Across the state, only 36 percent of third-grade black children read at grade level in 2014, while only 39 percent of Hispanic children met the standards. Yet state education rules force 4th grade children to advance to the next grade – whether they’re reading-ready or not.

“I was born poor and I will die poor. The best inheritance I can give to my children is an education.”

The achievement gaps between white and Hispanic students in Illinois’ public schools, and the need to fundamentally reform the education system.