ELGIN – State Senator Cristina Castro is announcing that school districts in the 22^nd District will receive about $157 million in additional funding to help address the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want to acknowledge all the hard work students, teachers and parents have undertaken in the last year as we all adjusted to these unprecedented times,” Castro said. “As we begin to transition to what life was like before the pandemic, I encourage schools to use this funding to help students who have been disproportionately impacted over the past year.”

The funding comes as part of the most recent federal COVID-19 relief packages. Schools, students and parents have overcome challenges that no one could have imagined before the pandemic began, including remote and hybrid learning, digital connection issues, new processes for receiving state and federal aid that normally flow through schools, and more.

SPRINGFIELD – To make sure Kane County gets its fair share of the money from legal cannabis sales, state Senator Cristina Castro won approval of legislation giving the county a new deadline to file paperwork with the state.

“One of the major selling points of legalizing cannabis sales was the revenue it would bring to local governments to support programs and services. This proposal makes sure Kane County will get its fair share,” said Castro, an Elgin Democrat.

SPRINGFIELD – To bring more tax dollars to Kane County, State Senator Cristina Castro (D- Elgin) has introduced a measure to create a new submission window for a county to submit cannabis sales tax paperwork.

“One of the major appeals of legalizing cannabis in Illinois was the amount of tax dollars it could bring to our local governments,” Castro said. “This measure would provide an additional window of opportunity for county governments to receive the taxes from cannabis sales.”

ELGIN – To help Illinois diversify its workforce, the Illinois State Board of Education has awarded multiple Career and Technical Education (CTE) Education Career Pathways Grants to schools in the district State Senator Cristina Castro (D-Elgin) represents.

“These grants will help schools recruit and support future educators in the Career and Technical Education field by providing them with hands-on learning experiences, mentorships and more,” Castro said. “I am excited to see three schools in the district I represent receive these grants so that they can prioritize funding for CTE development.”