Ballot Access
Help Ed and the Libertarians get Permanent Ballot Access in Illinois.About Ed
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Take the world's smallest political quiz and see where you fit!School Choice
Wealthy Illinoisans can afford quality education, while the poor are forced to remain in academically failing schools. Bureaucrats have hijacked our school system, and are holding students, parents and even teachers hostage. It is incredible that this is tolerated, but there are solutions.
The average graduation rate from Chicago’s Charter Schools is more than 75%, compared to the overall CPS average of 51%. The city's largest charter school, Chicago International Charter School, graduates 90%+ of its students, which is better even than those in the suburbs and downstate. But while Charter Schools are performing, more than 13,000 Illinois children are on waiting lists to get a chance at a decent education because of caps limiting the expansion of the Charter School program. It is time to remove these caps, and offer students viable public educational choices.
Further, according to the ALEC-Laffer State Competitive Index, Illinois ranks 4th in the nation in teacher salaries, yet we rank just 30th in test scores. It is not that we have poor teachers. Instead, there is a disconnect between compensation and performance because tax dollars are tied to schools instead of to students. An expansion of the education tax credit program and the addition of a voucher program would reduce the inequality of educational access among low-income families, while saving Illinois taxpayers millions of dollars by directing a portion of low income students out of the public system and into private schools that are currently unaffordable to them.
Objections to true school choice ignore reality. Public schools, particularly in poor areas, produce a high level of failure, frustration, ignorance, and illiteracy. And it is the poor who are hardest hit by this reality, since the wealthy can afford to live in districts with good schools, or send their children to private schools while still paying for the public system.
I personally applaud Senator Meeks for his recent and courageous support of school choice, and his proposed push to eliminate the cap on the number of charter schools in Illinois. It is time to clear away the bureaucratic red tape and restore the proper relationship between parents, teachers and students, and these are steps in the right direction.
