Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Library Sixth Stack [PAGE 6]

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Earlier in my time as Governor, as I traveled from Rockford to Cairo and from Quincy to Danville, I heard the people of Illinois express outrage and frustration and dismay at what they perceived as a lack of backbone in our criminal justice system. And so for the next several years I worked with the General Assembly to toughen the laws to ensure that criminals served the sentences they deserved and that the fundamental safety of our people was enhanced. Together, we, the Governor and Legislature, found the money, even in tough economic times, to build the prisons needed to keep those persons off our streets who couldn't be dealt with in any other fashion. While the safety of the public is not only important, but basic to a free society, prisons house failures, at least momentary ones, and in a sense are monuments to the basest behavior of mankind. Our educational institutions, however, from our elementary and secondary classrooms to great university campuses, represent what is the best in mankind's nature. And there can b e no greater monument in a healthy society than schools that prepare our children to compete successfully, prepare them to lead this nation and the world into the next millennium. There is no new discovery in that statement, only a reaffirmation of the wisdom of our forefathers. And so, as we dedicate this important addition to the library, let me tell you my view as to how Illinois can bolster our educational system to ensure the continued diffusion of knowledge and wisdom to those who will build a sound future for our State and for our nation. First, with regard to elementary and secondary education, the bottom line is, we must attract and retain the best of our young people to and in the teaching profession. It all starts there. If we want our children to learn from the best teachers, we must shape the rewards and incentives necessary to ensure that an appropriate share of the nation's top talent each year enters the teaching profession.

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