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Private schools have been kicking the tar out of the publics for years. But now that the IHSA wants to try and level the playing field, some legislators believe they must step in.

State lawmakers are planning an all-out assault on the Illinois High School Association today, hoping to force the organization to back off its contested plan to give public schools a leg up on private school teams in postseason tournaments.

A House panel is scheduled to consider sweeping measures giving the state broad new powers over the private, non-profit state athletic governing body.

Also today, a group of mostly Chicago area lawmakers with ties to the city’s Catholic school system will announce their intention to order Auditor General William Holland to investigate the IHSA, according to Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Chicago).

Kevin Joyce is one of my favorite legislators, and I understand his district situation, but this is a bit much.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 6:06 am

Comments

The public schools cannot recruit and anyone who has known an excellent teen athlete knows that the private schools do. They should not compete against each other for state titles.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 7:07 am
…or, let them compete against each other but use the enrollment multiplier the IHSA came up with and try it for a handful of seasons…it won’t hurt Fenwick, Mt Carmel, Leo, etc…

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 7:45 am
My high school’s coach (Quincy Senior High School) was suspended a while ago for recruiting players. He apparently recruited a guy from Bulgaria or something.

In my area, the public schools have no problem kicking the tar out of the private schools. But, I think everyone wants to play for Quincy High School because we’ve apparently got a prestigious basketball program.

Comment by Drew Hibbard Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 9:10 am
TO say that the proverbial playing field needs to be leveled because public schools can’t recruit is absurd and asinine. Private schools can’t recruit either. If the true and actual reason for the multiplier is to counter alleged recruiting by private schools, then why doesn’t the IHSA enable private schools to recruit upon the imposition of the multiplier. I’d be quite interested in seeing how State championship series would be affected by allowing private schools to recruit. Afterall, the reason for the imposition of the multiplier is because private schools recruit, isn’t it????????

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 11:20 am
I think that private schools are allowed to recruit within one hundred miles of their location. If they aren’t allowed to recruit than why is it so blatant?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 11:38 am
Chicago Public High Schools district boundries are all but meaningless due to a desegration constent decree handed down by the federal courts years ago. CPS coaches take full advantage of this and recruit like crazy all over the city. How do you think King H.S. was so dominate for so many years? Did you think all those McDonald’s All-Americans lived within King’s “boundries”?
Two of the state’s most consistantly successful basketball programs the last decade have been Proviso East and Thornton — suburban public schools. Do you think all their players live in Maywood and Harvey? Think again.
As far as football is concerned, having no attendance boundries is undeniably an advantage for Catholic High Schools. And there is a degree of recruiting that occurs, but Catholic high schools recruit ALL their students. I didn’t play sports and I was recruited by Catholic schools (phone calls, letters, ect.)

The main reason for Catholic football success is the fact that almost all Catholic grammar schools have football teams for 5th thru 8th Grade (very few public grade schools have football teams.) The Catholic grade schools serve as feeder system for the high schools, providing them with an experienced pool of players. No such advantage exists in basketball, which is why so few Catholic schools have won state championships.
Not made clear in the Sun-Times is that the IHSA already has a policy that automatically bumps Catholic football teams to a higher class in the state playoffs. That should be enough.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 11:50 am
For crying out loud, Illinois faces a pension crisis, a tight budget, school funding issues, and a whole host of other pressing issues, but the General Assembly wants to stick its nose into the IHSA. It’s as bad as Congress grandstanding on the issue of steroid use in baseball.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 12:22 pm
Private schools are not allowed to recruit for athletic purposes AT ALL. Private and public schools are bound by the same bylaws concerning recruitment for athletics, by IHSA. However, IHSA only has jurisdiction over athletics. It is somewhat accurate to say that private schools recruit ALL of their students. That “recruitment” MUST be based on academic and spiritual standards ONLY.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 1:38 pm
multiplier or not Joliet Catholic will still win its 13th state title

