HR0337 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0337 LRB098 12019 MST 45586 r

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; 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 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.