Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has chosen Gery Chico as the new chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education.

Chico served stints as president of the Chicago school board and head of the city colleges under former Mayor Richard Daley. Chico lost the race for mayor of Chicago in February, coming in second to Rahm Emanuel.

Chico says he supports the educational reform bill on Quinn’s desk that would lengthen both the school day and year.

“Nobody says this is a magic wand,” said Chico. “However, from my time at the board of education and on boards of higher education including the city colleges board, nobody could ever tell me that spending more time on a subject doesn’t yield results.”

Quinn said he would be signing the reform bill within the week, calling it a model for the country.

Chico will replace Jesse Ruiz, who left the post to become vice chairman of the Chicago School Board.