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The great divide

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Illinois

A new study shows that 52,404 new jobs came to downtown Chicago between 2002 and 2011 thanks to economic development investments, yet only one in four of those positions went to city residents.

Suburbanites and people in prosperous Chicago communities like Lakeview and Lincoln Park mostly gained those jobs, and residents in the city’s predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods were largely excluded, the report issued Tuesday by Grassroots Collaborative found.

From 2004 to 2008, the city spent more than $1.2 billion in public, tax increment financing (TIF) funds for these type of downtown, job creation investments, according to the report called, “Downtown Prosperity, Neighborhood Neglect: Chicago’s Black and Latino Workers Left Behind.” […]

From 2002 to 2011, the city added 129,054 new jobs that paid annual salaries of at least $40,000, yet it lost 182,938 jobs that paid less than that figure. During this time period, Chicago’s neighborhoods lost a total of 10,121 jobs.

The full report is here.

* Meanwhile, the rent is too darned high…

Illinois ranks fifth highest in the nation for college tuition and fee rates, according to ISAC figures. It also ranks high among states that provide financial aid to college students, but the money just isn’t going as far as it used to.

Universities are increasing tuition and fees on students as public aid for higher education continues to face cuts as Illinois comes to grips with its various financial troubles.

Poshard said tuition rates at SIU have risen about 6.8 percent in the last decade, below the state average but still making affordability tougher on low- and middle-income students with each passing year. President Abraham Lincoln was said of universities they represent the people’s right to rise, Poshard said.

“The question is whether higher education these days still represents the people’s right to rise?” he added.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:17 am

Comments

Businesses want the best employees they can get - they choose those with best qualifications. If you don’t have what’s needed, indeed you get ‘left behind’. Unquestionably inststutional barriers/prejudices exist, but also very poor choices on the part of many put them ‘behind’

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:27 am
Somewhat related stories above. Minorities left behind when jobs are created and the financial ability to get into a college is diminishing for the same people (and loading incredible debt for many others). The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:27 am
We need this political party in Illinois.

http://www.rentistoodamnhigh.org/

Comment by Demoralized Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:30 am
I once heard Congressman Poshard remark that when we as a population make an investment in making higher education affordable for the masses, we are, in-fact, making a cost-effective investment in national security.

I have always appreciated his views on higher education, simply because of his background as a rural, first-generation college graduate. People have a tendency to have a greater reverence for higher education when they are the first in their family to graduate from college.

Comment by Old Shepherd Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:38 am
Where does Illinois rank in state aid paid to Illinois colleges and universities?

I’ve seen data that suggests higher tuition correlates closely with reduced state funding.

Comment by Bill White Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:43 am
State support to its state universities has dropped drastically the last decade. The running joke among Illinois’ state universities is that we used to be able to say we are an Illinois state funded university.

Then we had to change that and say we are an Illinois state-supported university. Pretty soon, all we will be able to say is that we are in the State of Illinois.

Comment by Joe M Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:43 am
Our public universities have been woefully neglected since the start of the Blagojevich administration when he cut funding from higher ed to put it in K-12 so he cut run on more money for schools and no tax increases simultaneously with the ire for tuition increases going to the university instead of the state where it belongs.

Public universities and college towns have been hurt by the Chicago Democrats neglect of Downstate public universities and our state is hurt when to make ends meet the U of I can only accept a freshmen population of 75 percent instate defeating the purpose of public higher ed where we invest in these kids now so there is a pay back to the state later in the intellect and talent and leadership and prosperity they provide to the state down the line.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:47 am
I am a graduate of an in state public university. When my son attended the same university I was able to show him a tuition bill for a semester that was less than what he paid for his books for one semester. Few things can justify that rate of increase in tuition.

Comment by Tommydanger Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:51 am
The university boys have had it real good for too long. Professor salaries are ridiculous, president of the institution salaries are ridiculous. It is about time their crime spree comes to an end. And yes I said crime spree. The cost of an undergrad degree is criminal, and it doesn’t even mean what it used to.

Comment by dang Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:54 am
Some of the differential in jobs really speaks to the types of jobs.
Little manufacturing, construction, etc. And mostly “knowledge” workers.

While saying “make college affordable” so those not getting these jobs can become knowledge works also, is really not the simple answer that it seems.

Just because someone gets a degree in SOMETHING doesnt make them a knowledge worker. We need to bring a variety of businesses into chicago. We need manufacturing, construction, you employ skilled and non-skilled labor. The guy without a job isnt going to get a job by making it cheaper for him (or more than likely his children) to eventually go to college.

We (as a society) need truck drivers, forklift drivers, carpenters, welders, brick layers, machine operators, maintenance people, etc, etc, etc.

While my 12 year old may benefit in 6 years from cheaper tuition in some way, then 4-5 years after that become a knowledge worker. If I could drive a truck or was a carpenter, I would want work now, not the opportunity for me to get a college degree.

Comment by RonOglesby Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:54 am
Poshard’s speech at the city club was pretty darn awful, I’m not sure what regurgitating your 1998 stump speech does for helping your university compete but whatever dude. There was a story this week in the new york times about how an increasing amount of aid that schools have, especially state schools goes to students from wealthy families as they chase kids with higher gpa’s/sat scores which help their rankings and other factors on campus.

If progress illinois wants to help minorities in chicago get jobs it should focus on improving the education that can make them viable for them, not protecting the educational establishment that’s held them back for generations.

the tif program sounds like a form of dirty corporate welfare.

Comment by Shore Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 10:59 am
The Atlantic ran an article with data from the Center On Budget and Policy Priorities that shows that between 2008-2013, the State of Illinois’s support to its state universities dropped 23.3%. During that same period, tuition at Illinois’ state universities rose 21.9%. However, state university systems in some other states are faring even worse.
http://tinyurl.com/c3uy4f6

Comment by Joe M Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 11:05 am
A huge hit was when the state quit paying the health insurance for universities. Until then, the health insurance was paid by the state the same as all other state employees. That was going to “save” the state a lot of money. Big tuition hikes followed to cover the costs. It basically took costs that were spread over the entire state and concentrated them on a much smaller group, the students and parents of the students.

Comment by Anon Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 11:10 am
Is anybody surprised locals don’t get hired? These economic development funds focus on bringing in outside firms looking for specific skills. Businesses that bloom from within in the local community itself are what drive local employment the most. They are far more likely to develop/train their existing workforce as they grow.

When we master the art of developing local small businesses, either through start-ups or (probably wiser) growth, we’ll be making far more headway. Far less glamorous, but potentially far more effective long-term. Dumping all our money into a few (well-connected) baskets isn’t fair, it isn’t free-market, it often props up poor business practices, and it just flat out doesn’t seem effective.

Comment by Liandro Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 11:16 am
For those that qualify, federal Stafford loans are not a bad deal at all. With the Income Based Repayment plan, your payment is capped at 10% of your “discretionary income” (AGI minus 150% poverty threshold for your household size). For a family of 3 making $50k, that’s $173/month regardless of your loan balance ($10k or $200k, doesn’t change the payment). Anything left after 20 years is forgiven, 10 years if you work in “public service”.

Comment by thechampaignlife Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 11:17 am
HGF makes a good point on good Illinois students getting shut out of U of I.

Because of declining state support, they have to go for the out-of-state and international students who pay a lot more.

That hardly fulfills the promise of one of the original land-grant colleges.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 11:20 am
It costs less to send my kids to a public university in Missouri than to send them to one in Illinois.

Comment by the unknown poster Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 11:26 am
The candidates for governor said if elected they would launch an investigation as to why tuition went up so much. I think Blagojevich actually did have an investigation started and was going to make a big public disclosure of the results. When the state found out the tuition increase was caused by the insurance payment cuts made the state itself,… sudden silence, investigation results quashed.

Comment by Anon Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 11:26 am
I would bet that the majority of the jobs that went to Chicagoans were people who went to private grade and high schools in the city. If you want the Chicago Board of Education to turn out a better product used the percentage of teachers who send their kids to private school as a gauge. As that number goes down then you’ll knoe the public schools are getting better.

Comment by Rollo Tomasi Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 12:36 pm
It’s beyond disgusting to hear the “why aren’t there more Illinoisans at Illinois” line when there are more students at the flagship campus than ever. Yes, the percentage of Illinois students at Illinois is down, but in raw terms the number has been relatively steady for decades. Education is better for everyone when there is diversity in student geography and experience.

