The Illinois Business Roundtable

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The goal of the Illinois Business Roundtable is to help build a world class education system which provides everyone the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the workforce and the community.

This organization has built an Education Improvement Agenda to achieve world class education throughout Illinois that a unified business community will support and drive. In other words, to have every Illinois student meet or exceed nationally and internationally competitive learning standards.

It is imperative to leverage business involvement and influence in a focused and coordinated manner to significantly improve the quality of teaching and learning across Illinois. This strategic and systematic approach can result in the necessary education improvements that will directly benefit students as well as businesses.

We believe there are five key issues to address:

There must be a clear agenda, built on having every child achieve or exceed
rigorous standards
The business community, in partnership with political and education leaders,
must play a significant leadership role in education reform
Focus and continuous improvement around a strong agenda are essential in making significant gains in student learning
Education improvement is a marathon and not a hundred-yard dash - sustainability over the long-term is crucial
Education reform needs to be a collaborative, not adversarial, effort

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings met with members of the Illinois Business Roundtable on January 25, 2007 in Chicago to discuss the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.

No Child Left Behind

Business Coalition for Student Achievement