Rauner touts plans for better education during Addison Trail visit

Gov. Bruce Rauner pledged to improve education in Illinois during a brief visit Monday with students at Addison Trail High School.

“I firmly believe that there's nothing more important that we do together as a community than our education of our young people, our education of you,” he told a group of advanced placement government students.

“You're our future, you're what makes America great, and I want to work for you,” he said. “I want the best schools in America in every school district in Illinois, and that's one of the main reasons I ran for governor.”

The stop was part of Rauner's multiday “Illinois Turnaround” tour and his first visit to a DuPage County school since his inauguration. Rauner is using the tour as an opportunity to share the details of his four-year “turnaround” agenda to improve economic growth, increase student success and career opportunities, empower taxpayers and reform government.

Rauner smiled and clapped as he arrived to music by band students lining the entrance hall. He spent about 10 minutes with the government students, explaining the state's financial situation and how he hopes to apply his experience as a venture capitalist to government.

One student asked if Rauner was good friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which triggered laughs around the room. Rauner said he wouldn't call Schwarzenegger a good friend, but he did reach out to him and several other governors to learn more about what the job would entail.

Another student asked what Rauner thought about proposals to make community college free. He said it is “an interesting idea,” but he needs to learn more about it.

Rauner had a chance to walk through the student commons and wave to students eating lunch, many who broke into applause. He took a few “selfies” with students and also visited economics and special education classrooms.

Three seniors — Allie Ricamato, Gabriella Morrone and Maria D'Ugo — gave Rauner school apparel as a thank you for his visit. The girls made phone calls for Rauner's campaign last fall, so they were thrilled at the chance to meet him in person.

“We worked so hard and put in so many hours to help with his campaign,” D'Ugo said. “I was shocked, and I was amazed that we got to shake his hand and talk to him face to face.”

After touring the school, Rauner said he was impressed with its emphasis on providing more access to advanced placement courses and creatively helping students with special needs.

“This school is one with a great reputation,” he said. “I wanted to learn a little bit about how they do it and what the culture is like here. It's got students from all different backgrounds and income levels and capabilities, and this was very informational for me, to learn about their classes and how they work.”

Rauner said his turnaround agenda includes plans to reduce the burden on local property taxpayers by increasing state general revenue support for schools. It also includes changes to competitive bidding to help school districts save on the construction costs of buildings and facilities.

“Right now, not enough of our money is getting into the classroom with the teachers and the students,” he said. “A lot of it's going to bureaucracy and overhead and administrative layers, and I want to empower our local school boards to get more control of their costs so the money can go to the teachers in the classroom to help the students the most.”