Stuart to Lead Working Group Focused on Teacher Staffing

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, has been selected by Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch to lead a legislative working group formed in order to focus Illinois’ response to widespread difficulties with teaching vacancies.

“I approached Speaker Welch about forming this working group because teacher turnover continues to increase and districts are struggling to fill vacancies,” Stuart said. “We have taken some small steps in recent years, and districts are doing all they can to attract talent, but the problem still exists, so it’s time to step up our efforts.”

Stuart is a former educator and career-long advocate who has an extensive history of advocating for public education. She says she hopes the working group will be able to turn an assortment of related and often overlapping or intersecting bills into a coordinated and effective policy response.

“Our priority has to be what’s best for our students, and that means what’s best for our teachers,” Stuart said. “There are a lot of groups out there trying to address these issues in a lot of different ways, and they all have agendas and plans and priorities. But, at the end of the day, what we need to achieve is to fill vacancies with qualified teachers so that Illinois families can once again rely on their kids having access to the world class education that should be the birthright of every American child.”