State School Superintendent Visits Effingham

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Published on January 7 2016 11:46 am
Last Updated on January 7 2016 12:36 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

(ILLINOIS STATE SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT TONY SMITH)

Illinois' state schools superintendent had a non-traditional upbringing and says he wants to make sure kids like he was get the same opportunities for learning as those raised in more conventional households.

Dr. Tony Smith was in Effingham to take a look at the Effingham County CEO class at the invitation of original instructor Craig Lindvahl, who is a member of the Illinois State Board of Education. Smith also took time to talk with Global Teacher Prize nominee Joe Fatheree and tour Effingham High School.

Smith was born to teenage parents and was raised in different homes. He said, "so many people reached out to me and didn't have to", saying it impacted his life in a positive way. He credited his football coach but also his grade school teachers for the positive roles they played in his upbringing. 

Smith earned his PhD at UC Berkeley and was a school superintendent in the San Francisco area before being named to head Illinois schools. His thought is that we have to reduce a fear to fail in students, reminding that if students are in the process of being educated, there must be some things they don't yet know. Smith said it's not so much what students know; it's how they are being prepared to continue learning all through life.

(FROM LEFT, EFFINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL CODY LEWIS, PRINCIPAL JASON FOX, EHS TEACHER JOE FATHEREE AND ILLINOIS STATE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT TONY SMITH)

Smith was asked about the budget wrangling in Illinois, but reminded that those involved in the debate did get one thing right at the start by putting together a funding package for Grades K-12 that actually involves more dollars than last year. 

Fatheree said at the event that Illinois is becoming a pacesetter in education.