53 Comments - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:17 am: Perhaps he should provide some of our schools with the technology needed to produce these videos? - RNUG - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:21 am: That he listen instead of lecture … - AlfondoGonz - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:22 am: One of the first schools he should visit are one of the crumbling prisons with illiterate teachers he speaks so highly of. - Ducky LaMoore - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:23 am: Step 1: Read Illinois Constitution Step 2: Do what it says Step 3: Cancel Tour - illini - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:26 am: It would be a real eye opener if he were to visit some of the public schools in the Metro East and in deep Southern Illinois. The contrasts from the reality in these areas, would be glaring in comparison to those districts and schools that are excelling in their mission. - Gooner - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:26 am: Gale, in Rogers Park, would be a nice start. I hear teachers there are working hard to educate some high risk kids. Just don’t drink the water or breathe the air, because due to budget cuts in part due to Rauner’s failure to produce a budget, neither the water nor the air may be safe. - very old soil - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:27 am: The new school in Speaker Madigan’s district. - Huh? - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:28 am: Learn the art of true compromise. Politics is about give and take. Learn to tell the truth. Learn respect for those who are not part of your social circle and have your wealth. Learn that not everything is a nail to be pounded. Learn how to be gracious to your political opponents. - A Jack - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:28 am: Ask the kids why they are planning on attending out of state colleges. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:28 am: Shouldn’t he start with those “crumbling prisons” of schools in Chicago he talked about. They should be a top priority for a governor of Illinois, I would think. - Cubs in '16 - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:31 am: Send Dr. Purvis instead’ 1. It would force her to earn some of that ‘Superstar’ salary. 2. Rauner’s focus should be on governing; not merrily skipping around the state on the “taxpayer’s” dime doing as he pleases. - JoanP - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:33 am: Learn that governing is not the same thing as campaigning. - Dance Band on the Titanic - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:33 am: Perhaps teachers should flood him with videos of teaching their students the proper pronunciation of the suffix -ing. - anon - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:35 am: To learn about a successful education system, I suggest the Governmor take a trip to Finland, whose students post the highest test scores in Europe, and higher than North America as well. (The Gov. can afford to pay for his trip.) What he would find is that virtually all students attend public schools where the teachers are all unionized. - Flynn's mom - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:42 am: @Cubs in’16…THANK YOU! - Jocko - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:42 am: Like Huh? said, BVR is “do the opposite Costanza” on steroids. He says he’s on a “Learning Tour” when he’s actually going to shill his TA & Blame Madigan agenda. The only thing applicants will “learn” is they’re being used as props. - illinifan - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:46 am: That he learn the number of votes needed to pass legislation initiatives. - TominChicago - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:47 am: He should start in that CPS magnet school he clouted his kid into. - City Zen - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 10:59 am: =Shouldn’t he start with those “crumbling prisons” of schools in Chicago he talked about.== Good idea. Rauner can start with the one where CTU prevented parents from volunteering as temporary librarians. http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/01/09/cps-parent-calls-out-teachers-union-over-library-lockout - Anon - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:03 am: How about going to one of the regional institutions so he can see first hand how he is destroying public higher education in Illinois? - cimry90 - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:03 am: In my head I am hearing the song “Where are we going?” from Dora the Explorer in which she sings out the destinations she is going. - Skeptic - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:07 am: Learn math. - Jocko - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:08 am: ==CZ@10:59== Sure, just give someone keys to the library, it’s contents, and unfettered access to kids. What could possibly go wrong? - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:12 am: Gee, Gov 👍Thumbs Up👍 Really, really wanting our help. What a good guy. And all-inclusive to boot. Almost feel like one of the family. - City Zen - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:18 am: ==Sure, just give someone keys to the library, it’s contents, and unfettered access to kids. What could possibly go wrong?