LISTENING TOUR PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Fuzz Hogan, 312-467-5902; Laura Lehmann, 312-475-5901

Advance Illinois kicks off statewide school reform listening tour

First town hall March 26 in Effingham, more stops across state planned

CHICAGO, March 25, 2009 – Advance Illinois, the statewide education advocacy group co-chaired by former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Bill Daley, will kick off a statewide school reform listening tour with a March 26 town hall meeting in Effingham. Another meeting will be held in Decatur on April 17 followed by several stops across the state later this spring.

The town hall meetings and other consultations throughout Illinois will help inform reform recommendations to be issued by Advance Illinois this summer ahead of the 2009-10 school year. Advance Illinois is also studying key data and best practices from Illinois, the rest of the nation and the world.

“Underperforming schools are a statewide problem that demands decisive statewide action,” said Jim Edgar. “Too many students in urban and rural areas just don’t make the grade, and because our standards are too low those who meet Illinois requirements often are not actually ready for college or work.”

Various studies indicate that problems affect all of Illinois. For example, a Johns Hopkins study identified 60 “dropout factories in Illinois,” 22 of which are outside of Chicago. A dropout report card by the Illinois State Board of Education shows nearly half of dropouts come from non-Chicago schools.

“We’re in this together and it will only get fixed if we work together,” said Bill Daley. “We are kicking off this listening tour Downstate because we want to emphasize that the problems aren’t only in Chicago and the solutions can’t just come out of Chicago and Springfield.”

The Advance Illinois board of directors includes Joseph Fatheree, National Teacher of the Year 2008-2009, from Effingham High School. “We have to look at the whole state to provide for the education needs of the whole child,” Fatheree says. “Everyone in Illinois has the responsibility to move education forward; we just have to show it to them so they understand what we’re talking about.”

Last fall, Advance Illinois released a report, “The State We’re In: Advancing Public Education in Illinois,” that shows Illinois education lags the rest of the country at a time when the U.S. is itself dropping behind much of the world. The report is available at www.advanceillinois.org .

Many of the shortcomings identified in the report, such as lack of adequate standards and data, as well as teacher quality, are being targeted by major federal initiatives under the leadership of President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. But Advance Illinois warns that any local reform, while supported form Washington, must be rooted and shaped locally.

“Washington is beginning to address crying needs that for too long have been ignored by administrations from both parties,” said Advance Illinois Executive Director Robin Steans. “But they will not do our work for us. It falls to us Illinoisans to reform our schools so they meet our children’s needs and truly serve our communities.”

The Effingham listening tour town hall, co-sponsored by the Greater Effingham Chamber of Commerce, will be held March 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the Thelma Keller Convention Center. Residents from Effingham and nearby areas are encouraged to attend.

“Our goal is to hear from parents, students, teachers and employers what they think works and what they think doesn’t in their schools,” said Steans. “They are on the front lines every day and we need their input for bottom-up reform that addresses real needs and concerns.”

About Advance Illinois

Advance Illinois aims to make every student world ready by advocating for facts- and best-practice based reform that puts students first. It serves as an independent, objective voice to promote a public education system in Illinois that prepares all students to be ready for work, college and democratic citizenship. For more information visit www.advanceillinois.org.