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BRIEFLY
Edited by Donald Sevener
PAYING THE PIPER
A task force headed by Stanley Ikenberry, former president of the University of Illinois, recommended asking voters this fall to amend the constitution to require the state to pay half the cost of public education. At the same time, the panel would reduce reliance on local property taxes to fund schools and set a foundation spending level of $4,225 per student. In an unprecedented move, Gov. Jim Edgar called a joint session of the General Assembly to ask lawmakers to put the question to voters. "To be very truthful," Edgar told them, such an amendment "very likely would require some increase in state taxes in order to provide substantial property tax relief at the local level." In fact, voters rejected a similar amendment in 1992 after Edgar, who appointed the Ikenberry commission, voiced opposition, saying it would raise income taxes by 50 percent. Edgar charged the commission, which includes educators, business people and civic leaders, with finding a politically painless way to raise school spending. The group's recommendations would couple a $1.9 billion increase in state funding with a $1.5 billion decrease in property taxes. The proposed amendment would leave to lawmakers the task of deciding how to raise the state funds and how to ensure decreases in property taxes. Opponents are likely to derail the plan before it gets to voters. Most lawmakers are allergic to any proposal that could mean a tax increase. In addition, there are regional differences to overcome. School districts and lawmakers downstate and in Chicago generally favor increased state funding. Suburban interests, which now control the General Assembly, have resisted raising state funding because they get so little of it. But a barrier the task force members may not have considered is the one that helped defeat the plan four years ago — public attitudes toward schooling. Last year Public Agenda, a non-partisan research organization founded by pollster Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, surveyed public opinion. They used random polling and focus groups to gauge opinion about schools. Support for public schools, the survey discovered, is generally weak. Only about 1 in 6 respondents rated public schools as excellent, and less than half of teachers (42 percent) did so. In what would seem particularly foreboding for those seeking to raise taxes for education, the survey found just 28 percent of the public replied, "Increase the money public schools get," when asked what to do about failing schools. Perhaps more ominous was this conclusion: "Most Americans do not place a high value on knowledge for its own sake." The American view of education, the study found, is highly pragmatic; beyond its practical value, learning has little value for most people. While parents want their children to learn whatever it takes to get jobs, the Public Agenda report noted, "they express little enthusiasm for knowledge that offers no immediate practical use." The public also is skeptical about the real-world value of academic achievement — good grades and high test scores. When asked what determines success in the work place, only about 1 in 4 answered, "Getting an excellent academic education." Revealingly, just 1 in 9 teachers said that an excellent academic education is the most important factor in determining career success. (All groups — the public, parents, teachers and community leaders — ranked "being persistent and having inner drive" as the chief determinant of success.) Finally, the survey found, "For those hoping to persuade Americans that the next generation needs to be much more highly educated, there is still one more hurdle: Large numbers of Americans think highly educated people are 'socially clumsy, impractical and book smart, and overall just a little too big for their britches.'" - Donald Sevener 8 ¦ April 1996 Illinois Issues Federal cuts may give a reprieve to Death Row inmates In an odd twist of fate, some of the same congressional conservatives who complain about how long it takes to kill someone on Death Row may be responsible for slowing executions. Federal budget cuts for public defenders' agencies could further delay the lengthy appeals process for inmates sentenced to death. The budget reductions also will cost the state and its counties money, according to the annual report of the Illinois Supreme Court to the General Assembly. At issue is the Capital Resource Center in the Office of the State Appellate Defender. Created by the legislature in 1989, the center is assigned to all cases in which a capital sentence has been affirmed on direct appeal. Gov. Jim Edgar has pledged $134,000 to keep the center open through the end of this fiscal year. But the high court warned that the cutoff of federal funds could jeopardize the center, which would result in "additional delays in an already protracted post-conviction process" and increased financial burdens on counties. The center's operating costs have been lower than fees requested by other court-appointed lawyers, and the service has been better. The high court's report also expressed concern about appeals for indigent defendants, who are entitled by law to legal counsel, supplied by the Office of the State Appellate Defender. Since 1990, the staff of the office has decreased by 17 percent while the caseload has increased by 39 percent. As a result, the time for taking the first step in an appeal — filing a brief — has increased from 11 to 19 months, with other delays following. The court had already warned in 1994 that understaffing of criminal appeals would lead to more retrials and claims of ineffective assistance, a constitutional violation. The result for the state is, of course, more expense, with more trouble ahead. Federal action may be imminent in a class action suit in Cook County. The federal judge hearing the case in 1994 termed the delays there "an inexcusable breakdown in the Illinois justice system." - F. Mark Siebert
GREAT SHAKES:
