Jim Ryan's commitment to Children of the State of Illinois

As Governor, Jim Ryan will give special attention to funding early childhood education programs and targeted initiatives directed at third grade reading. The Ryan/Hawkinson Administration will work with education leaders to identify effective reading initiatives and commit to providing state funds. 

A Ryan/Hawkinson Administration will double the state's commitment to reading programs during the next four years. Currently, the state spends $80 million on reading initiatives. As Governor, Jim Ryan will ask for a review of those expenditures. Programs that are showing positive results will be continued and expanded. Programs that are not producing demonstrable results will not be funded. The existing reading grant program is formula driven. School districts receive blocks of money based on average daily attendance, as well as the number of low-income children. There have been concerns that the reading dollars were not being used directly for children who were having trouble learning to read. Recently, legislative changes were enacted that will better guide the use of reading dollars, but the state must closely monitor the results. If progress is not shown, the program should be altered to funnel dollars to more effective programs, such as Reading Recovery, the Howard Street Project, Reading Buddies or others that emphasize individualized instruction in improving phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary.