Illinois Education Association Honors Speaker Welch

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Earlier this month, the Illinois Education Association (IEA) honored House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch with the IEA “Friend of Education” award for his commitment to public education.  

“To say Speaker Chris Welch is a friend to public education is a massive understatement,” said IEA President Al Llorens. “He is so much more than that. He makes sure his caucus is filled with pro-public education legislators who know that strong students mean strong schools and strong communities. Early in his career, Speaker Welch began working with the IEA to abolish the State Charter School Commission. He stuck with it for more than three years and eventually the charter school commission was abolished. More recently, he helped us navigate the COVID-19 crisis and made sure educators were safe on the job during the global pandemic. 

“We are grateful for the good, hard work the speaker does in Springfield. He is not only a friend to the IEA, but a great friend to every student and educator in our great state.”

“From serving on my local school board to becoming Speaker of the House, I’ve always carried a deep passion for public education,” said Speaker Welch. “There is nothing more important than the future of our children and that starts with providing quality education for every student. We’ve made great strides as a state; from passing the Evidence Based Funding model in 2018 to increasing the minimum wage for teachers to investing millions into early childhood education and teacher preparation programs, we continue to prioritize our public education system. Most recently, I created the Teacher Shortage Working Group to continue building on our progress while also analyzing and finding sensible solutions to fill the gaps that remain in our system. 

“I’m grateful to have IEA’s advocacy and partnership as we continue working to make our public education system one of the best in the country.”