Report says Illinois Can Win $400 Million in Race to the Top
Thursday, December 10, 2009
By: Fuzz Hogan

State Leaders Must Take Aggressive Action

CHICAGO (December 10, 2009) A new report recommends Illinois state leaders take bold action to reform the state's school system, or risk losing a chance to bring Illinois as much as $400 million being made available by the U.S. Department of Education.

The report was released today by Advance Illinois, the statewide education advocacy organization, chaired by former Gov. Jim Edgar and former Secretary of Commerce Bill Daley.

"We can't miss the moment," said Edgar. "Our performance on just about every measure of student achievement shows we're failing our kids. If Washington is offering to help, and all they're asking is for us to make the reforms we need to make anyway, we should take action right away."

The $400 million comes from the U.S. Department of Education's "Race to the Top" competition. The competition asks states to make critical reforms that support student achievement and close achievement gaps. Only a handful of states will be awarded "Race to the Top" grants, which would be welcome discretionary funds available to the state's schools, given its tight fiscal constraints.

"These reforms are needed now. In fact, state leadership had already identified many of these reforms as priorities before the federal stimulus was announced," said Daley. "Legislation is already in the works that could make our schools better and improve our "Race to the Top" position. Let's get it passed and help every student in the state."

Specifically, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is seeking reforms that 1) raise academic standards, 2) ensure that the best teachers and leaders are working with every student 3) build better data systems and 4) turn around our struggling schools.

n a new report, Advance Illinois lays out how many of the reforms called for in "Race to the Top" will help Illinois school children, and what Illinois needs to do in each area to better position itself for these historic federal dollars.

The report shows how reforms like these are already at work in some parts of the state, including Bloomington, Champaign, Evanston and Arlington Heights. In the report, Advance Illinois shows how reforms like the ones undertaken in those districts can help each district improve student performance and invest resources wisely.

"Illinois has already taken some strong steps at the state and district level to fix what's wrong with our schools, thanks to good leadership from State Board of Education, the Board of Higher Education, and the Community College Board, as well as key legislators," said Advance Illinois Executive Director Robin Steans. "We just need to keep that momentum into 2010. We have a lot of work to do, but it can be done."

For the full report or more information on "Race to the Top," including other states' efforts, please visit advanceillnois.org.