Katie Porter: “I want to say that as a Representative of Illinois with a district very close to the city of Chicago, I have seen, and…”

“I want to say that as a Representative of Illinois with a district very close to the city of Chicago, I have seen, and continue to see, comprehensive school reform like perhaps no other in the history of this country. Last year, the Illinois General Assembly, a Republican body, and a Republican Governor, said we have seen years and years and years of entrenched bureaucracies in the city of Chicago school system, overbloated with personnel, no standards, nothing happening to serve the children, and we are simply going to abolish the Chicago school board. They put the mayor of the city of Chicago, Richard J. Daley, in charge of the Chicago school system. The mayor of Chicago took charge of that school system, and if you want to see comprehensive school reform happening in a big city and a school system being turned around, you want to look at Chicago. Social advancement was gone in 1 day; accountability became 'in' immediately; innovation, parental involvement, standards for students, standards for teachers, discipline, kicking out the druggies and the people that bring weapons on to school property, all were implemented.”