* SJ-R…
Illinoisans give public schools a poor grade, according to the Illinois Education Association’s second annual State of Education report released Tuesday.
A poll of 1,000 Illinoisans gave public schools a grade “C-,” though more than half of respondents would give their local public schools an “A” or “B” grade.
That’s almost always the case. Schools or whatever are much better where you live than other places.
* Back to the SJ-R…
More than half of those polled indicated that teachers are paid too little despite changes made to make the teaching profession more attractive, including enacting the $40,000 minimum salary law. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation in August upping the pay for teachers, reaching the $40,000 mark by the 2023-24 school year.
Many respondents would not advise family members to become teachers. Illinois’ education job bank Tuesday showed some 2,563 openings.
Despite the propaganda, people generally like and respect teachers.
* Press release excerpt…
Seventy-one percent of Illinois residents believe funding for our schools should increase. More than 80 percent of the public believes our education support staff, like paraprofessionals and classroom aides, are paid too little. […]
The poll, conducted by Normington-Petts and We Ask America, surveyed 1,000 Illinoisans between Nov. 13 and 21. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent with 95 percent confidence.
“This poll is the only bi-partisan look at the state of public schools in Illinois. We sampled people from all across the state and from many different communities. It’s clear that what unites Illinoisans is the importance of having quality public schools for all Illinois children,” Normington-Petts’ Jill Normington said.
“We worked collaboratively to make sure this poll was done without bias, so we could truly get an honest look at the state of education in Illinois,” We Ask America’s Andrew Weissert said.
Please keep that Weissert quote in mind as you read this post. I would’ve written this post a lot differently if it had not been for the way the poll was constructed.
* To the poll…
Would you say things in Illinois today are generally headed in the RIGHT DIRECTION or would you say things are off on the WRONG TRACK?
RIGHT DIRECTION 29%
WRONG TRACK 57%
(DON’T KNOW) 14%
The Simon Poll had the wrong track number at 84 percent in 2018 and 67 percent almost a year ago.
* Respondents were then asked to rate how important each one of these priorities was to them on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important. Here are the percentages of those who rated them a 10, followed by the percentages of those who rated them an 8, 9 or 10…
Having high quality public schools 59% … 81%
Cleaning up corruption in state government 69% … 85%
Lowering taxes 52% … 68%
Reforming the state pension systems 35% … 53%
Balancing the state budget 51% … 77%
Reducing crime 58% … 77%
The corruption message is really hitting home big-time, and I gotta bet it’s even higher now because the poll was taken last November. A whole lot of stuff has happened since then. Also, any issue polling in the 80s can really move numbers in a campaign, so legislators need to beware. Pension reform? Not so much. It finished last in the priorities list.
* And speaking of pensions…
As you may know, teachers in Illinois do not pay into and therefore do not collect Social Security when they retire. Do you think that Illinois teachers should receive their full pension, see their pensions cut some or see their pensions eliminated?
FULL PENSION 75%
CUT SOME 11%
ELIMINATED 6%
(DON’T KNOW) 9%
Right now, teachers hired after the year 2011 in Illinois must work in a classroom until age 67 in order to be eligible to receive their pensions, no matter how many years they have been teaching. Do you strongly oppose, somewhat oppose, somewhat support or strongly support recently hired teachers being able to receive their pensions at age 60 instead of waiting until 67?
I guess not everybody agrees with the Tribune.
