Guiding Principles

By listening to Illinois residents and distilling the best research, we have developed a framework of education policy priorities that, when implemented, will help provide a world-class education to all Illinois youth. Throughout our deliberations, we have been guided by these core principles:

• A quality education improves the odds of success for all young people and anchors a state’s civic and economic well-being.
• A 21st-century education begins at birth and engages families and communities.
• Effective teachers and principals are at the core of great schools.
• Improvement begins with high expectations for every student and every school.
• Results matter. We must focus on outcomes and employ quality data to understand how we are doing and put that knowledge to use.
• Innovative and far-reaching policies are the hallmarks of successful reform. Achieving them will require us all to move beyond old debates and come together around solutions that work for children.
•  Sound education policy requires deliberate and persistent effort combined with honest collaboration and clear communication.
• Quality schools require adequate resources and the ability to use them wisely and effectively to promote student achievement.