Tillman, Dolton 149 Board Hail Student Math, Reading Growth

Calumet City, Ill. – The south suburban Dolton 149 Board of Education learned last week that student math and reading score growth has exceeded mid-year expectations.

At its monthly meeting on Feb. 23, the board was informed that Dolton 149 K to 8 students achieved overall reading and math growth of 2% and 3%, respectively, on the national Measures of Academic Progress Test (MAP) at midpoint in the school year, reaching beyond the district’s planned 1.5% growth. For average and above average students, the reading growth was 5% and math, 10%.

“Every school and every student have accomplished reading and math growth, and nearly every school and nearly every student are meeting or exceeding planned academic growth,” said Dolton 149 Board President Wilbur Tillman.

“That’s phenomenal. This is what student success looks like when the school board, the administration, the teachers, and parents are united behind improving student academic performance in the basics, like reading and math.”

Tillman praises district Superintendent Dr. Maureen White.

“As we consider how we move forward as a district, I would be remiss if I did not thank Dr. White and her team for the work that they have done and for keeping our education priorities on track,” said Tillman.

“Thank you, Dr. White, and the administrators, and the principals who have been working so diligently.”

Goal since 2015 has been to

“build phenomenal education system,” Tillman says.

“As I have said since joining the board in 2015, one of my goals has been to build a phenomenal system of education so good teachers become great enabling their talent to matriculate down to our young scholars so they could become great as well,” said Tillman. “It looks like we are on our way to that.”

Year-end goal is 2.5% growth.

“While we exceeded our midyear reading and math growth of 1.5%, our full-year growth target is 2.5%, which is a heavy lift,” said Dr. White. “But we have the wind at our back in order to achieve our end-of-year growth goal and the commitment of the board of education, administrators, teachers, and parents to make it happen.”

Attorney General Raoul Advocates For Full Coverage Of Hiv Prevention Drugs And Services

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 21 attorneys general, submitted a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics advocating for clear classification of HIV prevention medication to prevent improperly charged medical copays.

cover at least one form of PrEP and all related services, including laboratory testing and appointments, without any cost to the patient.

Political Affairs

Duckworth Meets With Idph Director To Discuss Public Health Support In Illinois

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) recently met with Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra to discuss the continued importance of public health funding in Illinois, as the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration is set to end in May. Duckworth and Vohra discussed how Illinois can continue to support testing, vaccine and treatment programs going forward, as well as how all Illinoisans can continue to get the high quality, affordable care they need.

“Over the past three years we saw just how critical the leadership of the Illinois Department of Public Health is to the health and well-being of our state,” Duckworth said. “It was great to meet with Dr. Vohra today, and I look forward to continuing to work together to support IDPH and its public health initiatives throughout Illinois.”

CHATHAM-SOUTHEAST

Chatham, Avalon Park, Park Manor,GreaterGrand Crossing, Burnside,Chesterfield, West Chersterfield, South Shore,and Calumet Heitghts.

SOUTH END

Washington Heights,Roseland,Rosemoor, Englewood,West Englewood, Auburn-Gresham, Morgan Park, Maple Park, Mt. Vernon, Fernwood, Bellevue, Beverly, Pullman, West Pullman, West Pullman,Riverdale, Jeffrey Manor and Hegewisch.

SOUTH SUBURBAN

Serves communities in Harvey, Markham, Phoenix, Robbins, Dixmoor, Calumet Park, Blue Island,SouthHolland,and Dolton.

Shopping- their favorite pastime!

HYDE PARK

Lake Meadows, Oakland, Prairie Shores,Douglas, Grand Boulevard, Kenwood, Woodland,South Shore and Hyde Park.

CHICAGO WEEKEND

Chicago Westside Communities, Austin and Garfield Park

SUBURBAN TIMES WEEKLY

BloomTownship, Chicago Heights, Flossmoor,FordHeights, Glenwood, Homewood, Lansing ,Lynwood, Olympia Fileds, Park Forest,Sauk Village,South Chicago and Steger

Citizen Newspaper Group Inc., (CNGII), Publisher of the ChathamSoutheast,South End, ChicagoWeekend,South

In the letter, Raoul and the coalition support creating a new diagnostic code for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention in the International Classification of Diseases – Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Raoul and the coalition argue the implementation of a new code will ensure lifesaving access to PrEP and related medical services for populations vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.

“Inconsistent and unclear coding should not stand in the way of people from being able to access affordable HIV preventative medication,” Raoul said. “I will continue to advocate for policies that ensure HIV preventative medication is available and covered without out-of-pocket costs to patients.” edition. Please send press release information to: editorial@citizennewspapergroup.com. For more information on subscriptions or advertising, call us at (773) 7831251 or fax (872) 208-8793. Our offices are located at 8741 South Greenwood Suite# 107, Chicago, Illinois 60619.

ELIZABETH “LIZZIE G” ELIE

PrEP is a form of antiretroviral therapy used to prevent the transmission of HIV for those who are at risk of exposure to the virus through sex or injection drug use. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved three PrEP drugs, Truvada, Descovy and Apretude. Since 2020, federal law requires that most health plans

Currently, there is no specific ICD-10 diagnosis code for PrEP, which leaves providers with fewer available code options. As a result, insurers and providers often choose a code that does not actually apply to PrEP, which makes it difficult for providers to indicate the service is preventative and should be covered without cost sharing.

For example, a patient hoping to receive PrEP might be required to take a pregnancy test prior to prescription. Without an ICD-10 code to indicate the pregnancy test is for PrEP and therefore preventative, there is no way to ensure the service is billed properly across providers or consistently covered by insurers. Creating a new code will solve this problem.

If patients cannot afford PrEP and are deterred from seeking care, Raoul warned in the letter that there may be dire results.

Attorney General Raoul joined attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin in signing the letter.

During the meeting, Duckworth also met with IDPH Chief of Staff Laura Vaught and Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Chief of Staff Ben Winick. In her discussion with Winick, Duckworth emphasized the need to ensure that Illinoisans who rely on Medicaid can continue to get coverage, as well as Illinois’s new law to support nursing home rate reform and the critical need to help provide equitable care for nursing home residents in Illinois.

Casten Opens Application For Community Project Funding For The 6th District

March 3rd, 2023 - U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL06) has officially opened the applications for FY2024 community project funding.

Members of Congress can advocate for direct funding to their communities through the Fiscal Year 2024 spending bill. To learn what kind of projects are eligible for funding, click here.

Congressman Casten will be able to submit up to fifteen Community Project Funding requests to benefit state or local government grantees or eligible nonprofits. He previously secured over $15 million in funding for FY2023 projects, which included funding to provide housing to victims of domestic abuse, address local hunger and create jobs, combat the climate crisis, and improve local infrastructure.

“Since my first day in Congress, I’ve been working to ensure the federal budget responds to the needs facing constituents of Illinois’ Sixth Congressional District,” said Congressman Casten.“I look forward to advocating for our shared priorities in the appropriations process.

Those interested in applying for community project funding should apply here by March 20th, 2023.