Mayor Richard Daley [yesterday] suggested state government leaders should focus on cutting costs before raising taxes.
“First of all, you have to show the intent that you cut off waste, inefficiency, fraud, everything else,” Daley said. “So, they have to really show that. So, it’s up to them. You can’t just tell people, like here, I’m just going to raise taxes. You’d be thrown right out of City Hall. They want you to cut expenses, cut waste, inefficiency, reorganize and get a bank for the buck. That’s what they want. Simple as that.”
The mayor’s remarks came after Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s claim that he has a mandate to raise the income tax after campaigning on a tax-hike pledge and prevailing in last week’s governor election.
Quinn’s response? Not heartening…
At an unrelated news conference [yesterday], Quinn said he’s confident a tax increase will pass.
“I think members of the legislature need to have a rendezvous with reality. That’s what I would say. We’ve got to do what’s best for Illinois. The election’s over. It was over last week. So now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and work hard on what’s necessary for the people,” the governor said.
Quinn’s tax increase alone will barely make a dent in the state’s deficit, so he’s going to have to cut anyway. He might as well come up with at least a partial plan now. Earlier this week, all he could point to was eliminating the legislative scholarship plan. Yeah. That’ll help pass this tax hike. Watch…
A win is a win and Quinn won the election. But that doesn’t make him dictator. He can’t pass his tax hike by fiat. And he can’t wish away this budget deficit, either.
49 Comments
- hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:28 am:
Just to play devil’s advocate here, Rich, is Daley really the most credible person to be giving lectures on sound budgeting here?
Personally, I’d rather pay more in city taxes up front than see my city sell off its toll roads and parking meters to some incompetent and unaccountable foreign company for 100 years and then spend down all the money from that in 5 years so the city will have to raise my taxes a few years later (after Daley is out of office) any way.
See, it is easy to raise taxes. It is hard to identify waste, fraud and the like and then address it and correct it. PQ will pick easy. Not sure he has the acumen to do the other.
the mayor’s comment exudes political naivete. i happen to agree with him in abstraction — illinois needs a major, major overhaul of its revenue structure, including stringent efforts to cut out all the costs of corruption in our political system — but thinking that illinois’ government could do that *and* then come back and raise taxes is beyond unrealistic.
add to this the fact that the governor has a very narrow window in which to get any tax increase through and the mayor’s comment just makes no sense.
it is simply unbelievable that people in this state believe that they are undertaxed. i paid more taxes for fewer government services in florida. we are at the bottom of educational (and other) standards for a reason. we aren’t willing to pay for higher standards. which is the major reason that we have to PAY businesses to come here. no business really wants to pay all the extra costs associated with a poor educational system and an undereducated work force.
pat quinn ran on a platform of honesty. he told us that he was going to raise our taxes. we need to let him do it, without giving up the right to go back and re-examine our revenue structure. but there’s a very simple obstacle to reforming illinois government that hasn’t changed, and i don’t see it changing anytime soon. we will continue to muddle through a bizarre financing system until the power dynamics in this state change radically (and electing republicans is clearly not the answer; i have no reason to believe that there’s a republican here who’s prepared to reform illinois)…
It would be nice if Springfield republicans could now tell suburban republicans how much of this so called tax increase for education will actually go to our kids schools. For example for every dollar a dad in winnetka pays in this tax increase how much of it will go to washbourne and how much of it will go to pay for beuracrats, waste, fraud, abuse and b.s. spending?
bored now——–Since Florida has no state income tax, please explain how you paid more in taxes. I profess I do not know how much Florida charges in sales tax. Please shed some light.
Is this still the education tax increase of one percent, or the 2 percent increase rumored to be favored by some powerful Democratic politicians in the state Legislature?
Anyway, if it’s the education tax increase, I’d like to hear a little more about who gets the money. Will it be distributed according to existing formulas. If so, how will that work out district by district. Are there any strings attached or is this money for the status quo. And if there will be more money for education, more than what. Last years allocation? And so on. As we know from the history of the “education” lottery, these things get tricky. And there is no state income tax pot marked education only. Money is fungible, especially our tax money, when our politicians get their hand on it. There are lots of greedy hands these days.
This is essentially going to be a tax increase felt by middle-middle and upper-middle class working people. (Many retirees in that economic cohort will not feel pain even if they are fairly affluent because pensions are not subject to state income tax in Illinois, and many are old enough to still have defined benefit pensions plus SocS). Their younger eonomic colleagues consume a lot of education services through their kids, so perhaps it’s fair they they pay more.
But it’s also worth taking a close look at what the money will really go for, both now and in future years and who will get how much. The public education industry tells us that more money will fix everything. Over the years, we have believed them to the great detriment of our kids.
Shore, I hate to break it to you, but if you live in Winnetka, what you get from the state for public schools is relatively bupkis. People pay to live there to control their own schools through property taxes and high real estate values.
If Quinn was capable of this I would have voted for him. In fact, if politicians were capable of only spending a tax increase on what it is designated for, then allow sunset provisions to go through and stay, I would be more willing to look at tax increases in the first place. The reason many conservatives don’t support tax increases is because we know the government will just spend even more with them, still be in debt and paying huge interest, and expanding into even more areas of our lives. Both parties spend like mad fools.
Wordslinger, that’s my point. this is not a tax increase for education it is a tax increase to pay for the chicago democrats springfield mess. Springfield republicans which struggled again in the suburbs would be advised to tell districts like biss’s how much of this tax increase will actually be returned to their kids schools and how much of it will be wasted elsewhere in the state.
Dear Mayor Daley: sure, you discovered furlough days before anyone understood the concept and need, but you are no one to talk about cuts in spending! put too many statues in a park raising private money but spending public money to support it? sure, build that fantasy land along the lakefront. the silly parking garage underneath which needs the Children’s museum to relocate to make money? the flower pots that are not only too much, but often traffic hazards? money waste.
and let’s talk about the collection of misfits and incompetents who populate your government in jobs with salaries over $100,000, even now. there are lots of them, not all the staffers are bad but there’s quite a collection of bad ones. make some cuts now before a new mayor does that. Oh, wait, those are Rahm supporters.
yes, I too am an advocate of reductions in spending. but the hole in the State budget is too big not to consider some sort of revenue measures. please be realistic. I know you consider the city as some sort of urban Disneyland (oops, wait, is that a Kass trademark?) but now that you are going, time to get real.
We can safely surmise that Quinn’s view of reality is not the same as the voter/taxpayer view of reality when it comes to cutting and taxing and resizing government to match lower revenues and low expectations for growth. The mayor basically said that Quinn needs to apply the Brady diet plan before adjusting the calorie intake. Most of us would likely agree that this is the only politics and policy that makes any sense. Where we probably disagree is that cutting waste, inefficiency and fraud are not likely to add up to what is needed. Some actual downsizing will be needed — the non essentials that Quinn talked about but never identified.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:31 pm:
Perhaps the State of Illinois should raid the Skyway Fund or the Parking Meter Fund?
LOL
No, seriously, perhaps Quinn should introduce legislation to PROHIBIT raiding those funds.
Daley lecturing about fiscal responsibility and the need to cut costs is absurd on its face.
He’s been presented with plenty of ideas for doing that and ignored them all.
That said:
Quinn needs to do a MUCH better job of articulating the cuts that have already been implemented;
Third parties MUST do a much better job of articulating the impact of inaction;
The election is over and the relevance of public opinion is at an all-time low. What IS relevant is that there must be House Republican votes on the tax hike.
Tom Cross has two choices: cut the best deal he possibly can with Madigan and pass a tax cut via a structured rollcall, or refuse to negotiate in good faith and Madigan will cut individual deals with House Republicans to get what he wants.
Madigan can find six - eight House Republican votes himself, he’d like the ninth vote to be Tom Cross, but that’s not essential.
Let’s be more succinct, why should the north shore be forced to pay more taxes for schools in the rest of the state? If downstate or chicago wants more money for its schools why doesn’t it have referenda, let the community decide and let those communities pay for it?
we don’t need a middleman/governor in this process. thanks.
Nobody is going to buy the ‘education surcharge’ thing. The other big question is how will the ’surcharge’ money going to be handed out, using the current state aid formula, if so a decent number of districts are going to get the shaft on that.
Also it seems to me, if you are going to increase revenues you should use them to deal with bills you currently have, not create new programs. Then again thats me..
The ‘tax increase for education’ didn’t work last spring, when Quinn held up millions in state aid resulting in massive teacher layoffs. It won’t work now, either. If he doesn’t start making wise decisions about cutting waste, like the free rides for seniors, nobody in Springfield is going to give him what he wants.
Wally: learned that fact through my accountant after living here ten years. you referenced “income taxes,” but you’ll note that i did not do so: “i paid more taxes for fewer government services in florida.”
OneMan: so you’re proud of being “17th in per pupil spending” (especially in light of the rather dramatic differences in spending per pupil across illinois)? clearly, i am not.
i never know what to say to these kinds of replies. i mean, at least we’re not indiana (and thank god we didn’t elect bill brady!), where the public education is so bad that major institutions like m.i.t won’t recruit in the state (and are leery of any student who comes from there).
we clearly have different expectations. i’m not impressed by even the “good schools” in the state. having created jobs — and having had to find people who could FILL those jobs — i’m well aware of the costs to business that having a crappy educational system imposes on business. not that i think there are many people in illinois who want to see the state as a leader in 21st century industries, and your comment clearly indicates where you stand. it’s just shocking to me that people are eager to settle for a poor public educational system and then think that we can attract business to the state. sure, we can be a state of truckers and farmers (and con men, who rip off consumers or taxpayers). but i expect more; i suppose i have higher standards; and i’m willing to share in the costs of being a leader in industry, technology and education.
the fact that others don’t share those expectations are exactly why it is so important to fight out these elections where the contrasts between candidates is so obvious…
If you can show me ANY demonstrated correlation between spending and achievement, I would love to see that. Quality does not equal money.
I guess that is why we fight elections, to fight if more = better. You appear to think that it does, I think that it doesn’t. Funny considering the desire of either party to raise taxes (a governor does not a party make) I can offer my opinion on which side of that argument is winning.
Also since you think we are so under taxed, you can feel free to just send the state money, I am sure they would be happy to take it.
Agree with those of you that say Quinn needs to deal with spending cuts first. And let’s get over this ridiculous idea about waste, fraud, and abuse. That allows many departments, programs, etc. to wiggle out this by arguing that they aren’t waste, fraud, and abuse. Quinn should propose a freeze in state salaries (when is the last time private employers gave COLA increases?). And actually evaluate partnerships and priorities and decide which ones are important. Plus, there are other fee increases there… Tuition at UIUC is low; why not actually raise it to be comparable to Michigan or Wisconsin. I know that college students enjoy whining about how much they’re paying, but frankly they’re getting an education comparable to a top tier school for one-sixth the cost
Quinn should first explain how many more ghost employees he has appointed to boards and commissions. His prison board appointee hasn’t shown up in 17 months. Quinn is just another crook co. Machine hack taking care of friends and supporters with no show jobs. Naturally he feels we should all pay more taxes so his friends don’t have to get real jobs
- just plain tired of it already - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:04 pm:
I sure am glad the Mayor is leaving. City government has been cut to the BONE. Retirements left and right. Layoffs. 10-15% cuts in pay through furloughs. Look, I’m not saying taxes should be a first option, or even the second or last option.
All I’m saying is: is very easy for him to keep saying cut cut cut. He ought to get out of that nice office on the 5th Floor and spend some time in the Departments to see that the CUTS have already been made. I’ve worked in the private sector and the public sector. No discernable difference in the numbers of those who work hard vs. those who don’t. You want govt. services? You must pay for them. No free lunch. Anyplace.
Suburbia will pay more in income taxes in order to maintain relative control of of their districts and maintain the school funding system in Illinois. The fact is that without a tax increase, the state will come for suburban schools’ local tax dollars to distribute to other parts of the state. Gotta tax the people that have the money.
First off, I find any too-generalized discussions about where Illinois is in “spending per pupil” very unhelpful, given the extraordinary range in terms of how much gets spent per pupil.
At the 95th percentile (according to relatively recent figures by the National Center for Education Statistics), a rich IL school district’s revenue per student is around $15,508. At the 5th percentile, it’s $7,133.
New Trier Township spent an estimated $17,000 per student, in 2005-06. Chicago Public Schools spent around $10,400. In Downstate and some southern Cook suburbs, it was around $8000 or less per student.
Here’s a question: if there’s no correlation, between spending per student and educational outcome, why doesn’t New Trier Township and the parents there just slash their per-pupil spending, by thousands of dollars, per kid? Why not take that cash and spend it somewhere else more productive? Same educational results, right?
