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[ House Amendment 001 ] |
92_HR0807 LRB9216112NTpkC 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION 2 WHEREAS, Results from the Prairie State Achievement 3 Examination indicate that approximately half of Illinois high 4 school juniors fail to meet State learning standards; and 5 WHEREAS, New federal education legislation requires that 6 all students meet State learning standards within 12 years; 7 and 8 WHEREAS, Over three-fourths of Illinois high school 9 graduates go on to higher education; and 10 WHEREAS, Illinois colleges and universities spend more 11 than $100 million annually providing remedial classes to high 12 school graduates; and 13 WHEREAS, Workforce skills are changing, and two-thirds of 14 today's workers need advanced reading, writing, mathematics, 15 and critical thinking skills; and 16 WHEREAS, Illinois ranks last among Midwestern states in 17 the proportion of students completing a high school core 18 curriculum and last among all states in the number of core 19 curriculum courses required for graduation by the average 20 school district; and 21 WHEREAS, This high school core curriculum consists of the 22 following, contrasted with current Illinois minimum high 23 school graduation requirements: 24 (1) 4 years of English instead of 3 years; 25 (2) 3 years of mathematics instead of 2 years; 26 (3) 3 years of science instead of one year; and 27 (4) 3 years of social science instead of 2 years; 28 and 29 WHEREAS, The content and learning level of the core 30 curriculum is more closely aligned with State learning -2- LRB9216112NTpkC 1 standards and the expectations of the workplace and higher 2 education than the current Illinois graduation requirements; 3 therefore, be it 4 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 5 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 6 the Board of Higher Education, the State Board of Education, 7 and the Illinois Community College Board prepare 8 recommendations to increase student knowledge and skills in 9 accordance with State learning standards, to improve student 10 performance on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, and 11 to better prepare high school students to meet the demands of 12 the workplace and the rigors of higher education; and be it 13 further 14 RESOLVED, That these 3 boards jointly provide 15 recommendations on appropriate high school graduation 16 requirements in light of the high expectations articulated in 17 the Illinois Learning Standards and the Prairie State 18 Achievement Examination, which is a rigorous test of the 19 standards; and be it further 20 RESOLVED, That the recommendations made by these 3 boards 21 be accompanied by estimates of the costs of upgrading 22 curricula, hiring additional teachers, retraining current 23 teachers, and making more extensive use of the Illinois 24 Virtual High School; and be it further 25 RESOLVED, That the these 3 boards report their findings 26 to the Governor and the General Assembly prior to January 15, 27 2003; and be it further 28 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 29 delivered to the chairs of the Board of Higher Education, the 30 State Board of Education, and the Illinois Community College 31 Board.