Recognizing the schools selected as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2025 and celebrating the history of the Blue Ribbon Schools Program.

Recognizing the schools selected as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2025 and celebrating the history of the Blue Ribbon Schools Program.

Whereas the Blue Ribbon Schools program was created by the Reagan Administration in 1982 to provide nationwide recognition of schools for academic excellence and progress in closing achievement gaps;

Whereas the Blue Ribbon Schools program has been considered the highest Federal honor for schools in the United States and has honored more than 9,000 public (including charter) and private (including parochial) schools since its inception;

Whereas the Blue Ribbon Schools program validates the work of the educators of the United States, models the best teaching practices across the United States, and inspires schools to adopt similarly rigorous practices;

Whereas the Blue Ribbon Schools program plays an important role in uplifting best practices in closing achievement gaps, especially as the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly referred to as the “Nation’s Report Card”, showed that average reading and mathematics scores for high school seniors fell to their lowest levels in 2 decades;

Whereas the decision made August 29, 2025, by the Department of Education to discontinue the Blue Ribbon Schools program has eliminated a national spotlight on what works in education;

Whereas despite the decision by the Department of Education, States and communities continue the legacy of the Blue Ribbon Schools program by leading initiatives to recognize their own exemplary schools at the State and local level;

Whereas, before the Department of Education discontinued the Blue Ribbon Schools program in 2025, the schools from the State of Illinois selected for the 2025 Blue Ribbon Schools designation included—

(1) Ascension Catholic School;

(2) Clarendon Hills Middle School;

(3) Glen Oaks Elementary School;

(4) Highlands Elementary School;

(5) Kennedy Junior High School;

(6) Liberty Intermediate School;

(7) Lincoln-Way East High School;

(8) Lyons Township High School;

(9) Mascoutah Middle School;

(10) Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy;

(11) Pleasantdale Middle School;

(12) Prescott Elementary School;

(13) Regina Dominican High School;

(14) Sarah Adams Elementary School;

(15) St. Anne Catholic School;

(16) St. Giles School;

(17) St. John of the Cross Parish School;

(18) St. Matthias School;

(19) St. Norbert School;

(20) St. Therese Chinese Catholic School;

(21) Sunset Ridge Elementary School;

(22) The Academy at St. Joan of Arc;

(23) Timothy Christian P–8;

(24) Walker Elementary School;

(25) Warren Elementary School;

(26) Wheaton Academy;

(27) William Fremd High School; and

(28) Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart; and

Whereas it is imperative that the Senate honors the schools selected to be Blue Ribbon Schools in 2025 from every State and the legacy of the Blue Ribbon Schools program: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) recognizes and celebrates—

(A) the schools selected to be 2025 National Blue Ribbon Schools before the Blue Ribbon Schools program was discontinued; and

(B) the history of the Blue Ribbon Schools program;

(2) commends the educators, school administrators, and communities of such schools for their hard work that led to this achievement; and

(3) calls upon the Secretary of Education to immediately reinstate the Blue Ribbon Schools program.