As you know, Stand for Children’s mission is to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, graduate from high school prepared for, and with access to, a college education. We recognize that to achieve this mission requires a disciplined and strategic approach, which is why Stand for Children is committed to grassroots organizing and political advocacy. 

We work to elect leaders who are deeply committed to improving educational opportunities for children and who put students at the forefront of education policies. We do this through our Illinois Political Action Committee (PAC), which is independent and non-partisan.

We look for candidates who believe in these tenets to building better public schools:

• Support outstanding teachers and leaders, through policies on: evaluations; compensation; teacher qualification index; alternative certification programs; two-tier principal credentialing and teacher leadership in schools.

• Require high standards and effective systems: charter school funding; lift the charter school cap; longer school day; common core standards and the PARCC Consortium 

• Education budget priorities, including funding for: teacher and principal development, accountability, high-poverty districts, and early childhood and bilingual education.

With the March 20th primary election soon upon us, our first phase of endorsements consisted of a comprehensive process to identify and endorse those candidates we believe will be champions for education.

• Nominating petitions were filed on December 5th, after which we sent a questionnaire to every legislative candidate in a contested primary.  
• An internal selection committee formed a set of criteria in which to consider candidates, including efforts to support education reform initiatives, responses to questionnaire, and voting record on key education reform legislation for incumbents.
• In races where education was a contested issue, Stand invited each candidate to participate in interviews with members of the internal selection committee

Stand’s first round of 2012 primary election endorsements include:   

We look forward to supporting these campaigns on Election Day, March 20th, and building a state legislature that truly keeps children at the forefront of any education policy.

Standing with you,
Mary E. Anderson
Executive Director