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 1:07 pm
Another reason why our community colleges are looking better and better. Back when, I saved some serious cash by spending my first two years at my local community college and then transferring for my final two years to a state university. I earned my associate’s and bachelor’s degrees and left college with one fairly small loan.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 1:25 pm
Don’t know if Precinct Captain’s post was directed to mine, but my point is that it was CHEAPER to go out of state than attend our own state university. Is that the point ILlinos is trying to make? Drive out it’s residents?

Comment by Anonymous One Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 1:26 pm
–It’s beyond disgusting to hear the “why aren’t there more Illinoisans at Illinois” line when there are more students at the flagship campus than ever.–

Beyond disgusting? C’mon, man.

This Oak Parkie is way cool with diversity — it’s the vilage mantra and a big reason why I live here.

But shutting out good Illinois students to chase higher-tuition out-of-state and international students is not about outreach for diversity — it’s about money because the state is trying to have world-class institutions on the cheap.

We hardly lack for diversity in Illinois high schools. The top kids from Simeon and the top kids from Marion and all Illinois high schools in-between shouldn’t lose a slot at U of I because the school has to chase a buck.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 1:30 pm
Well lets see Chicago Ald Solis attempts to extort a large car dealership that wanted to come to Chicago bringing jobs. Another Ald refused to let a chicken place open because the founder had unacceptable religious beliefs ( funny he doesn’t object to Muslim store owners with very similar beliefs) Chicago politicans are their own worst enemies when it comes to job creation.

Comment by Fed up Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 2:32 pm
– Another Ald refused to let a chicken place open because the founder had unacceptable religious beliefs ( funny he doesn’t object to Muslim store owners with very similar beliefs)–

What Muslim store owners were those?

I was very critical of Emanuel when he tried to link the Chik-fil-a owners personal beliefs to opening more businesses in Chicago.

As long as they follow national and Illinois law regarding employment and service, you can think whatever your want. But you cannot violate the law and discriminate.

By the way, if you want a Chik-fil-a in Chicago, be prepared to stand in line.

They are doing a booming business at State and Lake and by the Water Tower.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 2:56 pm
==The top kids from Simeon and the top kids from Marion and all Illinois high schools in-between shouldn’t lose a slot at U of I because the school has to chase a buck.==

Illinois students are not really losing slots and the ones that hypothetically are losing spots is not a result of UI chasing dollars. The raw numbers for in-state students have been steady since in the mid-1970s. Look at the history of declining state funding and the University’s large investment in attracting out-of-state and international students. The latter ramped up after the former started hard and has stayed that way. However, the lack of an increase of in-state students is as much because there has been a long time move (since the 1960s) away from Illinois being an open enrollment school as it is from chasing money. Whether UI should be a “Harvard of the Midwest” or a state school that accepts everyone is a decades old debate. One of the pillars of this debate is that since the state has a number of public universities capable of handling the educational load in the state, the flagship can be more than just a “state school” accepting of everyone; it can be an elite institution. I am not saying that UI should be a selective, elite institution, but that idea has existed in administrators at the university for a long time. I am pushing back against idea that qualified Illinoisans are being denied in favor of out-of-state and international students because that claim is overly simplistic and false.

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 3:30 pm
–Whether UI should be a “Harvard of the Midwest” or a state school that accepts everyone is a decades old debate. One of the pillars of this debate is that since the state has a number of public universities capable of handling the educational load in the state, the flagship can be more than just a “state school” accepting of everyone;–

Certainly the U of I mission isn’t the same as Harvard; God forbid that U of I ever became a backwater for the financially blessed but crainum challenged.

Seriously, in the Liberal Arts and Law, do you think those guys have a monopoly on brains? Over any school?

I can’t speak to the sciences or engineering. I don’t know how the TV works.

And this NIU grad agrees wholeheartedly that a superior education can be achieved at universities all over the state. Our public and private universities, and our community colleges, are our bread-and-butter and a wonder to most of the world.

That’s why so many out-of-state and international students are trying to break in.

But I’m parochial enough that the Illinois kids who do the work and hit the mark get first crack over anyone else at U of I or any other public university. Money be damned.

They earned it, and they’re the ones we should be working for.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Oct 11, 13 @ 3:52 pm