But somehow, the parents in New Trier don’t do that. They must not be too economically rational up there : )
- the dark horse - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:21 pm:
I would like to hear a republican provide some specific details on what they would cut to reduce the budget by $13 billion.
To the deleted anonymous commenter at 1:40 pm. What’s the name of the street that’s in between Illinois and High streets and runs parallel to both? Can’t seem to find the name, but I know where it is. I’ll send somebody by later to check.
First, if taxes have to be raised (and it might be the case), it should go to paying IL’s bills and putting it in good fiscal shape, not by dumping additional money into new programs. There are more pressing problems than school funding, such as the fact that IL cannot pay its bills for current services or that its pension system is so underfunded that it makes GM’s look well managed. All the efforts should go to solving these problems, not raises to state education bureaucrats, superintendents, etc.
Secondly, the spending per pupil is correlation, not causation. The reason why New Trier students do so well is that they grow up in highly educated homes and are exposed to a certain environment. The parents also know how to advocate for their students. Poorer/ lower middle class parents might not understand the best way to help their students succeed in school. I worked at a Highland Park non-for-profit and helping Latino parents advocate for their children in school and support their children in school was part of a major initiative.
== Here’s a question: if there’s no correlation, between spending per student and educational outcome, why doesn’t New Trier Township and the parents there just slash their per-pupil spending, by thousands of dollars, per kid? Why not take that cash and spend it somewhere else more productive? Same educational results, right? ==
It’s one thing to own a BMW when you can afford it, it’s different when you try to own one and you are 6 months late on the payments…
Also in terms of 95% and 5%, 8K goes a lot further in some parts of this state than 17K does it others.
Again, show me a correlation.. The High School district I attended spends about as much per student as the district I now live in and academically there is a huge difference. Shouldn’t the same spend have the same results?
For the last 20 years I have heard we need to spend more on education to get better outcomes, were spending a lot more we are not getting better outcomes.
If you want to raise my taxes, fine, but then do something about the frakin deficit. Period, full stop. Before it becomes next to impossible for any school district to borrow money to do anything because they state that is supposed to fund them is a massive deadbeat.
When Discover card is calling asking where their money is the last thing you should be doing is going shopping with the sears card.
If you want more in taxes how about actually having the courage to cut stuff instead of just paying everyone late and acting like that is a solution.
Funny my kids don’t get to go on field trips anymore because of funding cuts, it’s not like they go and we just tell everyone that incurs an expense we will pay them in 9 months.
We make all sorts of commitments now we can’t keep and you want more money. How about first, lets get realistic about our commitments then talk about raising taxes.
OneMan: perhaps if you could demonstrate where i argued that there is a “demonstrated correlation between spending and achievement,” i might make that effort. if you didn’t understand what i said, then you are free to go back and re-read it. i’m more than happy to defend what i’ve written, but disinclined to run down a tangent that has little to do with what i wrote but you find comfortably within your ideological (and probably unrealistic) worldview.
unlike your knee-jerk response (can i assume that you are a product of an illinois education?), what i’ve written repeatedly is that illinois has a crappy revenue structure (to go along with its absurd governmental structures) that needs VAST reform. there is no question that you (and probably other products of an illinois education) are far more tolerant of the corruption that is endemic in the state than i, and you undoubtedly don’t want to see the money for corruption reduced. i’ll even bet that you voted for brady and rutherford, two of the more dramatic examples of illinois’ preference for corrupt politicians who want government to line their own pockets (at the taxpayer’s expense).
i have said all along that i’m happy to see my taxes increased, if that increase will go to real services. i’ve sat in on business roundtables, where major corporations complained about the pitiful education of entry-level or even mid-level employees. it’s not uncommon for major corporations in this country to have to compensate for the crappy education we have nowadays. idiots are eager to blame the teachers (or the unions, more knee-jerk and irrational analysis) when there is plenty of blame to go around, undoubtedly starting in the homes.
should we pay more for education? absolutely. an *intelligent* analysis recognizes that our current revenue structure for illinois’ schools is far too dependent upon property taxes, which results in unequal funding across various school districts. illinois also has far too many school districts, and the way schools are administered in this state need radical reform.
but even a cursory analysis like i’ve given may be beyond the grasp of some products of an illinois education. i don’t know.
i just know that i have higher standards, and i’m willing to put my money where my standards are. we used to think kids were important in this country. it was one of ronald reagan’s biggest applause lines in 1980…
Get ready for pain. Everyone was afraid of Brady’s cut and slash plan, now we have to deal with a man with no plan.
1. 46% is not a mandate. Democrats Poo-pooed President Bush for saying he had a mandate after an election where he had 50.7% of the vote. 46 ain’t close.
2. Make up your mind Pat. Is the money going to education (IEA). State workers (AFSCME), or to pay the past due bills? You promised the first two the money in exchange for endorsements. No one will support a tax increase unless you dedicate it to paying the backlog of bills. The next 4 years will get progressively worse before this is over.
That’s not even close to an either/or because a large portion of the past due bills is owed to schools and universities. I’m not sure how up to date state worker health care bills are, either. They’re usually way behind during budget crunches.
- Never no Justice :( - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 4:48 pm:
They don’t need to raise the income tax or any other taxes. I see waste and fraud where I work everyday. There are still people (new hires) that are sitting around begging for something to do while others are doing the work of three. Personally, I would start cutting the benefits and wages of all the boards and commissions. In my younger days, people got on boards to volunteer and help make their state or community a better place to live. Now everything is politics. The last 10 years have been difficult, not only to hold on to your job, but just to survive and help out friends and family that are not so lucky.
== should we pay more for education? absolutely. an *intelligent* analysis recognizes that our current revenue structure for illinois’ schools is far too dependent upon property taxes, which results in unequal funding across various school districts. illinois also has far too many school districts, and the way schools are administered in this state need radical reform. ==
I and others who were educated are so grateful we have the wise and gifted like you who were obviously not educated in one of the lowly flyover states.
Yes I read your comments, I guess it was my foolish education that led me to belive you were proposing to spend more on education to get in fact better results. How simple and foolish of me to draw that conclusion..
I guess it is my pea brain that does not see how a dependency on property taxes being turned to a different funding model requires more being spent?
If you need x dollars getting them a different way does not require Y dollars instead, does it. Again with your obviously superior brain power I am sure you can explain to me how changing the funding system (for those folks unfortuante enough to have grown up and been educated here in Illinois who remember the attempts to change that system that failed) would require more money in order to make it work.
