The Illinois school districts serve a considerable amount of students; including one of the biggest districts in the nation in Chicago. After high school graduation, the state encourages students to attend college by providing a $1,000 tax credit to freshmen and sophomores who maintain a B average while in school.
Nine members, appointed by the governor, comprise the Illinois State Board of Education. This board set the educational policies and guidelines. They analyze the needs of the more than 2 million students in the state's public and private schools and make the necessary legislature recommendations to the general assembly and governor.
The district minimum requirements are as follows:
- Three credits language arts
- Three credits science
- Three credits mathematics
- One credit U.S. history
- One credit foreign language
- One credit music or art
- One credit career education
In addition to these courses, students are required to take one semester of health education, daily physical education classes, nine weeks of consumer education, conservation of natural resources, and vocational education.
Recently introduced by the Illinois State Board of Education is a new grant for funding Advanced Placement classes. This will allow each student to attain sufficient education to prepare them for graduation and the new challenges of college. Classes are demanding but the rewards are endless. Most who attend even just a single class will have a higher chance of graduating from college. It also helps those students who feel they are not being challenged by the regular curriculum.
Low income students identified by the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 will be eligible to get reduced fees on both the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Exams and the International Baccalaureate (IB) subject-area exams.
