HR0453 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0453 LRB098 12397 MST 46782 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to recognize Chicago Tribune reporter David Jackson on receiving the Education Writers's Award for his series with Gary Marx on truancy; and

WHEREAS, The Education Writers Association has given a top award to a 2012 Chicago Tribune series that used internal Chicago attendance data to reveal a devastating pattern of school absences in grades K-8 that disproportionately affects African-American youth and children with disabilities; while Chicago officials for years published upbeat attendance statistics, the newspaper found roughly 32,000 elementary students missed at least a month of classes in a year, while thousands more simply vanished from the attendance rolls; and

WHEREAS, Chosen from among hundreds of submissions across the country, the series won first prize for investigative reporting among large newspapers; and

WHEREAS, Days after the publication of the series in November 2012, State lawmakers began working on reforms aimed at saving thousands of children from isolation and failure; and

WHEREAS, David Jackson has been with the Chicago Tribune since 1991, except for one year with The Washington Post, where he shared in a 1999 Pulitzer Prize; he has been a Pulitzer finalist 3 times; his articles have prompted congressional hearings, law enforcement indictments, and legislative reform; and

WHEREAS, David Jackson has investigated Illinois nursing homes, which led to sweeping changes in how they are run, mortgage fraud, exposing the link between gang members and the real estate industry, the coal mining industry, exposing numerous safety violations, school food illness outbreaks, and the connection between some of Chicago's top cops and crime syndicate figures; and

WHEREAS, David Jackson has won the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize Chicago Tribune reporter David Jackson on receiving the Education Writers's Award for his series with Gary Marx on truancy and thank him for his efforts in investigative journalism to uncover those stores that need to be told; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to David Jackson as an expression of our esteem and respect.