Again as you were wise and kind enough to point out, me and everyone else educated here is kind of thick compared to you. Would you educational plan cap spending, so even if me and my neighbors in Hooterville wanted to spend more on education by taxing ourselves we could?
Again I am but a simple man educated by public schools in Illinois so I am sure guys like you who have sat in on business round-tables (wow, you are so cool) will know the best way.
Obviously your huge brain grasps that the true corruption in this state resides in two downstate state senators, again as you are so quick to remind me you are obviously smarter and better than me a poor lowly man educated in this state who might observe that this state and cook county are run by Democrats and obviously they are all run as clean as the day is long…
But I do have one final thing to share…
Even with my poor Illinois education, I realize and was taught that the personal pronoun I is capitalized when used in a sentence. Perhaps they didn’t teach you that in prep-school.
But again, you at least in your own vast mind, are the wise one, so I am sure you did that for a reason, perhaps you are ee cummings reincarnated ,he wrote that poem about the guy from Nantucket, right?
…we are at the bottom of educational (and other) standards for a reason. we aren’t willing to pay for higher standards.
later you wrote:
…OneMan: perhaps if you could demonstrate where i argued that there is a “demonstrated correlation between spending and achievement,” i might make that effort.
Unfortunately I’m a product of Illinois schools, so I’m likely to have comprehension issues. But, it did seem that you correlated spending with achievement.
“I’m not sure how up to date state worker health care bills are, either.” Several local docs have patients on state insurance pay with a check up front since payments are 6-8 months behind. If you are a vendor you are still dealing with bills from March/April. Other groups were able to claim hardship for expedited payments because they had no cash left and bank were not loaning. Your company saved reserves for tough time? You are are the back of the line. Weak ones first. However the election is now over and screaming will just be screaming. It will not effect job security for several more years. Plenty of time. MJM: Need to get the cash to pay the bills. What could that mean?
Education-Smeducation. This stuff is all motherhood. Of course we’re going to fund schools one way or another. The classic elected official position is “I’m for education and against crime”….I keep waiting for them to get these mixed up. Oh….and either for or against abortion depending on my district’s demo. Thanks for coming.
The real deal is all the new programs dumped on the State since the evil Blag’s re-election. Quinn has shown a loyalty to his former running mate by keeping all these going (and the people who run them). Does he have the wisdom/moxie to actually eliminate these Blago’s? I hope so, I really do. If he can’t bring himself to cut out ‘free X for Z constinuency’, then its going to be a really, really long 4 years.
Many state workers need to pay their medical and dental bills in advance.
There are hold overs in state government back to Edgar. Many of the people are protected civil servants.
Many are dedicated and hard working.
Many are not dedicated nor hard working.
I do not know where I fit objectively but age will take me out soon.
Quinn does not want to “rock the boat”.
The boat is stuck in the mud.
Look for Quinn to solve the budget problem by attrition/death of employees and freezing wages.
Quinn (an old acquantance) does not have the energy or desire to make the needed cuts (Like eliminating agencies/cutting positions/leading us out of the desert to the oasis).
I like Pat Quinn. I voted for Pat Quinn. But he is older than me. We are living in the dream world of “jobs past”.
When I started in “public service”, the jobs were easier to get and paid less. It seems to me we are heading back that direction … very slowly and painfully.
Much like Obama and the housing market(Banks and Political Deficit Hawks), Quinn is not interested in taking on the obvious targets(Unions/Political Fiefdoms).
Of course family income and upbringing is the #1 factor in terms of a child’s capacity to learn. I just fundamentally think it is cruel and unfair to double-whammy these kids. First they grow up in a poverty-filled community - not their fault - then they go to a lousy school which doesn’t have near enough resources to handle the challenges faced in helping to begin turning these kids’ educational lives around - again, not their fault.
It would be easier to say, oh well, these kids are just broken - nothing left to do for them, we just have to shuffle them off to dead end jobs or watch them disappear somewhere, and focus on the saveables. In fact, however, as shown in documentaries like _Waiting for Superman_, really good schools out there are producing amazing results even with kids formerly seen as “unreachable.”
Those really good schools, however? Spend a ton of cash per student. Washington D.C. SEED School in D.C., featured in _Superman_, a boarding school (a great idea, in my opinion, for a lot of these kids who either have neglectful parents or dangerous commutes; we need a lot more boarding schools in the city) that has regularly been praised to the skies for its college graduate rates and improvements in student performance. It spends like $35,000 per inner city student it boards, however. Ditto for projects like the Harlem’s Children Zone, which spends far higher per capita amounts.
More money spent in the right ways absolutely can make a difference, especially for the kids who have already been double-betrayed by their parents and their local communities, and thrown into a cycle of poverty which is totally, utterly not their fault.
I know it’s complicated, of course, and rich suburbanites are fully justified in suspicions that we could ever actually spend that money effectively and target it in the right way to the kids. But this idea that to spend more on a poor child’s education is just somehow -automatically- throwing money down the drain, strikes me as overly smug.
The fact that Quinn got 20,000 more votes than Brady last Tuesday doesn’t change the fact that NOTHING CHANGED. The incompetents running Illinois will continue to do so. They have been out of ideas since 2005. They did not suddenly see the Wizard of Oz and get a brain. Half the electorate did not vote for a tax increase. Half the electorate did not vote for the incompetent Mr. Quinn.
The reality that needs to be faced is the same reality that has needed to be faced since 2005. We are broke. We cannot pay our bills. Our bonds are worth less than Portugal’s. The same incompetent people are in office. We have greater need for social assistance because Illinoisans cannot find work. It is a death spiral.
CUT! This has been what I have been writing since we ran out of pavement and have been riding over these cliffs. So - I’m not hopeful.
- hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:28 am:
Just to play devil’s advocate here, Rich, is Daley really the most credible person to be giving lectures on sound budgeting here?
Personally, I’d rather pay more in city taxes up front than see my city sell off its toll roads and parking meters to some incompetent and unaccountable foreign company for 100 years and then spend down all the money from that in 5 years so the city will have to raise my taxes a few years later (after Daley is out of office) any way.
