Both as a father and as a State Representative, John Fritchey has made education a priority. John believes that one of the most important things that we can give to our children is a quality education. John continues to be a strong advocate in the fight to reform school funding.

The State of Illinois is simply not funding its share of educating our children. As a result, local communities are being forced to raise property taxes through the roof. This isn't fair to homeowners and it isn't fair to students.
- John

In addition to finding an equitable way of funding our schools, John is also working to make sure that the majority of education dollars goes into the classrooms rather than getting dropped into administrative costs.

Unfortunately, we are too often reminded that genocide is not a history lesson, but sadly one in current events. To help ensure that Illinois students understand this global tragedy, John was honored to work with numerous groups to pass the Holocaust and Genocide Studies bill this session. House Bill 312 expands the currently required lessons about the Holocaust in public schools to include a unit of instruction on other acts of genocide, such as the recent atrocities in Ukraine, Cambodia, and Sudan. The bill was signed into law in August 2005. Read ABC-7's coverage here.

John frequently works with students and schools around his district. This year, the John Fritchey Youth Foundation sponsored the Ninth Annual Legislative Essay Scholarship Contest asking students to write an essay explaining, What Government Means to Me." John presented certificates to all contest participants and awarded monetary scholarships to the students with the top three essays during their respective graduation ceremonies. Read about this year's winners here. All of the Foundation's money goes directly to programs such as the scholarship contest and youth athletic team sponsorship.