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Like a strong family, education has the potential to lift up the next generation of children.

With my support, schools that serve the 7th District will receive $54.5 million dollars in 2006, an increase of $4.1 million over last year.

I have also worked to attract teachers to districts with teacher shortages by sponsoring House Bill 60, which provides college scholarships to students who agree to teach in understaffed areas.  The Budget was approved and legislation signed into law.

In our rapidly changing job market, it's become even more important for our children to get a quality education.  I sponsored a measure, Senate Bill 575, which requires high school students to take more math, science, language arts and writing in order to graduate.  Legislation sign into law.

Protecting Children and Students   Social stigmas and special circumstances such as pregnancy or abuse prevent many children from succeeding in school.  To support the educational and related needs of these traditionally marginalized students, I introduced the Ensuring Success in School Act. The goal of this bill is to empower elementary and secondary students who are parents, expectant parents, and survivors of domestic or sexual violence to stay in school, stay safe while in school, and successfully complete their education.

One aspect of this bill, passed in to law in 2007, was the creation of a task force to thoroughly examine the issue and make recommendations to the General Assembly about how best to support these students and make schools safer and more welcoming for everyone.  The report is available online here: Ensuring Success In School Task Force Final Report to the Illinois General Assembly [click here].  If you prefer, you can also access the report’s individual components: the executive summary [click here], the report [click here] itself with a table of contents, and the appendix [click here], which includes an extensive annotated bibliography and sample forms.