- Wally - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:32 am:
See, it is easy to raise taxes. It is hard to identify waste, fraud and the like and then address it and correct it. PQ will pick easy. Not sure he has the acumen to do the other.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:36 am:
===See, it is easy to raise taxes. ===
If it was so easy, Illinois would do it more often than it has.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:37 am:
hisgirlfriday, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
- bored now - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:42 am:
the mayor’s comment exudes political naivete. i happen to agree with him in abstraction — illinois needs a major, major overhaul of its revenue structure, including stringent efforts to cut out all the costs of corruption in our political system — but thinking that illinois’ government could do that *and* then come back and raise taxes is beyond unrealistic.
add to this the fact that the governor has a very narrow window in which to get any tax increase through and the mayor’s comment just makes no sense.
it is simply unbelievable that people in this state believe that they are undertaxed. i paid more taxes for fewer government services in florida. we are at the bottom of educational (and other) standards for a reason. we aren’t willing to pay for higher standards. which is the major reason that we have to PAY businesses to come here. no business really wants to pay all the extra costs associated with a poor educational system and an undereducated work force.
pat quinn ran on a platform of honesty. he told us that he was going to raise our taxes. we need to let him do it, without giving up the right to go back and re-examine our revenue structure. but there’s a very simple obstacle to reforming illinois government that hasn’t changed, and i don’t see it changing anytime soon. we will continue to muddle through a bizarre financing system until the power dynamics in this state change radically (and electing republicans is clearly not the answer; i have no reason to believe that there’s a republican here who’s prepared to reform illinois)…
- shore - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:45 am:
It would be nice if Springfield republicans could now tell suburban republicans how much of this so called tax increase for education will actually go to our kids schools. For example for every dollar a dad in winnetka pays in this tax increase how much of it will go to washbourne and how much of it will go to pay for beuracrats, waste, fraud, abuse and b.s. spending?
- Wally - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:49 am:
bored now——–Since Florida has no state income tax, please explain how you paid more in taxes. I profess I do not know how much Florida charges in sales tax. Please shed some light.
- cassandra - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:57 am:
Is this still the education tax increase of one percent, or the 2 percent increase rumored to be favored by some powerful Democratic politicians in the state Legislature?
Anyway, if it’s the education tax increase, I’d like to hear a little more about who gets the money. Will it be distributed according to existing formulas. If so, how will that work out district by district. Are there any strings attached or is this money for the status quo. And if there will be more money for education, more than what. Last years allocation? And so on. As we know from the history of the “education” lottery, these things get tricky. And there is no state income tax pot marked education only. Money is fungible, especially our tax money, when our politicians get their hand on it. There are lots of greedy hands these days.
This is essentially going to be a tax increase felt by middle-middle and upper-middle class working people. (Many retirees in that economic cohort will not feel pain even if they are fairly affluent because pensions are not subject to state income tax in Illinois, and many are old enough to still have defined benefit pensions plus SocS). Their younger eonomic colleagues consume a lot of education services through their kids, so perhaps it’s fair they they pay more.
But it’s also worth taking a close look at what the money will really go for, both now and in future years and who will get how much. The public education industry tells us that more money will fix everything. Over the years, we have believed them to the great detriment of our kids.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:01 pm:
Shore, I hate to break it to you, but if you live in Winnetka, what you get from the state for public schools is relatively bupkis. People pay to live there to control their own schools through property taxes and high real estate values.
- Liandro - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:10 pm:
If Quinn was capable of this I would have voted for him. In fact, if politicians were capable of only spending a tax increase on what it is designated for, then allow sunset provisions to go through and stay, I would be more willing to look at tax increases in the first place. The reason many conservatives don’t support tax increases is because we know the government will just spend even more with them, still be in debt and paying huge interest, and expanding into even more areas of our lives. Both parties spend like mad fools.
- shore - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:17 pm:
Wordslinger, that’s my point. this is not a tax increase for education it is a tax increase to pay for the chicago democrats springfield mess. Springfield republicans which struggled again in the suburbs would be advised to tell districts like biss’s how much of this tax increase will actually be returned to their kids schools and how much of it will be wasted elsewhere in the state.
- Wumpus - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:19 pm:
How about Pat Quinn sell the tollways and spend 90% of the money in 2 years.
- Wumpus - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:19 pm:
I meant lease, not sell
- Amalia - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:20 pm:
Dear Mayor Daley: sure, you discovered furlough days before anyone understood the concept and need, but you are no one to talk about cuts in spending! put too many statues in a park raising private money but spending public money to support it? sure, build that fantasy land along the lakefront. the silly parking garage underneath which needs the Children’s museum to relocate to make money? the flower pots that are not only too much, but often traffic hazards? money waste.
and let’s talk about the collection of misfits and incompetents who populate your government in jobs with salaries over $100,000, even now. there are lots of them, not all the staffers are bad but there’s quite a collection of bad ones. make some cuts now before a new mayor does that. Oh, wait, those are Rahm supporters.
yes, I too am an advocate of reductions in spending. but the hole in the State budget is too big not to consider some sort of revenue measures. please be realistic. I know you consider the city as some sort of urban Disneyland (oops, wait, is that a Kass trademark?) but now that you are going, time to get real.
Quinn is getting real.
- Vole - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:30 pm:
We can safely surmise that Quinn’s view of reality is not the same as the voter/taxpayer view of reality when it comes to cutting and taxing and resizing government to match lower revenues and low expectations for growth. The mayor basically said that Quinn needs to apply the Brady diet plan before adjusting the calorie intake. Most of us would likely agree that this is the only politics and policy that makes any sense. Where we probably disagree is that cutting waste, inefficiency and fraud are not likely to add up to what is needed. Some actual downsizing will be needed — the non essentials that Quinn talked about but never identified.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:31 pm:
Perhaps the State of Illinois should raid the Skyway Fund or the Parking Meter Fund?
LOL
No, seriously, perhaps Quinn should introduce legislation to PROHIBIT raiding those funds.
Daley lecturing about fiscal responsibility and the need to cut costs is absurd on its face.
He’s been presented with plenty of ideas for doing that and ignored them all.
That said:
Quinn needs to do a MUCH better job of articulating the cuts that have already been implemented;
Third parties MUST do a much better job of articulating the impact of inaction;
The election is over and the relevance of public opinion is at an all-time low. What IS relevant is that there must be House Republican votes on the tax hike.
Tom Cross has two choices: cut the best deal he possibly can with Madigan and pass a tax cut via a structured rollcall, or refuse to negotiate in good faith and Madigan will cut individual deals with House Republicans to get what he wants.
Madigan can find six - eight House Republican votes himself, he’d like the ninth vote to be Tom Cross, but that’s not essential.
- shore - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:33 pm:
Let’s be more succinct, why should the north shore be forced to pay more taxes for schools in the rest of the state? If downstate or chicago wants more money for its schools why doesn’t it have referenda, let the community decide and let those communities pay for it?
we don’t need a middleman/governor in this process. thanks.
