SB 612 Passes! Charter Schools Double in Illinois!

Monumental news for the charter school movement! Last night, SB 612, also known as the Charter School Reform Act of 2009, passed the Illinois Legislative Assembly in a 45-10 vote. This means that we will now have 40 new charter schools available in Chicago and 15 in downstate Illinois, with 5 new schools allocated for drop-out recovery!

This remarkable feat could not have been accomplished without the exemplary efforts of everyone in the charter school family.

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to the charter school parents who wrote letters to their legislators, who traveled down to Springfield for Charter School Lobby Days, who spoke at events and rallies and who spread the word about charter schools to other parents and friends,” said Carlos Perez, INCS’ Director of Public Policy.

We are indebted also to all the teachers, administrators, students and community members who make charter schools the best schools they can be – innovative, high-quality, community-focused schools that are tailored to meet the needs of all students and to prepare them to succeed not just locally, but globally.

There is much celebration ahead, but with great success also comes hard work. We must continue to strive, and to provide ALL students the opportunity to attend a great school, despite where they live or what challenges they face. Each and all of you who are a part of the charter school movement deserve credit for the long, hard slog that led to the historic vote in the Illinois General Assembly yesterday and I am so proud to say that Illinois is the first state in the nation to respond to President Obama's call for more charter schools as part of his vision for a strong national economy and his goal that the United States return to the world's top spot for college enrollment.

This is wonderful news, but it has been a long and bumpy ride. As a result of this work literally tens of thousands of families in Illinois will have opportunities they could not have otherwise obtained. And teachers will have real choices for the kind of public school environment they want to work in.

~Elizabeth Evans, Executive Director

Governor Quinn on Re-Imagining Illinois

photo via United Power

Sunday is usually a day reserved for hope, family and reflection. This Sunday, May 17, at Congregation Solel in Highland Park was just such a time. My colleague Carlos Perez and I joined a multigenerational, diverse audience of over 700 people eager to participate in Re-Imagining Illinois. The event was a dialogue between DuPage United, Lake County United, Chicago PACT, United Power for Action and Justice and Governor Pat Quinn. For some participants, having Governor Quinn in office is like having the fairy Godmother of progressive politics in charge for a change. The four key issues on the table included the state budget, affordable housing, education reform and political corruption. All of the speakers were eloquent, but this was a great opportunity for Lake County United members to talk about the recent defeat in their battle to get authorization for a charter public school in Waukegan. They asked for Quinn’s help with a school district apparently hostile to charters. These eloquent speakers shared their personal stories, called “education the new civil rights movement” and said that “zip codes should not determine the type of education a child receives.”

Quinn left no doubt that he agrees with President Obama’s support for charters. “I support charter public schools, not just for Chicago but for all of Illinois” he said. In response to their requests, he promised to look into funding issues as well as to learn more about independent authorizing.

We have new hope in Springfield in the Governor’s office and with elected officials like Senator Lightford, Senator Steans, Representative Mitchell and others. But Governor Quinn says elected officials alone can’t bring education reform to Illinois. If Sunday’s gathering is any indication, the voice of the people is ready to be heard. The panels were not made up of professionals but rather concerned residents. The very kind of people the Governor may look to when he fills the vacant seat on the Illinois State Board of Education this summer.

View a recap of the event below:



Related: Governor Quinn's Illinois Reform Commission

State and national organizations challenge the AFT to put kids first

Charter schools are certainly garnering a lot of media attention lately, due partially to the fact that President Obama has made it clear that support for charter public schools has the potential to make a substantial, long-term difference in the lives of their students. Also, today, a Wall Street Journal article was published that highlights the demand for charter schools around the U.S. Illinois is facing the same issue, and is clearly active in the national conversation about education reform.

INCS and the charter community have long been actively engaged in making the Illinois charter voice loud and clear in the midst of all this activity. In fact, yesterday, INCS and the National Association of Public Charter Schools teamed up to create a print advertisement in major Springfield newspapers, which can be viewed here. The print ad calls on the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten to take bold action by supporting the growth of charter public schools. We’ve done this to help Illinois meet President Obama’s call to reform charter public school education laws and allow for the addition of charter schools in districts where they are needed. Weingarten has supported the opening of charter public schools in New York City because she's aware of the benefits that they provide. However, her AFT local affiliate, the Chicago Teachers Union, has stood in the way of opening additional charter public schools. Currently, more than 13,000 families are waiting for the chance to attend a charter public school. In Illinois, far too much time is spent debating the qualifications of charter public school teachers, or attacking the charter school model. This is a disservice to our students. Instead, time should be spent reviewing and reproducing the educational excellence and academic achievements that charter schools provide.

The President and the Secretary of Education realize that our future depends on the investment we make in children today. We’re ready to support these sons of Illinois. Will the AFT do the same?