Bill Text: IL HR0337 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Honors Ed Rafferty as he retires from his career in School District 54.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-05-10 - Resolution Adopted [HR0337 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HR0337-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives are pleased to honor Ed Rafferty as he retires
from his career in School District 54; and
WHEREAS, Ed Rafferty's entire educational career has been
in School District 54; he began in 1976 as a special education
teacher; in 1983 he became the truant alternative program
specialist, in 1986 the coordinator for behavior disorder
services, in 1990 the director of special services, in 1994 the
assistant superintendent of special services, and in 2004 the
superintendent; and
WHEREAS, Ed Rafferty has been recognized with numerous
awards over the years including the 2012 Illinois State Board
of Education Those Who Excel Award in the administrator
category; in 2010, he was named the Illinois Superintendent of
the Year; he received the National Organization on
Disability/National School Boards Association Honorary Award
for Service to Persons with Disabilities in March 2001, the
Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder Award in
recognition of outstanding contribution to excellence in
education in November 1996, and the Commitment to Excellence
Award was given to District 54's Special Education Department
for its work with children with Down Syndrome in November 2003;

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and
WHEREAS, Ed Rafferty helped implement a myriad of changes
to the educational process in District 54; he instituted
tighter schedules to provide more uninterrupted and protected
time for instruction in the core areas and fine arts areas; he
saw that every student has the opportunity for intervention or
enrichment opportunities; he helped develop essential outcomes
for every grade-level curricular area; common district
assessments and grade-level assessments have been written and
implemented, professional development priorities are focused
and support best practices, and administrators, teachers, and
support staff evaluation systems are aligned to the district's
student learning goals; the Measures of Academic Progress
assessment was installed in all 27 schools by the spring of
2007 to provide timely, consistent data to used to determine if
the goals are being met; and
WHEREAS, Ed Rafferty served as president on the board of
directors of the Illinois Special Olympics and on the Illinois
Advisory Council for Bilingual Education; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we are pleased to honor Ed Rafferty as he retires from his
career in School District 54, thank him for his commitment to

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education, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to Ed Rafferty as an expression of our esteem and
respect.