A few years ago, residents of a new and pricey subdivision in Springfield experienced a sinking feeling — both figuratively and literally. Their homes were sinking, causing basements to buckle and walls to crack. The cause was mine subsidence; the earth was slipping away beneath them. Coal mines, now defunct, lie under much of the capital city and under significant portions of central and southern Illinois where the coal industry has long had an important, though diminishing, economic role. Subsidence is sort of a man-made earthquake, the residue of mines long abandoned and forgotten. Today, however, the coal industry is turning increasingly to methods that include planned subsidence — the land still sinks, but engineers are able to predict when and where the sinking will occur. This trend has caused concern about Illinois' water resources, farmland production and economy. The Illinois State Geological Survey has issued a 32-page public information booklet, "Planned Coal Mine Subsidence in Illinois," designed to help people understand planned subsidence and where to turn for further information. The text is clear, well organized and accompanied by helpful drawings and photographs, many in color. The booklet notes that planned subsidence starts immediately after a mining operation begins and is therefore predictable and manageable. Subsidence can affect land that is being farmed, buildings in which people work or live, roads and pipelines. Under planned subsidence, a building, for instance, can be raised off its foundations and then lowered after the subsidence has taken place. In the case of highways, traffic may continue during subsidence, and repairs made after the undermining process is completed. So a shaky earth beneath may not be cause for the shakes. - Anna Merritt
MR. LINCOLN VISITS CHICAGO Lincoln's birthday brought the opening of a year-long exhibit at the Chicago Historical Society entitled "The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America." It is described as "the largest and most comprehensive collection of Lincoln materials ever assembled." The exhibit originated at the Huntington Library in California, and the Chicago viewing will be the only other one. On display are more than 200 Lincoln artifacts, ranging from personal letters to official documents. There will be associated special programs throughout the year, including lectures by distinguished Lincoln scholars — among them Pulitzer Prize-winning historians Mark E. Neely Jr., author of Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties, and Garry Wills, author of Lincoln at Gettysburg. F. Mark Siebert Illinois Issues April 1996 ¦ 9 BRIEFLY We'll have the fish and fries, hold the cholesterol This may sound like an aquatic nightmare: a fish that spawns all male offspring. Or try this: French fries minus the guilt. Or even: a fragrant, or less malodorous, pigpen. These are examples of your tax dollars at work, projects at state universities using state grants to research ways to keep agricultural and food production on the cutting edge. Four state universities — the University of Illinois, Illinois State, Southern Illinois and Western Illinois — shared $3 million to fund projects that result in direct benefits from applied technology. For example, Illinois State University in Normal is developing a genetically altered fish that produces all male offspring, which are bigger and hence more productive commercially. J. Randy Winter, chair of ISU's agriculture department, says this species of African white fish, Tilapia nilotica, would be grown in indoor fish farms and marketed to restaurants and supermarkets as a high-value fish like salmon. He says a commercial fish operation could include a connecting hydroponics crop that uses the nutrients from the fish wastewater and recycles clean water to the fish tanks. It's a potential second-income crop for farmers or a way to expand operations at large industries like Archer Daniels Midland, which has aquaculture operations in Decatur and Peoria. The University of Illinois, which receives the bulk of the state grant, is working on several projects that could result in marketable products. According to Don Holt, director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, one promising research project involves developing soybean oil as a noncaloric fat substitute used for deep-fat frying. Similar to the corn oil-based Olestra just approved by the FDA, the soybean product would produce a fried-food taste without adding fat or cholesterol. Several projects are aimed at solving environmental problems. The U of I is working on the design of wetlands, natural and man-made, to filter farm chemicals out of runoff water before it reaches streams, lakes and other sources of drinking water. Western Illinois University is evaluating the feasibility of eliminating the use of chemicals with various methods of cultivation. And in what may be the researcher's version of pork-barrel politics, several projects involve hogs. WIU is trying to find additives that will control the odor from confinement hog operations, and Southern Illinois University is studying the possibility of using zebra mussels to filter livestock waste water. Dick Steffen of SlU's ag department says that some of the same characteristics that make the non-native zebra mussel a pest and a threat to Illinois' clam populations are what make it a possible natural waste treatment system. It is very prolific and attaches to any hard surface; presumably it will attach to specially designed fences and frames in a contained environment as well as it does to municipal water intake pipes where it costs millions to remove. Steffen says the zebra mussel also could produce other marketable products. Its own waste, which it encapsulates into an easily retrievable sediment, could become a soil additive. And at maturity, its body, rich with proteins and calcium, could become a food additive for livestock. So someday a low-fat dinner of fish and fries may have been cooked up in the research labs of Illinois universities. Beverley Scobell
OH, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE
There was more than love in the air on Valentine's Day when artists and representatives of arts organizations paid visits to members of the Illinois House in their legislative districts. Lawmakers received valentine messages, including some made by school children who had benefited from artist-in-residence programs funded by local arts councils. Oh yes, some also got cookies. The purpose of the visits, organized by the Illinois Arts Alliance, was to say "thank you" for past appropriations to the Illinois Arts Council and to plead for restoration of the $1.2 million cut in the appropriation made last year. Since 1990 the legislature has reduced funds for the Arts Council by 48 percent. The council and local arts organizations anticipate loss of federal funds due to cuts levied on the National Endowment for the Arts in the name of budget-balancing. The Valentine's Day visitors tried to convince their representatives of the benefits of the grants made in 167 of the 177 legislative districts. In some cases, the grants provide the only arts education that children receive. Statewide, the 16,000 arts employees generate $5.8 million in income tax, which is more than the budget of the Arts Council and does not account for additional tax dollars generated by tourists visiting arts activities in the state. - F. Mark Siebert 10 ¦ April 1996 Illinois Issues
