Two cities on polar ends of the state and two elected officials, one famous, one not-so-much, tell a similar story of the plight of the Illinois public school system and the price those who can pay will pay to avoid sending their children to the public school in their district.
Cairo Mayor James Wilson did not send his daughter to the public school in Cairo. In fact, he paid nearly $4,000 a year in tuition to send his daughter to a public school across the state line in Missouri. And that doesn't include the 30 minutes of driving time, one way.
Likewise, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley did not send any of his children to the public schools in Chicago. He paid for his children to be educated by the private system, as did the previous four Chicago mayors who had school-age children.
From Cairo to Chicago and everywhere in between, the public school system in Illinois is failing our children. Our politicians recognize it; that's why most of them laugh at the thought of putting their own children in the public school system.
The savage inequalities in the public school system exist not only in Illinois, but in states throughout the country.
The Supreme Court recognizes it; that's why late last month, they upheld the use of vouchers for private schools in the state of Ohio, even if they are used for religious institutions.
Many believe vouchers should be available to Illinois children as well. As long as state legislators continue to thumb their nose at any real change in the Illinois funding formula, we say vouchers are the only choice.
That's not to say we agree with them. A school voucher system would simply imply that, as a public, we have failed to educate our children.
The truth remains, however, that many of our public schools are crumbling from the bottom up, and we cannot wait for our legislators to change the system - that may take forever.
The public school system in Illinois relies mainly on property taxes to fund schools, which means that children who live in wealthy districts will have more money than those in poorer districts. The state should impose a system that, in basic terms, raises the income tax and lessens the burden on the property tax. Such a formula swap has proven politically challenging (the legislature voted down former Gov. Jim Edgar's Ikenberry Report).
It's not politically impossible though, especially if our legislators truly believe that no one child is more important than another and that what's good enough for the mayor's child is good enough for every child.
It is a question of whether we truly believe it is the public's responsibility to educate our youth as is implied by the simple fact that we have a public school system. And if we do believe it is the public's responsibility, then the question is whether we believe that every child should be afforded the same opportunities.
Our state legislators must not believe in equal opportunities, because if they did, they would not allow for schools to spend twice, sometimes nearly three times as much on one student while another goes without. It would not allow for some students to have classrooms equipped with high-speed technology while others read from a three-decade old textbook. It would not allow for one high school to have an Olympic size swimming pool while another has only a pool of water in the hallway caused by a leaky roof.
Vouchers, here and now, seem to be our only choice, and we will support them until every child, from Chicago to Cairo, has the same access to a quality education as do the children of our mayors.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
