SPRINGFIELD – When Officer Tequila M. Taylor-Evans walks her beat in downtown Springfield as part of the Police Department’s walking patrols, she brings more than a badge and uniform. She brings her lived experience, her determination as a mother of three and her perspective as a student in Springfield Technical Community College’s Criminal Justice program.

Ever since the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, stripping abortion protection from the Fourteenth Amendment, scholars have warned that other rights grounded in that same constitutional provision could be next.

This year, Springfield Public Schools (SPS) is giving middle school students a bigger head start by making Algebra available to all eighth graders in district-managed middle schools. In the past, Algebra was limited to only a handful of middle schools across the district. But this year, every family had the chance to consider this opportunity…

October is College and Career Awareness Month, and I am honored to shine a light on the futures of our students. Each child in our classrooms deserves to see a clear path leading to success after high school.