Illinois Bill Could Change The Start Time For High Schools

For most people in Illinois, our workday starts around 8 a.m., wouldn't you agree? That's when banks open, along with several other businesses that do business during the day. Of course, there are many exceptions like restaurants, bars, and coffee shops, but a typical workday in Illinois is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

High schools in Illinois don't have a set start time but I think we can all get behind preparing high schoolers for college classes and the real world. For those that have gone to college are there currently, 8 a.m. classes aren't fun but you have to go. Getting to work at 6 am, 7 am, or even 8 am isn't thrilling either, but we do it.

Kids in Illinois are lobbying to set their high school start time by making it law and the time they picked is really giving them a lot of extra sleep.

Illinois High Schoolers Don't Want To Get Out Of Bed

I may be sounding a little harsh here, but when I was in high school, we started school at 7:45 am and eventually at 8 am. I thought that was good because it was preparing us for the real world which, if we learned anything from season 1 of Friends, sucks.

Students in Illinois have convinced lawmakers to create a bill that would give guidelines on what time high schools across Illinois would begin each day, according to NBC Chicago.

State Rep. Laura Faver Dias introduced HB 2951. This bill, if passed, would make it against the law for public high schools across the state to begin instruction prior to 8:45 a.m. I'm literally already hungry for lunch by then.

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The Education Policy Committee has been assigned the bill and it will go before them this week on Wednesday.

In the bill, a 2024 survey by the CDC is cited which shows 77% of students don't get enough sleep. In Illinois, the study shows that 80% of Illinois students don't get enough sleep which is some of the highest numbers in the country.