Statements
Please find our latest statements below.
Advance Illinois Applauds State’s Establishment of a Unified Agency for Early Childhood
Today, Advance Illinois applauds Governor Pritzker for signing the historic SB1 into law, creating the state’s first Department of Early Childhood. This new agency will unify early childhood programs and services, establishing a system that is easier for families and providers to navigate and enhancing the state’s ability to identify and address gaps and challenges.
“This is truly an historic moment for the state and its children! The new agency will enable the state to focus more efficiently, effectively, and strategically on how best to serve Illinois's youngest learners and families,” said Robin Steans, President of Advance Illinois. “This will help give every child from birth through age 5 a strong start to thrive well into the future.”
Last fall, the field celebrated the Governor’s vision for a single unified agency as overdue and deeply needed. In the Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care's 2021 report, the group described the burdensome nature of delivering early childhood programs and services out of three separate agencies— the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). As outlined by Early Childhood Transition Director Ann Whalen, bringing early childhood’s governance into one structure will reduce burdens and complexity for providers and parents; create greater access to quality providers in all regions of the state; and expand access to support more children in achieving kindergarten readiness.
Early childhood programs and services will continue to be administered through their respective legacy agencies until July 1, 2026. In the interim, the newly-formed department will use its Transition Advisory Committee to engage parents and providers in understanding what changes the new agency can and should consider to reduce burdens and improve services and outcomes.
Advance Illinois celebrates the administration and members of the General Assembly, including Senate Leader Kimberly A. Lightford, Representative Mary Beth Canty, and Representative Joyce Mason for their leadership in stewarding this important step forward for Illinois families with young children. By addressing the structural issues related to program and service delivery in early childhood, Illinois is centering the needs of families and providers with a larger vision in mind: to provide equitable and coherent access to high-quality early childhood education and care for all Illinois children from birth to age five. Advance Illinois looks forward to supporting the administration in the agency’s launch and continued collaboration with partners to ensure its success in transforming the early childhood education and care ecosystem in Illinois.
Put simply, said Steans, “Governor Pritzker pledged to make Illinois the best state in the nation to raise a family. The creation of a new Department of Early Childhood is another important step in making good on that promise.”
Advance Illinois Full Statement on Equitable Funding Commission Recommendations
Advance Illinois applauds the Commission on Equitable Public University for releasing a blueprint for how Illinois can realize an adequate, equitable, and sustainable approach to support its public universities.
“This blueprint represents more than two years of analyzing the complexities of higher education funding,” said Robin Steans, President of Advance Illinois and a member of the Commission. “These recommendations reflect deep research, analysis and listening to the field undertaken by Commissioners, and we think this charts a strong, equitable path forward for students and the institutions that serve them.”
Established in 2021, the Commission was created by PA 102-0570 in response to significant disparities in college access, affordability, and degree attainment that exist across universities, and across demographic lines of geography, race, ethnicity, and income. The 33-member Commission of agency heads, legislators, university leaders, and community partners were charged with developing a model for funding the state’s public universities in an adequate, equitable, and stable manner. As rightly highlighted in the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s strategic plan (A Thriving Illinois), such an approach is fundamental to cultivating a healthier university system where strong outcomes follow sufficient, equitable, and predictable state investment in institutions.
Under the proposed new approach, the state would use a new methodology to determine how much funding each institution needs to serve its student population and run its unique set of programs. Once this “adequacy target” has been identified, new state funds would be directed to the state's public universities in an effort to help those institutions furthest from adequacy close those gaps. According to the report, this new approach:
Determines for each institution a unique funding level based on its students' needs, mission, and variety of programs.
Encourages greater access and success for historically underrepresented students.
Provides a funding increase to every institution when new dollars are invested.
Ensures institutions have flexibility to invest in ways that best serve their students.
Incentivizes institutions to reduce reliance on student tuition and increases state investment.
Distributes new funding equitably and according to need.
Calls for transparency and increased accountability as institutions get closer to adequate funding.
With the Commission recommendations now submitted to the General Assembly, the next stage of this work begins. Higher education continues to create powerful opportunities for students and for states. Advance Illinois urges Governor Pritzker and legislators to move with intent to translate the Commission’s recommendations into action. In doing so, Illinois will set the standard for investing in its people and its future.
“The research continues to affirm that earning a college degree is a game changer for families, communities, and the state,” Steans said. “Supporting investments and evidence-based policy actions that allow every student, regardless of race and income, to access the intergenerational benefits of a college degree is an investment our state cannot afford not to make.”