- OneMan - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:37 pm:
Nobody is going to buy the ‘education surcharge’ thing. The other big question is how will the ’surcharge’ money going to be handed out, using the current state aid formula, if so a decent number of districts are going to get the shaft on that.
Also it seems to me, if you are going to increase revenues you should use them to deal with bills you currently have, not create new programs. Then again thats me..
Finally bored now Illinois is 17th in per pupil spending
http://www.epodunk.com/top10/per_pupil/
Also since you think the problem with our schools is we don’t spend enough you might be interested to learn that #1 on that list is Washington DC.
- Vole - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:39 pm:
“Quinn needs to apply the Brady diet plan before adjusting the calorie intake.” me
Let me rephrase that: Quinn needs to apply the Brady’s stomach reduction procedure before adjusting the calorie intake.
- Wensicia - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:48 pm:
The ‘tax increase for education’ didn’t work last spring, when Quinn held up millions in state aid resulting in massive teacher layoffs. It won’t work now, either. If he doesn’t start making wise decisions about cutting waste, like the free rides for seniors, nobody in Springfield is going to give him what he wants.
- MikeMacD - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 12:52 pm:
“we don’t need a middleman/governor in this process”
Illinois Constitution
Article X
Education
SECTION 1. GOAL - FREE SCHOOLS
…
The State has the primary responsibility for financing the system of public education.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 1:07 pm:
–Let’s be more succinct, why should the north shore be forced to pay more taxes for schools in the rest of the state?–
Dude, that’s what the suburbs are for. You just get here, lol?
- bored now - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 1:13 pm:
Wally: learned that fact through my accountant after living here ten years. you referenced “income taxes,” but you’ll note that i did not do so: “i paid more taxes for fewer government services in florida.”
OneMan: so you’re proud of being “17th in per pupil spending” (especially in light of the rather dramatic differences in spending per pupil across illinois)? clearly, i am not.
i never know what to say to these kinds of replies. i mean, at least we’re not indiana (and thank god we didn’t elect bill brady!), where the public education is so bad that major institutions like m.i.t won’t recruit in the state (and are leery of any student who comes from there).
we clearly have different expectations. i’m not impressed by even the “good schools” in the state. having created jobs — and having had to find people who could FILL those jobs — i’m well aware of the costs to business that having a crappy educational system imposes on business. not that i think there are many people in illinois who want to see the state as a leader in 21st century industries, and your comment clearly indicates where you stand. it’s just shocking to me that people are eager to settle for a poor public educational system and then think that we can attract business to the state. sure, we can be a state of truckers and farmers (and con men, who rip off consumers or taxpayers). but i expect more; i suppose i have higher standards; and i’m willing to share in the costs of being a leader in industry, technology and education.
the fact that others don’t share those expectations are exactly why it is so important to fight out these elections where the contrasts between candidates is so obvious…
- OneMan - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 1:26 pm:
bored now…
If you can show me ANY demonstrated correlation between spending and achievement, I would love to see that. Quality does not equal money.
I guess that is why we fight elections, to fight if more = better. You appear to think that it does, I think that it doesn’t. Funny considering the desire of either party to raise taxes (a governor does not a party make) I can offer my opinion on which side of that argument is winning.
Also since you think we are so under taxed, you can feel free to just send the state money, I am sure they would be happy to take it.
- K. G. - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 1:28 pm:
Agree with those of you that say Quinn needs to deal with spending cuts first. And let’s get over this ridiculous idea about waste, fraud, and abuse. That allows many departments, programs, etc. to wiggle out this by arguing that they aren’t waste, fraud, and abuse. Quinn should propose a freeze in state salaries (when is the last time private employers gave COLA increases?). And actually evaluate partnerships and priorities and decide which ones are important. Plus, there are other fee increases there… Tuition at UIUC is low; why not actually raise it to be comparable to Michigan or Wisconsin. I know that college students enjoy whining about how much they’re paying, but frankly they’re getting an education comparable to a top tier school for one-sixth the cost
- Wally - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 1:38 pm:
bored now—-thanks for that completely vague explanation.
- Fed up - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 1:55 pm:
Quinn should first explain how many more ghost employees he has appointed to boards and commissions. His prison board appointee hasn’t shown up in 17 months. Quinn is just another crook co. Machine hack taking care of friends and supporters with no show jobs. Naturally he feels we should all pay more taxes so his friends don’t have to get real jobs
- just plain tired of it already - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:04 pm:
I sure am glad the Mayor is leaving. City government has been cut to the BONE. Retirements left and right. Layoffs. 10-15% cuts in pay through furloughs. Look, I’m not saying taxes should be a first option, or even the second or last option.
All I’m saying is: is very easy for him to keep saying cut cut cut. He ought to get out of that nice office on the 5th Floor and spend some time in the Departments to see that the CUTS have already been made. I’ve worked in the private sector and the public sector. No discernable difference in the numbers of those who work hard vs. those who don’t. You want govt. services? You must pay for them. No free lunch. Anyplace.
- Fed up - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:07 pm:
“No free lunch anyplace”. Unless your Gov Quinns friend then you get free everything at a nice no show job.
- Come on, now - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:11 pm:
Suburbia will pay more in income taxes in order to maintain relative control of of their districts and maintain the school funding system in Illinois. The fact is that without a tax increase, the state will come for suburban schools’ local tax dollars to distribute to other parts of the state. Gotta tax the people that have the money.
- ZC - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:13 pm:
First off, I find any too-generalized discussions about where Illinois is in “spending per pupil” very unhelpful, given the extraordinary range in terms of how much gets spent per pupil.
At the 95th percentile (according to relatively recent figures by the National Center for Education Statistics), a rich IL school district’s revenue per student is around $15,508. At the 5th percentile, it’s $7,133.
New Trier Township spent an estimated $17,000 per student, in 2005-06. Chicago Public Schools spent around $10,400. In Downstate and some southern Cook suburbs, it was around $8000 or less per student.
Here’s a question: if there’s no correlation, between spending per student and educational outcome, why doesn’t New Trier Township and the parents there just slash their per-pupil spending, by thousands of dollars, per kid? Why not take that cash and spend it somewhere else more productive? Same educational results, right?
