Illinois leaders announced Tuesday the launch of Advance Illinois, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to improve the state’s education system.

Sylvia Puente, who sits on the organization’s board of directors, said education in Illinois has deteriorated.

“Illinois really has fallen further behind in terms of its educational outcome, not only among other states in the union, but globally as well,” Puente said.

She added that if things continue as they are, the students of this generation will receive less education than their parents – the first time this has happened.

“That’s intolerable in our 21st century, technological, global economy,” Puente said. Puente is the director of the Center for Metropolitan Chicago Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies.

One of the first things Advance Illinois will be doing, Puente said, is hosting town hall meetings around Illinois to get parent and teacher feedback on education. From there, the organization will draft a report in the spring on their findings and how the system should be changed.

Puente said organizations like Advance Illinois have been successful in other states. She cited North Carolina, a state which used to be ranked 48th in terms of education outcomes and is now ranked 20th.

The organization, as Puente described it, is diverse in terms of its board of directors. Co-chairing Advance Illinois is former Gov. Jim Edgar and former Secretary of Commerce William Daley.

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert sits on the board, as does Boeing Co. President and CFO James Bell and Ellen Alberding, president of the Joyce Foundation.

“It’s a very diverse board of people who have been in politics, in major corporations, people of the not-for-profit sector, people like myself working for universities,” Puente said.

Despite their backgrounds and disciplines, board member Joseph Fatheree said they are united in their desire to help children.

“It’s very important that everything we do improves the lives of our children,” Fatheree said, stating that Advance Illinois is a children-first organization. “It’s the one thing we have in common.”

Fatheree was the Illinois teacher of the year for the 2006-2007 school year. He described his being on the board as important, as he is the only person on the board who has taught between grades kindergarten through 12th grade, the focus of the organization.

Visit Advance Illinois’ Web site at www.advanceillinois.org for more information.