstrate potential in many ways.
To submit a witness slip, click or copy/paste this link: https://my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/Create/161376?committeeHearingId=21930&LegislationId=161376&LegislationDocumentId=201164
- Fill in your name and address in the IDENTIFICATION section
- In the Name field, include your degree(s), if applicable, without punctuation- MS, PhD, EdD, etc.
- For Firm/Business or Agency, put “self” unless your employer has given you permission to represent them
- For title, please list your professional title as applicable. For example: teacher, parent, student, administrator, gifted coordinator, etc.
- In the REPRESENTATION section, again, do not put your employer or any other group, unless you have permission to represent them. You are representing yourself. You can put some details, such as: “self as retiree,” “self as enrichment teacher,” “self as parent”, etc.
- In the POSITION section, please select “proponent” - this means you support the bill.
- Under TESTIMONY, click “Record of Appearance Only.”
- Click to agree to the ILGA Terms of Agreement and click “Create Slip”