Welfare reform Politicians and talk show hosts call welfare recipients a lot of names these days, but folks at Richland Community College in Decatur call them successful. Since 1992, more than 1,000 welfare recipients have completed the school's Opportunities program and gone on to continue their schooling at the university level, land jobs or look for jobs armed with a community college education. Opportunities — a partnership among the Illinois Community College Board, the state's Department of Public Aid and 13 community colleges — has tried to offer participants "one-stop shopping" for all services and resources they need to complete their education and job training, from child care to book expenses to transportation costs. Ninety percent of the participants are single women with children, and most retain A and B averages in their classes, says Richland's program Director Connie Cissna. Opportunities has been using a "holistic" approach to help people on Aid to Families with Dependent Children become self-sufficient, offering participants financial aid, counseling, tutoring and job placement services, among others, with the eventual goal of helping them finish school and find jobs that pay more than minimum wage. Employment will be playing a larger role in the future of the program, which until now has focused on education, says Kathy Oglesby, director of workforce programs at the community college board. Participants will be expected to work several hours a week while attending classes, and will learn such "life skills" as how to dress appropriately for a job and how to handle crises in the workplace. Although block grants from the federal government may change the way the program is funded, until now Opportunities has enabled Illinois to receive millions of dollars in federal funds that previously went unclaimed by the state. In less than a year, the 10 colleges first involved in the program accessed nearly $9 million in federal money. - Jennifer Halperin
WEB SITE OF THE MONTH
Dreading April 15? Then Yahoo, the unparalleled search tool for the World Wide Web, has a WWW site to ease your tax anxieties. Tune in to Yahoo's tax page at http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Taxes/ for all the advice you're likely to need to get you to April 16 with sanity intact. The site has links to free federal and state tax forms, including extinct or hard-to-find ones, information on electronic filing, the 25 Most Common Tax Preparation Errors, How to Avoid an Audit and, if that fails, How to Survive an Audit. There is advice on legal tax shelters, medical expenses, hints for homeowners, tips for small business owners and an unquestionably valuable link: Ask the Expert. Good luck, and many happy returns. - Donald Sevener
Judicial plan short-circuited The establishment of 15 judicial subcircuits in Cook County was supposed to increase the number of minority and Republican judges. At least one of these aims seems to remain unrealized. The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin notes that the 14th subcircuit was one of two intended to encourage the election of Hispanic lawyers, but only two of the eight vacancies that have occurred since 1992 have gone to Hispanics. In the last two elections there has been only one candidate for each of the six vacancies, giving voters no choice. As with a majority of candidates throughout the county, each of the six had the endorsement of a Chicago ward committeeman. - F. Mark Siebert Illinois Issues April 1996 ¦ 11
BRIEFLY
HELLO BIRDIE
There may be more music in the air this spring. Bluebirds are back. Ten years ago the state conservation department began training volunteers to build nesting boxes through workshops supported by the Wildlife Preservation Fund (checkoff line 15 a on your state tax return). The bluebird was in steep decline due to lack of nesting sites. Now, thousands of nesting boxes and volunteer hours later, the bluebird is thriving. This spring, volunteers will be able to go one step further in helping protect the bluebird population. In a cooperative venture involving the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Illinois Audubon Society and the Chicago Academy of Sciences, volunteers will observe and collect data about the Illinois bluebird population and their nesting habitat. That data will then be analyzed and entered into a statewide computerized data base to be published annually by the survey. Anyone who would like to be a bluebird project volunteer should contact the Department of Natural Resources at 217-785-8774. - Beverley Scobell
Bottom's up: Find out how to keep your water safe What's the thing you most take for granted that you could least do without? When you turn on the faucet, you expect clean, safe, potable water to come out. But safe drinking water does not just happen. It requires attention from a variety of people throughout a community. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has published a nine-page pamphlet, entitled "Mobilizing the Watershed Community: Linking Land, Water, and People," that offers some basic information of interest to classroom teachers, community organizations and local government agencies. It lays out in simple terms the issues that need to be taken into account, explains what is being done by the Illinois EPA or other state agencies and suggests three activities that individuals can undertake to ensure the safety of their watershed: attend watershed workshops, serve on a local watershed committee and become a volunteer. In addition to this publication, the IEPA has prepared 33 fact sheets, one for each river watershed in the state; these may be ordered from the agency at 217-782-3362. - Anna Merritt 12 ¦ April 1996 Illinois Issues Heiple watch The press is paying considerable attention to the trials and tribulations of Illinois Supreme Court Justice James D. Heiple, who faces prosecution on charges of traffic violations and resisting arrest. Here are some other points of interest.
