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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
3Representatives are pleased to recognize Chicago Tribune 
4reporter David Jackson on receiving the Education Writers's 
5Award for his series with Gary Marx on truancy; and
  
 
6    WHEREAS, The Education Writers Association has given a top 
7award to a 2012 Chicago Tribune series that used internal 
8Chicago attendance data to reveal a devastating pattern of 
9school absences in grades K-8 that disproportionately affects 
10African-American youth and children with disabilities; while 
11Chicago officials for years published upbeat attendance 
12statistics, the newspaper found roughly 32,000 elementary 
13students missed at least a month of classes in a year, while 
14thousands more simply vanished from the attendance rolls; and
  
 
15    WHEREAS, Chosen from among hundreds of submissions across 
16the country, the series won first prize for investigative 
17reporting among large newspapers; and
  
 
18    WHEREAS, Days after the publication of the series in 
19November 2012, State lawmakers began working on reforms aimed 
20at saving thousands of children from isolation and failure; and
  
 
21    WHEREAS, David Jackson has been with the Chicago Tribune 
 
 
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1since 1991, except for one year with The Washington Post, where 
2he shared in a 1999 Pulitzer Prize; he has been a Pulitzer 
3finalist 3 times; his articles have prompted congressional 
4hearings, law enforcement indictments, and legislative reform; 
5and
  
 
6    WHEREAS,  David Jackson has investigated Illinois nursing 
7homes, which led to sweeping changes in how they are run, 
8mortgage fraud, exposing the link between gang members and the 
9real estate industry, the coal mining industry, exposing 
10numerous safety violations, school food illness outbreaks, and 
11the connection between some of Chicago's top cops and crime 
12syndicate figures; and
  
 
13    WHEREAS, David Jackson has won the Medill Medal for Courage 
14in Journalism; therefore, be it
 
15    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
16NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 
17we recognize Chicago Tribune reporter David Jackson on 
18receiving the Education Writers's Award for his series with 
19Gary Marx on truancy and thank him for his efforts in 
20investigative journalism to uncover those stores that need to 
21be told; and be it further
  
 
22    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
 
 
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1presented to David Jackson as an expression of our esteem and 
2respect.