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 2:24 pm
While some of my best friends use private schools and I would even let my daughters marry one (a private school graduate, not a private school), these institutions are inherent cream skimmers. They cherry pick the best students, throw crumbs at poor neighborhoods and are otherwise a drain on communities. They can recruit potential players not only from all over the state, but other states as well. I’m getting tired of these mostly-white schools showcasing a few black or Hispanics on teams and letting the rest of the population go to blazes. Let them have a special division in IHSA, Class Snot Nose.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 2:41 pm
“Class Snot Nose”? You’ve obviously never taken a stroll through Mt. Carmel, Leo, Hales Franciscan, or DeLaSalle High Schools — all old buildings in high-crime, inner-city neighborhoods. Nothing “snot nose” about these schools.
I think there is a misconception about “private schools” here. That term conjures up images of Ivy League-style prep schools in most people’s mind. But when the IHSA complains about “private schools” they really mean “Catholic schools”. Catholic high schools in Illinois are not filled with spoiled rich kids who drive Mom’s Beemer to school each morning. Most are populated with middle-class kids who live in areas with underperforming (and in some cases dangerous,) public high schools. They are most certainly not a “drain” on their communities, in fact, they’re the exact opposite!
If every kid enrolled in a Catholic school tried to enroll at their neighborhood public school tomorrow they would create a the biggest financial crisis this state has ever seen. The Chicago Public School System would have to open at least 10 new high schools and at least 30 grade schools to deal with the onslought of new students. Catholic schools are a Godsend to the public school system in Illinois…the public schools collect taxes from Catholic school parents but don’t have to spend a dime to educate their children.
As far as your racial angle is concerned, the two schools that will be hurt most by this new proposal are Leo and Hales, both all-black inner-city Catholic schools loaded with poor kids. They’ve combined to win the last three Class A basketball titles — helping to spark this new IHSA crackdown.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 3:37 pm
This post has been removed by the author.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 5:43 pm
I resent the insuation that private schools won’t be able to compete under the multiplier. The multiplier will make their victory that much grander.

I also resent the insult to our intellegence in the claim that private schools don’t recruit. They all do, we know it.

But public schools also recruit, at least according to rumors in Southern Illinois, they just do it a little differently. It works like this:

Johnny’s really good at football. The Booster Club for last year’s state champions or semi-finalist would like to have him on the team. The treasurer of the booster club, whose also president of the Jaycee’s, calls Johnny’s dad, whose pumping gas, and tells him that they think Johnny’s a swell athlete and there just happens to be a job as a assistant store mgr/real estate agent/prison guard that just opened up in town, and by gosh we think you’re a perfect fit. So whaddya say…need help packing your bags?

FYI, to the earlier post, I’m certain Thornton is a township high school, so scratch the comparison.

And you’re right, its too bad there’s not this much energy to address school funding reform, substance abuse treatment, and other issues of much greater importance to kids.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 5:51 pm
Having grown up in a place where the public schools were just fine, thank you, I’ve always been curious: If half the South Side didn’t go to Catholic schools, do you think the politicians would’ve let the Chicago Public Schools end up in such deplorable shape? And without the Catholic schools, would CPS have such problems with segregation? I think this may be one of those chicken-egg questions but one still worth asking…

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 8:22 pm
Did any of the politicans up in arms over this attend public schools and do they send their kids to public schools? Because it’s nice to know that springfield has the private schools backs because education is important, but it owuld be more heartening to some if they showed they have the public schools backs too with all their funding issues.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 14, 05 @ 9:54 pm
The real heroes are the Catholic and other non governmental schools that provide a great education at a much less cost in inner city and blue collar neighborhoods.

The Catholic schools don’t cream the crop that is the suburban public schools with their geographic discrimination or the magnet schools in Chicago like North Side Prep or Walter Payton.
The Catholic Schools are actually the second or third choice of those who cannot get in the exclusive public schools or the very white and certainly rich suburban public schools.

Too many Catholic (and Lutheran and other groups) schools have closed down in the inner city which is a TRAGEDY and cost the public schools more money by putting their kids in the public system. Very short term thinking.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 15, 05 @ 12:36 am
The above post is correct.
Too many inner city private schools are being closed down or already closed down.

Was Blagojevich really pro-school choice in the General Assembly?

Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Apr 16, 05 @ 10:45 pm
Well if that is the case previous posters, then aren’t you bothered that these guys aren’t holding press conferences to talk about how to keep the innercity private schools open rather than worrying about if Joliet catholic has to move up a class in football?

Comment by Anonymous Saturday, Apr 16, 05 @ 11:20 pm
I think the focus on sports is bad for everyone.

Comment by Anonymous Sunday, Apr 17, 05 @ 4:32 pm
Sports can keep kids out of trouble.

Catholic Schools do a good job.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Apr 19, 05 @ 12:23 am