Media Literacy Requirement for High Schools Signed by Governor Pritzker

The announcement below was adapted  from an article in Capitol News Illinois. The full article can be found here.  

Public high schools in Illinois will soon be required to teach students how to access and evaluate various kinds of news and social media they see online and elsewhere as part of their regular curriculum. That was among the 53 bills that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed on Friday, bringing the total number of bills signed from the current General Assembly so far this year to 97.

House Bill 234 provides that starting in the 2022-23 school year, all public high schools will provide a unit of instruction on media literacy that will include instruction on how to access information and evaluate the trustworthiness of its source; analyzing and evaluating media messages; creating media messages; assessing how media messages trigger emotions and behavior; and social responsibility.

The State Board of Education is tasked with preparing and distributing instructional resources and making professional learning opportunities available for educators.
​
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, and Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago. It passed both chambers largely along party lines: 68-44 in the House, and 42-15 in the Senate.

LWVCC has a taskforce on Misinformation About Elections. See this page on this site to follow their progress and learn about resources.