== While having neighborhood parents interacting with neighborhood children in the transaction of publicly-owned books might be a foreign concept in your neck of the woods, it’s quite common in the place I live called society. - FormerParatrooper - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:32 am: He can start with the Illinois Constitution and have remedial traing on what the Governors responsibilities are. After he takes the Illinois Constitution test he can enjoy recess with the others while the teacher grades his test. For every question he gets wrong Sister Mary can apply the proper punishment and he can retake the test. - Illinois Bob - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:39 am: He can start by actually looking at how much so many of these “failing, underfunded” schools are actually spending to achieve such poor results. He can ask why CPS is spending more per student than the Naperville schools, but haven’t provided anywhere NEAR the quality of staffing, service or facilities as they do. He can ask why Illinois spends 18% above the national average per student despite having a cost index of 98% of the national average, yet apparently provides no better education. - illini97 - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:42 am: Come on down to Edwardsville. He can discuss the millions the State owes the district (currently borrowing to cover the missed payments.) The district is floating a property tax referendum to cover the State’s dereliction of duty, perhaps he’d like to discuss that and why a property tax freeze makes sense when he cannot promise schools will ever be paid. After that, swing by SIUe and discuss the millions owed to them. Might even get a flavor for why Dwight Kay was a one term Rep and SIUe professor Katie Stuart was sent to Springfield. - Exit 59 - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:42 am: Paratrooper…what he said… - Illinois Bob - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:44 am: @Former Paratrooper “After he takes the Illinois Constitution test he can enjoy recess with the others while the teacher grades his test.” That presumes he can find a teacher who actually knows the subject well enough to be ABLE to correct it without having someone else give them and answer key…that’s a pretty presumptuous assumption… - Team Sleep - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:45 am: Jocko - come on. CZ was not arguing to just hand over a library to volunteers. Some schools would either crumble or, at best, perform worse without volunteers. I volunteer at an after-school program. My mom volunteers to help teachers back home. We both had to pass background checks, and my mom had to be fingerprinted because her volunteer efforts take place on school grounds. Unless someone falls through the cracks I would assume/hope that a parent or retired librarian who wants to help with library duties would pass muster and be vetted to spend time around the kids they want to serve. - Illinois Bob - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:47 am: @anon “To learn about a successful education system, I suggest the Governmor take a trip to Finland, whose students post the highest test scores in Europe, and higher than North America as well. (The Gov. can afford to pay for his trip.) What he would find is that virtually all students attend public schools where the teachers are all unionized.” He’d also find out that few CPS teachers would be qualified to get a job there and that most would have to take a MASSIVE pay and benefit cut if they got the job…. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:53 am: –Jocko - come on. CZ was not arguing to just hand over a library to volunteers.– No, he was just doing a “look, a kitty” one-off to change the subject from the “crumbling prisons” post. My original point was, if the governor of Illinois believes there are “crumbling prisons” for schools in the state on his watch, they should be a top priority for him. - RNUG - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:55 am: == He can start by actually looking at how much so many of these “failing, underfunded” schools are actually spending to achieve such poor results. He can ask why CPS is spending more per student than the Naperville schools, but haven’t provided anywhere NEAR the quality of staffing, service or facilities as they do. He can ask why Illinois spends 18% above the national average per student despite having a cost index of 98% of the national average, yet apparently provides no better education. == Maybe because the teachers have to spend time on social / welfare issues that the Governor’s no state budget plan destroyed safety net is supposed to have handled, leaving less time to actually teach? - Thoughts Matter - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:56 am: He’s giving a lot of speeches at schools the last two years - shouldn’t he have been taking the time to do this while he visited? Sounds fake to me if he’s just now starting to make inquiries. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 11:58 am: –He’d also find out that few CPS teachers would be qualified to get a job there…– Well, speaking Finnish is probably a requirement. – and that most would have to take a MASSIVE pay and benefit cut if they got the job….– LOL, in Finland? You don’t know from your Nordic culture. - Jocko - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 12:12 pm: Let’s be honest, does #GovClassroomVisit move us any closer to #MoreJuiceBruce (the closest thing I could come up with for #TaxHikeMike)? - City Zen - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 12:23 pm: ==I suggest the Governor take a trip to Finland, whose students post the highest test scores in Europe, and higher than North America as well.