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The state of the State
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By JENNIFER HALPERIN To few people's surprise, Gov. Edgar's State of the State address last month for the most part steered away from radical proposals aimed at meeting some of the state's more pressing social and financial needs. Better to stall any mention of possible unpleasant fiscal solutions as long as possible during campaign season - or at least until the March budget message. The governor's speech ran the gamut of what have become politicians' boilerplate talking points — from his lament of the violence that plagues many Illinois communities to his desire to pump innovation into the state's educational system. After the address, the governor acknowledged he was focusing his efforts on programs that can be plugged into groundwork that already exists in the state. But while the speech was widely assessed as little more than a campaign event, it did include some interesting if not earth-shattering ideas. For instance, while the speech didn't begin to touch on the need many people see for overhaul of the state's basic method of funding education for all public school students, it did offer what could amount to at least a glimmer of hope for some pupils. The governor urged the General Assembly to create at least 12 charter schools throughout the state as a way to give school administrators, teachers, parents and community members some freedom from bureaucratic red tape and increased flexibility within the classroom. As they exist in Minnesota, charter schools encourage local control through parental involvement. There, each such school is overseen by a board of directors, with licensed teachers at the school making up a majority of the board's members. All school staffers and the parents of children enrolled at each school must be able to participate in electing the board. The local boards negotiate achievement contracts individually with the schools they oversee. Last year, charter schools were looked at with interest by Illinoisans of many political stripes, though conservative Republicans continued to push for voucher-type experiments. It still is too early to assess how charter schools will work in the long run. Minnesota was the first state to allow charter schools, beginning in 1991. With their emphasis on local involvement, charter schools seem to be a logical way to follow up on goals of Illinois' 1989 school reform, including local control. Crime-fighting packages blossomed this winter from candidates of every stripe — from the relatively conservative Jim Ryan, DuPage County state's attorney who is seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general, to the comparatively liberal Democrat Sen. Grace Mary Stern (D-29, Highland Park), who faces an intense battle for reelection to her North Shore suburban seat. It was no shock when Edgar joined the crime-fighting club. His predicted endorsement of a ban on assault weapons received the most attention, but he also proposed increasing the authority of statewide grand juries to include investigation of illegal gun trafficking. They now only are authorized to investigate drug trafficking. Similarly, he proposed expanding the authority of Metropolitan Enforcement units — which involve coordinated efforts between law enforcement agencies on city, county and state levels — to investigate gang-related crimes. Up to now they have focused on drug-related crimes. The governor's support for a 100-bed Juvenile Boot Camp similar to the two Illinois already operates for adults came on the heels of a study that found inmates at the camps are unlikely to get help with drug problems after they "graduate." Ernest Cowles and Tom Castellano of Southern Illinois University found that of nearly 50 boot camps they surveyed in 23 states, few offer supervised, mandatory follow-up drug programs. Follow-up drug treatment should be kept in mind by the Department of Corrections when design- 8/February 1994/Illinois Issues ing the camp, which would cost an estimated $6 million to build and $4 million annually to operate. It would be a shame to give drug treatment efforts the short shrift in the cases of juvenile offenders, especially when the governor also recommended in his State of the State speech doubling the amount of money spent by the Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse to serve Department of Children and Family Services clients. The governor's relatively tame business-oriented initiatives included a repeat of last year's desire for tort reform and changes in the state's workers' compensation and liability laws. He also announced a plan called "COMPETE," a label for the Coalition for Manufacturing Performance through Technology. It is designed to share technical expertise among Illinois' universities, trade associations and manufacturers. Along the same lines, Edgar said two NAFTA Opportunity Centers will open in Chicago and Peoria to help Illinois exporters of all sizes network with each other to develop expertise in trading with Canada and Mexico. On the ethics front, the governor said he will push for legislation requiring a competitive review process for most contracts of $10,000 or more per fiscal year for professional or artistic services. He said he also wants to see more stringent requirements enacted for state leases and building purchases. But with media reports continuing to document that people who contribute money to the governor's campaign often garner public business by renting their buildings to the state, it's hard to get too excited about these promises. As Edgar acknowledged in his speech, many of the problems with which the state must contend are rooted deeply within society. The breakdown of two-parent families and the increasing presence of gangs in smaller cities once thought immune from such forces are not going to be solved by the suggestions contained in the State of the State message. But if coalitions this year can push through some new if somewhat experimental ideas that could benefit some people who need it — such as charter schools in areas where some public schools are failing — Illinois may be in better shape to begin addressing the more widespread needs. |
February 1994/lllinois Issues/9
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