61 Comments - Pinker - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:03 pm: To an extremist, an extreme solution seems normal. - Bill White - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:04 pm: Speaking of education, Bruce Rauner said this: === Rauner termed education to be the “single most important job we do as a community.” He and his wife have already funded charter schools, and he believes in merit pay for teachers and administrators. === Unfortunately for Rauner there is ample data that charters & vouchers don’t improve education, nor does merit pay. - Fed up - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:04 pm: Well it helps downstate schools. And apparently throwing money at Chicago schools doesn’t seem to work. - Mokenavince - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:05 pm: He will never get my vote. He wants to make sure a child who lives in poverty says in poverty. Wow what a deep thinker ,we now have a have a candidate with a Lower IQ than Quinn. A very rich snob who kicks a kids when their Down. Give me a break! - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:07 pm: === Speaking of education, Bruce Rauner said this: === Rauner termed education to be the “single most important job we do as a community.” He and his wife have already funded charter schools, and he believes in merit pay for teachers and administrators. === === …said Payton Prep Clouter, whose DENIED New Trier Living Daughter took a spot from a Chicago living kid, in hopes of a better opportunity but got muscled out by Rahm Emanuel’s frined, and Rich Daley appointee Arne Duncan by a “Clout” phone call… - Northsider - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:17 pm: Nice stenography by the Paxton Record. How about lifting both the Chicago AND the downstate kid out of poverty? - wordslinger - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:18 pm: But the poor gypsum-mining folk in Hinsdale need Chicago and Downstate taxpayers to pay the pension tabs for the $200K administrators and $100K teachers from Hinsdale Central? What’s the count on $100K teachers in Ford County? Surely a pension cost-shift to Hinsdale taxpayers would send them all into penury. Seriously, have you got a mani/pedi lately? Dillard gets points for the first bald Chicago attack. Bonus points for saying The Lord told him to do it. This guy will say anything at this point, won’t he? - Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:18 pm: Willy, Are you working for/helping one of the other GOPers or do you just hate Rauner as a matter of principle? Not an ethical question - just have noticed over time your apparent loathing for all things Rauner. - Will Caskey - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:19 pm: Dillard needs to stop teasing and hinting and tell us how he really feels about Chicago. - horse w/ no name - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:20 pm: As a downstate play, this is actually smart, regardless if it’s practical. I’ve done polls for various races throughout the state and the ‘Chicago schools take our money” line goes through the roof every time in Central and Southern districts. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:26 pm: - Chicago Cynic -, I am not with any campaign, my beef is one of a very simple nature. You can not… NOT… blatently portray yourself is one thing, when every once of who you are screams you are something else. Further, The mere idea that Payton Prep Clouter Bruce Rauner has the gall to call himself someone for education reform, when Rauner, himself, “advocated” for his denied …not “wait list”, not accpeted … DENIED … and get this … New Trier Living, until a Condo was bought … living Daughter … becuase New Trier … was not good enough for HIS daughter …. Yeah, I got a “beef”. You can’t give hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rich Daley and Rahm Emanuel, pass it off as “getting access”, and call yourself a “reformer”…AND … a Republican to boot! Payton Prep Clouter “advocating” for his Denied New Trier Daughter to take a seat from a Chicago Kid is probably as low as a human can go… if that human had a conscious. So, other than that … - Veritas - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:29 pm: How does that improve education?? Duh - it allocates more funds to downstate. We have thrown money at the Chicago Teacher’s Union - er I mean the Chicago schools for years and money hasn’t made a bit of difference. Rauner only knows about downstate Illinois becuase he recently toured there - his speaking - er, I mean listening tour. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:31 pm: I think some of the quotes and not even quotes are taken out of context and what Dillard “and Rutherford” were basically saying is that the education money should be distributed fairly. How audacious! - Norseman - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:31 pm: === OK, but how does cutting dollars to Chicago schools “improve education”? === It’s a miraculous policy similar to that espoused by politicians that reducing the number of government employees while increasing the number of mandated programs will make government more efficient. - crazybleedingheart - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:33 pm: Schools, schmools; downstate IN FACT takes Chicago’s money overall, though that doesn’t play in Peoria. - CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:38 pm: Wow Quick veer to WhackJob Ville for D-Lard. Wonder if wonder if the low information wing nuts know this requires votes in state law that also take cash away from other urban IL districts? - MikeMacD - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:41 pm: Equalization of poverty is one of the odder campaign promises I’ve encountered. - Skeeter - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:43 pm: If anybody wants to pinpoint the day D-Lard lost the election, this would be a pretty good one. Oswego Willy likes to talk about four votes per precinct. You are not going to get those four by telling people “we are taking money from your already bad schools and giving it to somebody else.” - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:49 pm: - Skeeter -, Well, dillard ain’t helping his own cause in Chicago if he gets out of the primary … Further, ===…this requires votes in state law that also take cash away from other urban IL districts?