SPRINGFIELD - A new group that includes several Illinois political heavyweights said Tuesday that they want to fix the state's public school system.

They're not the first who have said they want to try.

The new organization, called Advance Illinois, is chaired by former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, a Democrat. It includes former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican from Yorkville.

Their stated purpose is work with teachers, education experts and political leaders to try to convince state lawmakers of changes that need to be made to help improve the state's schools.

The group spoke to reporters Tuesday and released a report showing Illinois students often trail national averages when it comes to getting a good education.

Finding a better way to pay for public schools has long been a controversial issue in Springfield. Advance Illinois members said Tuesday they hope their group of diverse leaders can finally reach a consensus.

"We even have an Edgar and Daley together on this one," Edgar said.

Daley, a JPMorgan Chase and Co. executive and brother to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, said fixing schools is essential to the economy.

"If this system doesn't change, we will not have the workers that we need," Daley said.

The Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others have agreed to pay for the pursuit for three or four years.

Advance Illinois' announcement came the same day Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he might have to cut back the ailing state budget even further, including taking money from the Illinois State Board of Education.

Daley and others in the group acknowledged that getting some of their changes done could be difficult, especially considering lawmakers' gridlock over key issues in the past several years.

"As we know, that sometimes gets difficult to get accomplished," Daley said.

They hope to have some preliminary suggestions for changes in the spring.