The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced it will participate in a three-year, $75-million public-private partnership with five other states to develop long-term reform strategies for their lowest-performing schools. Illinois was selected to join the initiative, along with Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York by Mass Insight Education and Research Institute, a Boston-based non-profit education organization focused on closing achievement gaps. "We’re excited to work with these states and Mass Insight to identify and implement new strategies to turn around struggling schools," said State Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch. "This initiative, funded by an unprecedented amount of federal dollars and private donations, calls for dramatic broad-scale interventions." The Partnership Zone Initiative will be funded by a variety of private and public sources, including increased federal funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Additional money for these six states could also be awarded through the federal Race to the Top competitive grant program.

The McLean County Museum of History proudly presents a " Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Chicago Freedom Movement 1965-66" a photographic exhibit by Bernard J. Kleina, director of Hope project for fair housing, Monday, January 18th through Saturday, March 10th, 2010. This exceptional exhibit featuring rare color photos taken by Bernard Kleina are of non-violent marches in the mid 60's aimed at desegregating housing during the Chicago Freedom Movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders, along with tousands of people, participated in the marches and rallies in Soldier Field, Marquette Park, Grant Park and in front of Chicago City Hall. This was the first large scale fair housing campaign in the country and the most ambitious civil rights campaign in the North. It placed the issue of equal opportunity in housing not just before the people of Chicago, but also before the Nation. The opening program is Monday January 18th at 10 am, and will feature a panel discussion with local civil rights leaders who will share their experiences with the struggle to gain open housing during the Movement. In addition, Saturday, January 23rd, Bernard J. Kleina will lecture on the exhibit at 1pm in the Governor Fifer Courtroom of the McLean County Museum of History.

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