Education
My Position
I plan to continue to increase the educational opportunities for our students. This includes strengthening vocational training programs in our school districts, hiring more teachers as well as increasing their pay.
What I’ve Accomplished
I have sponsored and supported legislation to increase support for teachers and our school districts. I was able to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars back to our school systems to help them prepare our children for a life after high school. I introduced legislation to allocate $15 million for a new career and technical education school in Northern Illinois (HB 4315), have the State Board of Education develop a program that will provide high school students with advanced technical manufacturing skills (HB 0082) and to offer vocational training courses starting in 6th grade (HB 2759). In addition to this I helped secure state funds to help the Harlem School district construct their career and technical training campus. I have also secured thousands of dollars of state funds to support RVC as well as local school districts and sponsored legislation to create IGROW scholarships to assist students in pursuing highly in demand tech careers (HB1378).
Future Plans
I will continue working to expand vocational training opportunities in our schools equipping students with skills that can be used for a highly successful career path. In addition to this I will work to increase instructor to student ratios in our classrooms and fight for adequate pay for qualified teachers.