=== Yeah, that won’t be helpful in the long run either. Other than that, I, honestly, on its own as a quote, I don’t know what to say about what Dillard just said … - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 3:57 pm: Ok, this is kinda snark, but kinda advice, and it’s pretty simple; Sen. Dillard, You have both Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar in your Camp. Instead to trolling them out as props, or using them to fill in paragraphs in sentences for stump speeches, do the following; Ask each of them, one on one, then just the three of you, no staff on your part, no staff on their part, and take a whole day and go over where you were after 2010, where you are today, and how to get you to the finish line in March and in November. Honestly, I would be shocked to hear what you said coming from either Edgar or Thompson, today, in this climate, as the solution to education… as you just said it … and when you said it in relation to the campaign calendar. Do it today, tomorrow, should have already been done … but have those meetings, and recalibrate. OW - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:02 pm: Perhaps he feels it will improve equal access to education? Somewhat along the lines of the traditional funding debate between schools in wealthier areas and less wealthy areas. - Reader - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:04 pm: @crazybleedingheart Actually, downstate takes money from the collars, not Chicago. The city takes about the same amount of state tax dollars that it provides. - Skeeter - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:07 pm: That’s excellent advice, Oswego. He needs to sit down and have a frank talk with people who have won. D-Lard seems to think he lost last time because he was too moderate. That may well be the case, but he’s going far right rather than slightly right. He’s acting like getting the nomination is the ballgame. That’s just not the case. Illinois prefers incompetent to far right. I no longer see any path to victory for D-Lard. - A guy... - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:15 pm: Very poor turn of phrasing here. I think he means impoverished children in other parts of the state could stand to see some additional funding to help them get out of their cycle of poverty. It indicates that a downstate district would use the money more prudently than the CTU. Totally with OW on the Rauner clout deal. The biggest sin is denying a legitimate Chicago kid a seat in that school. Maybe Rauner should foster 3 kids in his New Trier District home and have them attend that outstanding High School. That sounds like just about the right formula for a mea culpa. - cicero - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:18 pm: It’s not just downstate. The fact is that Chicago property owners pay the lowest property taxes in the state. Northwest suburban homeowners typically pay 50% more than a Chicago resident with the same value home. Yet Chicago schools face another huge deficit. How about making Chicagoans pay what Oak Parkers pay for schools? - AlphaBettor - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:26 pm: D-Lard is trying to be this year’s Hate Chicago candidate. - Nearly Normal - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:30 pm: Looks like Dillard was playing up to the locals who feel that Chicago gets more than their share of state education funds. It’s the old downstate vs. Chicago mindset. Does the man realize that what was said can and will be used against him in the general election–if he wins the primary? His remarks should have shown more forethought rather than going for applause from the crowd. And, speaking of the crowd. The newspaper article mentions 250 attended the event in Ford County. It was noted that some in the crowd came from other counties. I got an invitation via robo-call the Wednesday before the event from the Ford County Republican chair. Sounds like they were worried about getting a large crowd. - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:32 pm: I thought D-Lard was from here. - Johnny Q. Suburban - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:32 pm: Dillard, you’re getting terrible advice. - AFSCME Steward - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:39 pm: Fed Up How does this help downstate schools ? If throwing money at Chicago schools doesn’t work, why would throwing money at downstate schools do any better ? This anti-Chicago sentiment is a joke. If it wasn’t for the income produced by Chicago, Illinois would be Mississippi or West Virginia. “Well it helps downstate schools. And apparently throwing money at Chicago schools doesn’t seem to work.” - AFSCME Steward - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:47 pm: Reader If the revenue created by the city of Chicago wasn’t there, the “collar counties” wouldn’t exist. “Actually, downstate takes money from the collars, not Chicago. The city takes about the same amount of state tax dollars that it provides.” - OldSmoky2 - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:48 pm: “How about making Chicagoans pay what Oak Parkers pay for schools?” And I guess that means Oak Parkers are now chomping at the bit to pay their own teacher pensions, which are currently paid by the state (including Chicagoans’ taxes) as opposed to Chicago, where teacher pensions are paid by the city. - chi - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:52 pm: “How about making Chicagoans pay what Oak Parkers pay for schools?” How about making Prius drivers pay what Hummer drivers pay for gas? Makes about as much sense. “It indicates that a downstate district would use the money more prudently than the CTU.” You do realize that the money goes to CPS, not CTU, and that downstate districts are unionized too, right? - Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:54 pm: -Illinoisans prefer incompetent to far right- Quote of the Day to Skeeter! - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:57 pm: ===as opposed to Chicago, where teacher pensions are paid by the city=== Not for the past several years. - Skeeter - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 4:59 pm: “Illinoisans prefer incompetent to far right- Quote of the Day to Skeeter!” Bonus points if you instinctively read the first word in a confused Ron Burgundy voice. - Steve - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:09 pm: This is a good question. There’s no real strong correlation between spending money on schools and performance. Just ask Evanston Township High School which spends more money than New Trier. Will cutting education spending improve or hurt Chicago Public Schools?? Let’s find out. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/355271/education-spending-soars-test-scores-stagnate-deroy-murdock - too obvious - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:14 pm: Dillard has become a walking punchline. He picks a running mate who voted against the historic school choice reform in 2010. Dillard can’t even keep track of his pandering anymore. - JC - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:17 pm: wordslinger @3:18 Average house value in Ford County is $92K Average house value in DuPage County is $309 There is a reason why some areas have to pay their teachers higher amounts of money. Unless, of course, you think that teachers should not be allowed to live in or near the location they work in. Cost of living in Ford County vs. DuPage? - JC - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:30 pm: What’s wrong with so many “schools”, Chicago or otherwise, is that large numbers of students have issues (problems) that money can’t fix. That being said, however, those problems have to be addressed just to have them functional in a school setting. It’d be interesting to see how the percentage of funding in Illinois has increased to cover special needs (English language learners, Special Ed. services, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, one-on-one aides, one on one nurses working in schools, etc.) I just don’t remember most of these services being part of my school environment growing up. And that, I suspect, is where ALOT more money is going these days. The number of classroom aides to service these students often outnumber the number of certified teachers on the staff. These services, as expensive as they are, serve a small percentage of the student population. I think most unfamiliar with school personnel would be surprised at how much of the staff is not teachers. So when folks talk about the money going to certain geographical areas, look at the needs and services mandated by law to cover those needs. - Reader - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:33 pm: @AFSCME That’s not relevant to Bleeding’s false fact of which region pays and/or takes more tax money. - DuPage Dave - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:33 pm: A coupla things: 1. Dillard is not a stupid guy, but that proposal makes him look stupid. I will conclude that he’s taking bad advice. 2. Oswego Willy- I’m with you all the way on Rauner’s duplicity, but “probably as low as a human can go”? I think there’s quite a lot of room between inappropriately advantaging your kid and the actual bottom of the barrel. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:41 pm: - DuPage Dave - I hear ya, but my point is this … You purposely deny a child, by your own fraud, an opportunity to advance, and have no conscious that what you did to a child, I find that a low as you can go in civilized society in ethics and in morals. Someone cheat a business partner, takes from another by using their trust in you, yeah, there are quite a few that are LOW… In the ethics/morals department of a cilvilized world, denying a child a future for the gain of your family, by choice, by deed … that IS…probably …as low as a human can go. Or just as a Chicago Child, passing the entrance exam(s), on the “wait list” … that never walked in Payton Prep … because of Bruce Rauner. Yeah …probably … as low as a human can go … ethically. - Skeeter - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:49 pm: I’m as appalled by the conduct as Oswego. Is it as low as you can go? Of course not. Should that conduct — using political pull to put an undeserving rich child ahead of another child for admission to a school — be reason to prevent the person from ever holding public office? Absolutely. Rauner should not be a position where he can put his favored few — whether it be his own kids or some other people — ahead of others who got there on merit. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:51 pm: - DuPage Dave -, Now add that this “person” decides to rail on Education, and advocate for changes ….while they “advocated” for THEIR denied child at the expense of another child …. to be taught be public education teachers, as you rail on the public teachers and all they do … To fix .. “Or just ASK a Chicago Child, passing the entrance exam(s), on the “wait list” … that never walked in Payton Prep … because of Bruce Rauner.” Better. You want to “clout” your kid, sure … but do not run for Governor, as a “Reformer” and run on “education” … when in reality, “reform” and “education” for this candidate is where the hypocricy lives and grows … Hope I cleared up my statement, but when I look at this from the prism of ethics, children, and hypocricy all wrapped in one failed character moment a person runs on as a “positive” about himself … yeah, its probably as low as a human can go, ethically. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:56 pm: Steve, you’ve got the equation wrong. Evanston spends more money than New Trier with lower average test results because Evanston has a much more diverse student body, and a far higher percentage of students below the poverty line. Results for Evanston students of similar economic status are very similar to New Trier’s. You’re making an apples-to-oranges comparison. Throwing money at a problem isn’t an answer, of course, but more money, when well-targeted, can make a difference. - roscoe tom - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:57 pm: Daffy Dillard - doesn’t he know every spoken word is reported. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 5:57 pm: –And I guess that means Oak Parkers are now chomping at the bit to pay their own teacher pensions, which are currently paid by the state (including Chicagoans’ taxes) as opposed to Chicago, where teacher pensions are paid by the city.– I’m an Oak Parker and you’re right, we and those at Hinsdale Central, and New Trier, and Stevenson, and Barrington, et. al. should be chomping at the bit to pay our own pensions, rather than taking it from folks in Englewood and Ford County. Look, I’m an Illinois farm boy who moved to Oak Park with my eyes wide open. I knew the property tax situation. I knew that the schools got very little state money. I knew I was going to pay through the nose. It was my choice and I don’t regret it for a minute. I’ve been broke all my life. I’m just at an elevated level of broke now, lol. But, as a citizen, I know I have a responsibility to the students in the rest of the state to maximize their opportunities. That’s life in the NFL. You leave it better than you found it. Folks in Ford County and Englewood don’t need to be paying the pension obligation for a $150K a year OPRF driver’s ed teacher who couldn’t cut it as the football coach. That’s for real. (By the way, OPRF has an awesome football coach now, bona fides of Loyola Academy and Mt. Carmel. We’ll be putting up hardware for years to come). OPRF 200 last fiscal took in 10% more in revenues than expenditures. They have $121 million in the bank. Are you kidding me? We can’t handle a gradual cost shift? A number of suburban schools are in the same situation. We made our choices. We’re okay. Let’s do the right thing by the rest of the folks. - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 6:09 pm: === How about making Prius drivers pay what Hummer drivers pay for gas? === They do pay the same price. A gallon of gas costs Prius and Hummer drivers the exact same price at the same gas station. Now as far as what those cars offer in terms of gas mileage, features, interior space, etc.? Those are the differences individuals pay for if they want them. Some folks, in places like Oak Park, pay more for the Hummer or the Ferrari of schools. Other folks pay for the Prius of schools. Upgrading from the Prius to the Hummer costs money. Upgrading from the Hummer to Ferrari also costs money. As usual, you get what you pay for. - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 6:11 pm: === I’ve been broke all my life. I’m just at an elevated level of broke now, lol. === I love this quote in so many ways, I cannot even begin to explain how or why. It’s perfect. - Iow level - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 6:26 pm: Hey Kirk. Can Chicago then stop sending as much of its tax revenue downstate? And where does he come up with that figure that Chicago is supposedly “taking” from downstate? The whole claim looks fishy to me. &-whoever it was that mentioned the insanely high amounts of money that school administrators make in Hinsdale and how their pensions are funded, by Chicagoans, is right on point. Hence the MJM proposal. The Chicago bashing has to stop. I’m not holding my breath, and of course it has always been a proven vote getter, but its simply not based in reality. It’s out of control these days. - Jimmy - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 7:09 pm: Great idea. Hamper to State’s largest job creator. - Kyle Hillman - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 9:24 pm: Rich how come you omitted Rutherford in this? Seems he dipped his toes into this swamp as well. Rutherford promised attendees that he would veto any unfunded state mandates to schools and distribute funds equitably. “Chicago deserves its fair share but so does Chenoa, Illinois,” he said in promising to make sure that the state’s education budget is fair to small, rural districts. - ZC - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 9:53 pm: Well, that’s it. I kind of liked Dillard, for a Republican. Scratch that. I think the GOP is down to Rutherford, if they want to nominate a candidate who might actually appeal to and win a small number of Chicago Democrats, as opposed to this stupid demonizing of the vital economic engine for the entire state (and really the larger Midwest). - Cheswick - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 9:53 pm: Makes you wonder what he’d say at a candidates’ forum in Chicago. - Do I have to have a nickname - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 10:12 pm: http://www.senategop.state.il.us/Portals/0/Docs/Cost-Shift-FINAL.pdf - J. Nolan - Wednesday, Sep 11, 13 @ 11:06 pm: Ummm, I’m not understanding how what Rutherford said was anything close to D-Lard’s knowingly (people claim he is smart so I’ll believe ‘em)wack-a-doo comment. - PublicServant - Thursday, Sep 12, 13 @ 6:42 am: Reader, lest you get off unscathed by your comment that the Chicago burbs are the economic engine of this state and not Chicago, let me chime in with AFSCME that your full of it. Simply because someone chooses to live in the suburbs of Chicago is irrelevant to where/why they make the money that they pay those taxes on. And that, my friend, is the City of Chicago. Without it, the suburbs revert to farmland, and the state reverts to prarie. - PublicServant - Thursday, Sep 12, 13 @ 6:48 am: Oh, and it won’t be the last stupid comment by D-Lard, or the rest of the Tea Party influenced Repubs. Oh, and Skeeter’s comment, unfortunately, is correct. - Pete - Thursday, Sep 12, 13 @ 7:44 am: If Dillard added that cutting the funding to Chicago would force Chicago to stop diverting local education dollars via TIFs… He’d win more than just downstate votes. :) - Phenomynous - Thursday, Sep 12, 13 @ 8:04 am: CPS has been the benefactor of the most recent changes to GSA, there is no arguing that. What did they do with the extra money? Property tax relief. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.