Alex Voorman, Policy Analyst of National Taxpayers United of Illinois (NTUI), today urged St. Sen. James T. Meeks (D-15, Calumet City) to rescind his call for Chicago Public School students to skip the first day of school on September 2nd and be bussed over to New Trier High School in Winnetka to register for classes.  Meeks claimed this move will highlight the inequality in funding between Chicago and its more affluent suburbs.
“It is outrageous that a state senator has urged students to skip the first day of school in order to carry out his political agenda,” said Voorman.
“Empirical data has shown that there is little or no correlation between increased funding and increased academic performance.  The answer is not to bus Chicago’s students out of their neighborhoods, which will do nothing to solve the problems CPS system. We need to re-evaluate the CPS system and find out what can be done to rehabilitate it.  The first step would be to eliminate teacher tenure at least in Chicago, if not statewide.  Tenure only allows bad teachers to hold onto their jobs for no other reason than that they have been there for a long time.”
“It should be noted that Sen. Meeks supports SB 2288, the 67% statewide income tax increase, which is sponsored by State Senators Kimberly A. Lightford (D-4, Westchester) and Don Harmon (D-39, Oak Park).  Apparently their lesson for Chicago students is that they don’t have to go to school, and that if there’s a problem, just take money from taxpayers to throw at it.”
Click here for the News Release.

By on July 31, 2008   /   News Releases  
1 Comment
  1. Constructive Feedback
    10:13 pm on September 1, 2008

    Mr. Tobin:
    Can I ask you a question?
    Does your group ever attempt to talk to Senator Meeks and those who think like him about the fundamental concept of a “city” and why they have received a charter in the first place?
    From my research and from my review of the present -when an unincorporated area within a state grows to the point at which it believes that it has the proper mix of human resources, commercial resources, natural resources and sufficient leadership – it petitions the state for a CHARTER to become an “independent city”.
    How then is it that a massive city like Chicago which has shown that it cannot pay its own bills for the basic services and thus goes to the state to seek funding is allowed to proceed in this manner without being challenged?
    Currently the state pays 44% of the school tab and yet they are said to be committing a “civil rights violation” for not paying more – in the eyes of some people? They can’t be serious. Obviously they are simply doing “what works every time”.
    The officials in the city need to be forced to recognize that the key purpose of a city is to leverage the synergies that it has as such a corporate entity and at least be able to pay its own bills for basic services.
    When a normal corporation reaches such a state of receivership they get “dis-incorporated” and go out of business.