Dusty Rhodes
Reporter - Education DeskAfter a long career in newspapers (Dallas Observer, The Dallas Morning News, Anchorage Daily News, Illinois Times), Dusty returned to school to get a master's degree in multimedia journalism. She began work as Education Desk reporter at NPR Illinois in September 2014. But it's not her years of experience or her education that help her understand this beat. It's her sons -- "one homemade, one adopted" -- who have vastly different types of intelligence and vastly different learning styles. Between the two of them, she's experienced public, charter, Montessori and magnet schools, gifted, IEP and 504 accommodations, and uncountable band concerts, science fairs, basketball games, and parent/teacher conferences. It's the parent/teacher conferences that always make her cry.
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The Illinois State Board of Education yesterday released its new report card. That name makes it sound like gives schools a grade, which it does. But…
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With most lawsuits, you can read the pleadings and decide who’s the bad guy. But in this case filed by the Children's Habilitation Center, I can’t find a…
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In Illinois, students of color comprise more than half of the school population, but their teachers are overwhelmingly white. And even when schools…
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Last week, when California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law allowing college athletes to get endorsement deals, he set off a wave of copycat legislation…
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Springfield District 186 school teachers have been working without a contract since mid-August. And despite hours of bargaining, they haven't come to any…
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About a dozen children with complex medical needs have been kicked out of school over a funding dispute. The children reside at Children's Habilitation…
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International students, especially those from China, play a crucial role in funding the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.How crucial? So crucial…
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The faculty union at the University of Illinois Springfield today released a survey that amounts to a no-confidence vote against top…
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Over the summer, public schools across Illinois received kits designed to help staff members respond in the event of life-threatening injuries. Each kit…
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Despite getting a 5 percent increase over last year’s state funding, the University of Illinois Springfield has announced a budget cut of up to 10…