Office of the Lt. Governor
Published: August 26, 2014
BLOOMINGTON — Aug. 26, 2014. Welcoming the class of 2025 back to school, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon highlighted a new technology program aimed at closing the Internet access gap for low-income students at Bloomington Junior High School.
“The class of 2025 is going to shape the future Illinois,” Simon said. “We need to provide every student, from Cairo to Chicago, a clear path for success. Investing in their education is an investment in our state workforce.”
Simon joined District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly to tout the school’s one-to-one laptop program, which it has rolled out to 6th and 7th graders, and plans to later extend to the 8th grade. The school provides take-home computers to students, and has partnered with a local Internet service provider to give low-income students home Internet access through the school’s secure network.
“Promoting the college vision and belief that our children will attend college will help build confidence and a shared vision of the future,” Reilly said. “District 87 is looking forward to welcoming the Lieutenant Governor to our school, and is eager to hear her message.”
According to Reilly, educators are working to ensure all students at the school reap the benefits of technology, regardless of their families’ income levels. The future college class of 2025 is now in sixth grade.
The year 2025 is the deadline set by Illinois leaders to have 60 percent of working-age adults hold a college certificate or degree. Economists say the highly educated workforce will be needed to attract and retain jobs of the future.
As part of the 60 by 2025 strategy, Simon’s office is working with the state’s public universities and community colleges to bring up college completion rates among students through Guided Pathways to Success, with the aim of streamlining course requirements so more students can graduate on time, in less debt and with a career connection. She also helped launch the state’s first math curriculum to cut down on remediation needs, and led the Classrooms First Commission as it recommended ways for districts to redirect up to $1 billion from operations to classrooms.
Simon serves as the state’s point person on education reform. She serves as the chair of the Joint Education Leadership Committee for the P-20 Council, the state’s top educational advisory body. This was Simon’s second address to the future college class of 2025 in Bloomington. She first visited in 2011 when the class of 2025 was in third grade at Oakland Elementary School.