Frerichs Stresses Adequate Funding is Key to Success of Future Students

SPRINGFIELD, IL - The Senate Education Committee has begun a week of hearings to discuss the importance of education funding and how it impacts the state budget. Testifying before the committee and numerous attendees have been teachers, principals, school board members and education advocates from around the state.

Senator Michael Frerichs (D-Gifford), who has been in attendance at the meetings, acknowledged how vital school funding is on the future of Illinois. "Without providing our schools with the necessary funds, how can we expect our educators and students to perform at the same or higher level as other states who give their schools what they need?" asked Frerichs. "We are putting our schools at an unfair advantage and are probably losing some amazing teachers who want to work in Illinois but feel they won't have the resources they need."

The first committee hearing of the week featured teachers and administrators giving testimony on what they saw as the largest issues facing the school systems and where additional funds were needed most.

"Hearing from them first hand was a great way to set the stage to provide us with a better picture of the work we need to accomplish for our schools. No one knows better what the schools really need than those who are there everyday with the students in the classrooms, and what they need is more education dollars," added Senator Frerichs

Other topics discussed with committee members included federal education testing requirements; the availability to meet the needs of gifted, special and bi-lingual students; societal and socio-economic challenges which teachers and administrators must deal with on a daily basis; school overcrowding; and the lack of classroom supplies from working copiers and computers to updated textbooks.

Addressing the need for funding basic classroom supplies, Normal, Illinois teacher Vickie Mahrt noted, "These kids do better when they're not worried about the ceiling falling in. They do better if there's enough paper for us to have copies for them to look at."

"Having this organized open dialogue regarding school funding with representatives from our schools will move us in the right direction as we continue our work on the budget," Frerichs said.