The Illinois Reading Council wants to connect our members with their Illinois State Senators and Representative and U.S. Senators and Congressmen. This is the best way to have a say in the politics of reading. The Legislative Directory will help you find your legislator's contact information, including addresses, phone numbers, and even email addresses.
The Illinois
Legislative Committee recently attended the "Govenmental Workshop" in
Washington, D.C. The Committee presented general issues which
educators were concerned with. Some of these issues are NCLB
Reauthorization, Adolescent Literacy, Teacher Preparation and English
Language Learners. As Alan Farstrup,
Executive Director of IRA said, "it is our job is to make sure that the voice
of the classroom teacher, the professional, is heard." This is a
continuous process.
The International Reading Association and the Illinois Reading Council
want to eliminate the achievement gap and make sure that every child
can achieve. Other leaders of IRA, Richard Long and Donna Ewigleben, both stressed that it is not the quantity of mail that Representatives and Senators receive, but the quality of the mail that they get. Every voice is important.
There currently needs to be communication on Striving Readers Act of 2007, which was introduced and needs our support. The Striving Readers Act will assist states in the creation of statewide literacy initiatives for at-risk students in grades 4-12. Sample letters are available below, as well as reports from the IRC Legislative Committee and reports on hearing regarding these important legislative issues.
If you are interested in further information, you can go to the USDOE website. In addition, you can sign up for the "Striving Readers" listserv which will provide you information about events, publications, or resources relating to this grant when they become available.