“If you want to make a difference in public education, you need to engage at the state level.”   

This was the advice a friend working in the Governor’s office gave to me when I was teaching in the Chicago Public Schools.  She was right.  State lawmakers set policies that determine how we fund our schools, what it means for students to be college and career-ready, and what minimum expectations should be met to become a teacher and school leader. Those are powerful decisions, and they need to hear from teachers, students, parents, administrators, and others as they make them.  Since its inception 15 years ago, Advance Illinois has provided stakeholders with unbiased data on our state education system and helped people from all parts of the system and state engage in the policy-making and legislative process. 

As a college student in 1993, I got fired up after reading “There are No Children Here” by Alex Kotlowitz. I sent op-eds to local papers about the vast inequities in school funding that I noticed locally, and I called on legislators to fix our state’s broken PK12 funding system. I didn’t know anything about the legislative process, (I don’t think I even knew when the legislature was in session), and nothing came from my one-man advocacy blitz. 

Fast forward to 2012, when Advance Illinois played a central role in developing – and passing - a more equitable school funding formula, called Evidence Based Funding (EBF).  Our team negotiated with key stakeholders, was involved in drafting legislation, and built a massive coalition behind the effort. This culminated with not only the Governor signing the new formula into law in 2017, but also $1.8B in new funding flowing to schools over the past six years. The result? The number of districts funded below 60% of adequacy has dropped from 168 districts to zero (!).  I know that I would have been a much more effective advocate thirty years ago if I could have connected to an Advance Illinois when I was in college.  

Over the past 25 years, I’ve taught in rural schools, was a middle school principal on Chicago’s west side, and served as a school board member of a suburban school district.  But it was my experience in 2010 working with Illinois districts to support them to apply and win State Schol Improvement Grants that helped me understand the wide differences and common needs across Illinois. In my role, I was able to meet district leaders and tour schools in dozens of communities from Meridian to Rockford.  While each school building looked different, every leader shared similar concerns and needs: Increased funding to offer academic and social/emotional supports to students, and more teachers who were ready day-one in the classroom. 

Over the last 15 years, Advance Illinois has been a part of several important wins for students, including:  

• Adoption of more aligned and thoughtful standards and assessments for PK12 students. 

• Broad-based collaborative effort to draft and pass the Illinois Performance Evaluation Reform Act, which requires districts to develop more meaningful performance evaluation systems to provide teachers and principals with substantive feedback and development to improve their practice. 

• Creation of a nation-leading report on teacher preparation programs called the Illinois Educator Preparation Profiles - a report that is helping programs ensure that teachers are learner-ready day one in the classroom.   

• After intensive statewide input and in partnership with BCG, Illinois revamped its annual school, district, and state report cards to provide more relevant information, including an online report voted among the most accessible and substantive in the nation.  

I’m proud to have worked to connect people to policy makers on these and more areas over the last 13 years.   

Looking to the future, and among other policy priorities, I’m excited that we’re working to increase the diversity of our teacher and leader workforce, and collaborating with partners to create a more equitable higher education funding formula to make college more accessible, affordable, and supportive to first generation students, students from low-income households, and students of color in Illinois.     

Jim O’Connor is Project Director at Advance Illinois. He joined the organization in 2010.