== May want to google “Finland’s schools were once the envy of the world. Now, they’re slipping.” - City Zen - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 12:28 pm: @word Apologies for digressing from the “schools are “crumbling prisons subject matter to a totally different topic: the library within the crumbling school. So if I may merge the two, perhaps Rauner can visit one of these “crumbling prisons” and ask, “How many librarians could you have hired with that pension pick-up money?” - JS Mill - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 1:15 pm: Finland, LOL, a country half the size of Illinois with a single language, no poverty. Hmmm, wonder what IS impacting students in Chicago that isn’t impacting nearly as many as Chicago? What could it be? When adjusted for poverty the US schools are in the top three in every category of international testing. So, there is that. Real progress can be measured by student growth over time versus a static data point. But then parents actually have to get the kids to school to do that. - FormerParatrooper - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 1:16 pm: @ Illinois Bob “That presumes he can find a teacher who actually knows the subject well enough to be ABLE to correct it without having someone else give them and answer key…that’s a pretty presumptuous assumption…” I don’t believe it is presumptuous. As in every profession there are those who excel and those who meet the minimum requirements. I doubt the majority of the teachers fall in the latter category. I moved to Illinois from Missouri in my Senior year of High School. I took the Missouri Constitution test as a Junior and passed and as a Senior who had little time to learn the Illinois Constitution my teachers made sure I passed the Illinois test as well. There are good teachers still, please don’t degrade an entire profession based on a few bad apples. - blue dog dem - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 2:17 pm: I wonder if the gov travelled to Europe or the far east he would notice how much they spent on school sports(or for that matter drivers ed). - Illinois Bob - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 3:05 pm: @ Former Paratrooper BTW, thank you for your service. My comment was largely sarcastic, but as a former teacher you’d be surprised how few teachers today could get near perfect scores on the test they give when they’re common test for the district. Before electronic grading, you really had to know what you were testing. Now, not so much, especially when tests are “multiple choice. Illinois requires teachers to pass a academic knowledge test before getting certified. They keep dropping the passing scores because so many teachers fail it. The last I recall you needed to only pass 75% to pass to teach the subject. I guess if you only know the material you’ll be teaching “c” well, it explains why some of our outcomes are so poor… - Mama - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 3:24 pm: I have a question for Rauner: What is his real reason behind this request? As a non-educator, would you know a quality education program if you saw one? - Cheryl44 - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 4:06 pm: Hey, Bruce. Those are children. Not props. - Rabid - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 4:20 pm: Looks like something that will turn up in a political ad. Everyone turn in the same thing a child reading his constitutional duties - Illinois Bob - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 4:30 pm: @wordslinger “– and that most would have to take a MASSIVE pay and benefit cut if they got the job….– LOL, in Finland? You don’t know from your Nordic culture.” Apparently I know a lot more about Nordic culture than you, word. In 2013 the average US teacher salary was $44,917 and Finland was only $28,780. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/average-teacher-salary-around-world_n_4037534.html - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 5:25 pm: –Apparently I know a lot more about Nordic culture than you, word. In 2013 the average US teacher salary was $44,917 and Finland was only $28,780.– You can’t be serious — a dollar-for-dollar comparison between the United States and Finland? From those Finnish salaries, take off all health-care costs, all higher ed costs, all pension costs, then add in a suite of paid parental leave options up until a child enters its second year of school and more in benefits, the cost of which are spread out and available to all citizens. See. that’s what I meant about Nordic culture. - JS Mill - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 6:39 pm: @Wordslinger- Well said. Don’t forget free college for the Fins. Teachers get a free college education in Finland. - Enviro - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 8:08 pm: If he wants to learn about Illinois schools, Rauner should try teaching a class for a week. Then he will understand the problems teachers face everyday. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 8:14 pm: @Wordslinger- Well said. Don’t forget free college for the Fins. Teachers get a free college education in Finland. And don’t forget the small class size, teacher with a masters degree, plus a full time teacher’s aide with a college degree in each classroom. - City Zen - Thursday, Jan 12, 17 @ 9:43 pm: Fantastic. So we all agree the Finnish education model is the way to go. Now all we need is complete and utter cultural homogeneity from coast to coast and we’ll be right there toe to toe with those Finns, only allowing 1 in every 10 teacher applicants into the program. Kohti ääretöntä ja sen yli! - Tomcat - Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:55 am: East Aurora, D131! Governor Rauner will be impressed with our students, faculty, and staff. Welcome!! Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.