Throughout my tenure in the Illinois Senate, one of my principal goals has been to improve the quality of education for thousands of students who go to school across the state. As former Chairperson of the Education Committee and now as Assistant Majority Leader in the Senate, I have worked with colleagues to find ways to secure more equitable funding statewide for our schools. It is my firm belief that investing in education is essential to building a bright future for the State of Illinois. Last summer, my former Senate colleague President Barack Obama announced the Race to the Top Program, which will enable states to compete for approximately $9 billion in competitive grants to support education reform and innovation in classrooms. The average possible amount Illinois can secure is around $500 million. The program provides a tremendous opportunity for Illinois to supplement its current education budget with federal dollars. At a time when the State is struggling to cope with a budget deficit as a result of a national economic crisis, it is essential that we make sure we are in as strong of a position as possible to compete for these grants.

To be eligible for Race for the Top, we must advance reforms allowing us to measure student growth and success, inform teachers about how they can improve instruction, recruit and develop effective teachers and principals, and turn around our lowest-achieving schools. Over the course of the last several months, I have been working diligently to ensure that Illinois is responding to the President’s call to reform education.

As a result, we passed legislation last year to create a Longitudinal Data System that will track and determine the best practices in education. We also expanded the cap on charter schools and made charter schools more accountable. It is my hope that we can build on those measures this year. When the General Assembly reconvenes this week, I plan to introduce legislation enabling student performance to be a factor in teacher and principal evaluations and providing incentives for highly qualified teachers to relocate and teach in lower achieving schools.

As we approach the deadline to apply for the first phase of Race to the Top grants, I am confident that we will be a strong competitor. While it is my hope that passing these measures will allow us to be in position to compete for Race to the Top dollars, it is also my hope that this legislation will inject meaningful reform into our education system. We need to ensure our students receive excellence in education that enables them to receive the tools they need to achieve success in our world.