But somehow, the parents in New Trier don’t do that. They must not be too economically rational up there : )
- the dark horse - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:21 pm:
I would like to hear a republican provide some specific details on what they would cut to reduce the budget by $13 billion.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:30 pm:
To the deleted anonymous commenter at 1:40 pm. What’s the name of the street that’s in between Illinois and High streets and runs parallel to both? Can’t seem to find the name, but I know where it is. I’ll send somebody by later to check.
lol
- Wumpus - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:43 pm:
It looks as if Ricardo did a forensic audit of the IP addresses
- Quinn T. Sential - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 2:49 pm:
Maybe the Governor can call a Special Session for Thanksgiving weekend just to “set the table” so to speak.
After all, it worked so well for the last guy, why not keep the streak going.
- K.G. - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 3:00 pm:
First, if taxes have to be raised (and it might be the case), it should go to paying IL’s bills and putting it in good fiscal shape, not by dumping additional money into new programs. There are more pressing problems than school funding, such as the fact that IL cannot pay its bills for current services or that its pension system is so underfunded that it makes GM’s look well managed. All the efforts should go to solving these problems, not raises to state education bureaucrats, superintendents, etc.
Secondly, the spending per pupil is correlation, not causation. The reason why New Trier students do so well is that they grow up in highly educated homes and are exposed to a certain environment. The parents also know how to advocate for their students. Poorer/ lower middle class parents might not understand the best way to help their students succeed in school. I worked at a Highland Park non-for-profit and helping Latino parents advocate for their children in school and support their children in school was part of a major initiative.
- OneMan - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 3:20 pm:
== Here’s a question: if there’s no correlation, between spending per student and educational outcome, why doesn’t New Trier Township and the parents there just slash their per-pupil spending, by thousands of dollars, per kid? Why not take that cash and spend it somewhere else more productive? Same educational results, right? ==
It’s one thing to own a BMW when you can afford it, it’s different when you try to own one and you are 6 months late on the payments…
Also in terms of 95% and 5%, 8K goes a lot further in some parts of this state than 17K does it others.
Again, show me a correlation.. The High School district I attended spends about as much per student as the district I now live in and academically there is a huge difference. Shouldn’t the same spend have the same results?
For the last 20 years I have heard we need to spend more on education to get better outcomes, were spending a lot more we are not getting better outcomes.
If you want to raise my taxes, fine, but then do something about the frakin deficit. Period, full stop. Before it becomes next to impossible for any school district to borrow money to do anything because they state that is supposed to fund them is a massive deadbeat.
When Discover card is calling asking where their money is the last thing you should be doing is going shopping with the sears card.
If you want more in taxes how about actually having the courage to cut stuff instead of just paying everyone late and acting like that is a solution.
Funny my kids don’t get to go on field trips anymore because of funding cuts, it’s not like they go and we just tell everyone that incurs an expense we will pay them in 9 months.
We make all sorts of commitments now we can’t keep and you want more money. How about first, lets get realistic about our commitments then talk about raising taxes.
- bored now - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 3:23 pm:
OneMan: perhaps if you could demonstrate where i argued that there is a “demonstrated correlation between spending and achievement,” i might make that effort. if you didn’t understand what i said, then you are free to go back and re-read it. i’m more than happy to defend what i’ve written, but disinclined to run down a tangent that has little to do with what i wrote but you find comfortably within your ideological (and probably unrealistic) worldview.
unlike your knee-jerk response (can i assume that you are a product of an illinois education?), what i’ve written repeatedly is that illinois has a crappy revenue structure (to go along with its absurd governmental structures) that needs VAST reform. there is no question that you (and probably other products of an illinois education) are far more tolerant of the corruption that is endemic in the state than i, and you undoubtedly don’t want to see the money for corruption reduced. i’ll even bet that you voted for brady and rutherford, two of the more dramatic examples of illinois’ preference for corrupt politicians who want government to line their own pockets (at the taxpayer’s expense).
i have said all along that i’m happy to see my taxes increased, if that increase will go to real services. i’ve sat in on business roundtables, where major corporations complained about the pitiful education of entry-level or even mid-level employees. it’s not uncommon for major corporations in this country to have to compensate for the crappy education we have nowadays. idiots are eager to blame the teachers (or the unions, more knee-jerk and irrational analysis) when there is plenty of blame to go around, undoubtedly starting in the homes.
should we pay more for education? absolutely. an *intelligent* analysis recognizes that our current revenue structure for illinois’ schools is far too dependent upon property taxes, which results in unequal funding across various school districts. illinois also has far too many school districts, and the way schools are administered in this state need radical reform.
but even a cursory analysis like i’ve given may be beyond the grasp of some products of an illinois education. i don’t know.
i just know that i have higher standards, and i’m willing to put my money where my standards are. we used to think kids were important in this country. it was one of ronald reagan’s biggest applause lines in 1980…
- the Patriot - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 3:26 pm:
Get ready for pain. Everyone was afraid of Brady’s cut and slash plan, now we have to deal with a man with no plan.
1. 46% is not a mandate. Democrats Poo-pooed President Bush for saying he had a mandate after an election where he had 50.7% of the vote. 46 ain’t close.
2. Make up your mind Pat. Is the money going to education (IEA). State workers (AFSCME), or to pay the past due bills? You promised the first two the money in exchange for endorsements. No one will support a tax increase unless you dedicate it to paying the backlog of bills. The next 4 years will get progressively worse before this is over.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 3:31 pm:
=== or to pay the past due bills?===
That’s not even close to an either/or because a large portion of the past due bills is owed to schools and universities. I’m not sure how up to date state worker health care bills are, either. They’re usually way behind during budget crunches.
- Never no Justice :( - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 4:48 pm:
They don’t need to raise the income tax or any other taxes. I see waste and fraud where I work everyday. There are still people (new hires) that are sitting around begging for something to do while others are doing the work of three. Personally, I would start cutting the benefits and wages of all the boards and commissions. In my younger days, people got on boards to volunteer and help make their state or community a better place to live. Now everything is politics. The last 10 years have been difficult, not only to hold on to your job, but just to survive and help out friends and family that are not so lucky.
- OneMan - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 4:57 pm:
== should we pay more for education? absolutely. an *intelligent* analysis recognizes that our current revenue structure for illinois’ schools is far too dependent upon property taxes, which results in unequal funding across various school districts. illinois also has far too many school districts, and the way schools are administered in this state need radical reform. ==
I and others who were educated are so grateful we have the wise and gifted like you who were obviously not educated in one of the lowly flyover states.
Yes I read your comments, I guess it was my foolish education that led me to belive you were proposing to spend more on education to get in fact better results. How simple and foolish of me to draw that conclusion..
