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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to
3congratulate David R. Schuler, Ph.D., on the occasion of his
4appointment as the next executive director of the School
5Superintendents Association (AASA); and
 
6    WHEREAS, Dr. Schuler is a highly experienced, successful,
7and well-regarded educational leader; he has worked as a
8superintendent for 22 years, serving 17 of those years at High
9School District 214, one of Illinois' largest and most
10innovative high school systems; he received his bachelor's
11degree at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and he
12earned both his master's degree and doctorate at the
13University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Wisconsin; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Dr. Schuler has been serving as superintendent of
15High School District 214 in Arlington Heights; there, he and
16his team designed and implemented the District 214 Career
17Pathways program to provide students with an at-scale model
18for earning early college credit, industry credentials, and
19work-based learning experiences before leaving high school;
20under his leadership, District 214 has expanded learning
21options and now offers 44 programs of study, including more
22than 600 courses aligned with 16 national career clusters and
2339 career pathways, all of which are continually updated and

 

 

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1refined in consultation with working professionals in the
2community; and
 
3    WHEREAS, With Dr. Schuler at the helm, District 214 has
4become a nationally recognized leader in providing
5career-connected learning through internships,
6apprenticeships, and other workplace learning experiences by
7establishing the Center for Career Discovery, which
8encompasses more than 1,000 industry partners and delivered
9approximately 2,500 work-based learning experiences during the
102021-2022 school year; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Under Dr. Schuler's guidance, District 214 has
12become a leader in early college credit; partnering with more
13than half a dozen colleges and universities to prepare
14students for postsecondary work while reducing college costs,
15opportunities for students include traditional AP and
16certification programs and a rapidly growing array of dual
17credit courses; in addition, he helped write, champion, and
18pass legislation requiring every public Illinois college and
19university to accept Advanced Placement scores of 3 or higher,
20furthering opportunities for students and making the most of
21students' AP experiences; and
 
22    WHEREAS, As an additional accomplishment, District 214 was
23one of only 13 districts across the country to be named as an

 

 

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1AASA Lighthouse Demonstration System; these districts serve as
2models of positive change in public education; they are
3members of AASA's Learning 2025 Network, which is a cadre of
4more than 120 demonstration systems representing
5forward-leaning, urban, suburban, and rural school districts
6engaged in learning, networking, and working together to help
7drive education policy and ultimately improve student
8learning; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Through Dr. Schuler's leadership, District 214
10created the District 214 Education Foundation, which has
11raised millions of dollars to support innovation, student
12success, and lifelong learning beyond the limitations of
13conventional public education funding; and
 
14    WHEREAS, During Dr. Schuler's tenure, District 214 has
15continued to expand its Community Education program, which is
16among the nation's oldest and most extensive, to serve more
17than 30,000 lifelong learners each year and to offer a wide
18range of enrichment classes for children; in addition, the
19program offers an Adult Education and Family Literacy program,
20providing invaluable support as adults study English, earn
21high school equivalency certificates, or prepare for the U.S.
22citizenship test; and
 
23    WHEREAS, Dr. Schuler served on AASA's executive committee

 

 

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1from 2011 to 2017 and as president from 2015 through 2016; he
2is the architect of Redefining Ready!, an initiative
3administered by AASA that introduces research-based metrics to
4appropriately assess whether students are ready to pursue
5their lifelong goals and dreams following post-secondary
6education and defines what it means for them to be ready for
7college, career, and life; since its launch in 2017,
8Redefining Ready! has rapidly become a mainstay in AASA's
9growing stable of Leadership Network professional development
10programs, mobilizing thousands of superintendents and their
11respective teams in order to drive innovation, thought
12leadership, research, and collaboration among school system
13leaders from coast to coast; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Dr. Schuler serves as a lead superintendent in
15AASA's National Superintendent Certification Program and also
16serves as a lead superintendent in AASA's Aspiring
17Superintendents Academy; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Dr. Schuler is an active member of the Illinois
19Association of School Administrators (IASA) and was named the
20National AASA School Superintendent of Year in 2018;
21therefore, be it
 
22    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
23ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate David

 

 

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1R. Schuler, Ph.D., on his appointment as executive director of
2the School Superintendents Association (AASA) and commend his
3long career in public education; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5presented to Dr. Schuler as an expression of our esteem and
6respect.