I guess it is my pea brain that does not see how a dependency on property taxes being turned to a different funding model requires more being spent?
If you need x dollars getting them a different way does not require Y dollars instead, does it. Again with your obviously superior brain power I am sure you can explain to me how changing the funding system (for those folks unfortuante enough to have grown up and been educated here in Illinois who remember the attempts to change that system that failed) would require more money in order to make it work.
Again as you were wise and kind enough to point out, me and everyone else educated here is kind of thick compared to you. Would you educational plan cap spending, so even if me and my neighbors in Hooterville wanted to spend more on education by taxing ourselves we could?
Again I am but a simple man educated by public schools in Illinois so I am sure guys like you who have sat in on business round-tables (wow, you are so cool) will know the best way.
Obviously your huge brain grasps that the true corruption in this state resides in two downstate state senators, again as you are so quick to remind me you are obviously smarter and better than me a poor lowly man educated in this state who might observe that this state and cook county are run by Democrats and obviously they are all run as clean as the day is long…
But I do have one final thing to share…
Even with my poor Illinois education, I realize and was taught that the personal pronoun I is capitalized when used in a sentence. Perhaps they didn’t teach you that in prep-school.
But again, you at least in your own vast mind, are the wise one, so I am sure you did that for a reason, perhaps you are ee cummings reincarnated ,he wrote that poem about the guy from Nantucket, right?
- Budget Watcher - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 5:13 pm:
Bored now,
From your first post wrote:
…we are at the bottom of educational (and other) standards for a reason. we aren’t willing to pay for higher standards.
later you wrote:
…OneMan: perhaps if you could demonstrate where i argued that there is a “demonstrated correlation between spending and achievement,” i might make that effort.
Unfortunately I’m a product of Illinois schools, so I’m likely to have comprehension issues. But, it did seem that you correlated spending with achievement.
- zatoichi - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 5:14 pm:
“I’m not sure how up to date state worker health care bills are, either.” Several local docs have patients on state insurance pay with a check up front since payments are 6-8 months behind. If you are a vendor you are still dealing with bills from March/April. Other groups were able to claim hardship for expedited payments because they had no cash left and bank were not loaning. Your company saved reserves for tough time? You are are the back of the line. Weak ones first. However the election is now over and screaming will just be screaming. It will not effect job security for several more years. Plenty of time. MJM: Need to get the cash to pay the bills. What could that mean?
- Park - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 6:33 pm:
Education-Smeducation. This stuff is all motherhood. Of course we’re going to fund schools one way or another. The classic elected official position is “I’m for education and against crime”….I keep waiting for them to get these mixed up. Oh….and either for or against abortion depending on my district’s demo. Thanks for coming.
The real deal is all the new programs dumped on the State since the evil Blag’s re-election. Quinn has shown a loyalty to his former running mate by keeping all these going (and the people who run them). Does he have the wisdom/moxie to actually eliminate these Blago’s? I hope so, I really do. If he can’t bring himself to cut out ‘free X for Z constinuency’, then its going to be a really, really long 4 years.
- gg - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 7:31 pm:
Many state workers need to pay their medical and dental bills in advance.
There are hold overs in state government back to Edgar. Many of the people are protected civil servants.
Many are dedicated and hard working.
Many are not dedicated nor hard working.
I do not know where I fit objectively but age will take me out soon.
Quinn does not want to “rock the boat”.
The boat is stuck in the mud.
Look for Quinn to solve the budget problem by attrition/death of employees and freezing wages.
Quinn (an old acquantance) does not have the energy or desire to make the needed cuts (Like eliminating agencies/cutting positions/leading us out of the desert to the oasis).
I like Pat Quinn. I voted for Pat Quinn. But he is older than me. We are living in the dream world of “jobs past”.
When I started in “public service”, the jobs were easier to get and paid less. It seems to me we are heading back that direction … very slowly and painfully.
Much like Obama and the housing market(Banks and Political Deficit Hawks), Quinn is not interested in taking on the obvious targets(Unions/Political Fiefdoms).
I expect the same old same old.
- ZC - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:10 pm:
Of course family income and upbringing is the #1 factor in terms of a child’s capacity to learn. I just fundamentally think it is cruel and unfair to double-whammy these kids. First they grow up in a poverty-filled community - not their fault - then they go to a lousy school which doesn’t have near enough resources to handle the challenges faced in helping to begin turning these kids’ educational lives around - again, not their fault.
It would be easier to say, oh well, these kids are just broken - nothing left to do for them, we just have to shuffle them off to dead end jobs or watch them disappear somewhere, and focus on the saveables. In fact, however, as shown in documentaries like _Waiting for Superman_, really good schools out there are producing amazing results even with kids formerly seen as “unreachable.”
Those really good schools, however? Spend a ton of cash per student. Washington D.C. SEED School in D.C., featured in _Superman_, a boarding school (a great idea, in my opinion, for a lot of these kids who either have neglectful parents or dangerous commutes; we need a lot more boarding schools in the city) that has regularly been praised to the skies for its college graduate rates and improvements in student performance. It spends like $35,000 per inner city student it boards, however. Ditto for projects like the Harlem’s Children Zone, which spends far higher per capita amounts.
More money spent in the right ways absolutely can make a difference, especially for the kids who have already been double-betrayed by their parents and their local communities, and thrown into a cycle of poverty which is totally, utterly not their fault.
I know it’s complicated, of course, and rich suburbanites are fully justified in suspicions that we could ever actually spend that money effectively and target it in the right way to the kids. But this idea that to spend more on a poor child’s education is just somehow -automatically- throwing money down the drain, strikes me as overly smug.
- ZC - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:12 pm:
And if it sounds crazy to spend $35,000 per student, consider we spend close to that amount per prisoner in IL. Pay now, pay later.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 11:55 pm:
The fact that Quinn got 20,000 more votes than Brady last Tuesday doesn’t change the fact that NOTHING CHANGED. The incompetents running Illinois will continue to do so. They have been out of ideas since 2005. They did not suddenly see the Wizard of Oz and get a brain. Half the electorate did not vote for a tax increase. Half the electorate did not vote for the incompetent Mr. Quinn.
The reality that needs to be faced is the same reality that has needed to be faced since 2005. We are broke. We cannot pay our bills. Our bonds are worth less than Portugal’s. The same incompetent people are in office. We have greater need for social assistance because Illinoisans cannot find work. It is a death spiral.
CUT! This has been what I have been writing since we ran out of pavement and have been riding over these cliffs. So - I’m not hopeful.