Opinions
Frequently his opinions are noteworthy for their brevity. An insider remarked about one Heiple opinion, "If you want to understand the case, read the dissent." Heiple's dissents, on the other hand, are often more extensive and strenuous in contesting the majority opinion. And he does not hesitate to employ humor as well as polemic. He began one with the old joke about the scientist who cuts off a frog's legs, one at a time, telling it to jump after each amputation, then concluding that cutting off a frog's legs destroys its hearing. He began another with an extensive quotation, implicitly genuine, from a Canadian case in which a poor Indian was prosecuted under the Migratory Bird Act for shooting his injured pony — the reason being that he used a pillow for a saddle, making the pony an animal covered with feathers and hence a bird. It's wonderfully enjoyable legal nonsense.
Reaction to his statement
This drew a sharp reply, sent to other members of the state Supreme Court, from C. Steven Tomashefsky, president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers. He argued that Heiple's statement implies that defendants who exercise these legitimate rights do something wrong and casts doubt on Heiple's ability to judge them impartially. Tomashefsky asked the other justices to dissociate themselves from Heiple's position.
Expert guesses on the outcome
Disciplinary action against Heiple following a conviction would be determined by the Illinois Courts Commission, which Heiple heads. Presumably he would step aside in the decision on his own case. He is also next in line for the rotating position of chief justice, and his colleagues could conceivably skip over him. - F. Mark Siebert
A taxing situation for the poor This is tax month. For many folks, though, the pain of April 15 may turn to pleasure when the refund check arrives in a few weeks. That is a pleasure that many low-income people apparently are missing unnecessarily. An Urban League study estimates that up to 25 percent of Chicago's low-income workers fail to claim tax benefits to which they are entitled, totalling as much as $40 million! The Center for Law and Human Services has announced a free tax counseling service for those with yearly incomes under $26,000. It will be staffed by volunteers from companies such as Ameritech, Quaker Oats and R.R. Donnelly. Funding comes from the Chicago Department of Human Services and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. - F. Mark Siebert Illinois Issues April 1996 ¦ 13 BRIEFLY
Adelita la Abejita, the bee, is one of nine characters that make up the cast of "Mi Escuelita," the first Spanish-language television program for preschoolers in the nation. The program is an electronic classroom that airs five days a week on WSNS-TV, Channel 44/Telemundo in Chicago. Adelita represents logical and mathematical ability. She helps kids to solve problems, to be more analytical and to organize.
LEARNING TO READ ... FROM TELEVISION The benefits of reading to young children have been old hat since Sam I Am got together with the Cat in the Hat. But those benefits are not so obvious in households where there are language barriers. For example, Spanish-speaking parents in an English-speaking society don't always understand the value of reading in building language skills, says Lourdes Monteagudo. "Many Spanish-speaking parents are unable to read to their children in English, and many mistakenly believe that reading to them in Spanish will hurt their children's ability to learn English when they start school," says Monteagudo, who was instrumental in getting state financial backing for a Spanish-speaking television series for preschoolers. However, Monteagudo, who is executive director of the Teachers Academy for Math and Science in Chicago, says research shows that children who start school with strong language skills — whatever the language — adapt to the dominant English-speaking curriculum in public schools much faster and more successfully than bilingual children who are not skilled in either language. So, for nearly 50,000 Spanish-speaking preschoolers throughout the state, there is a pilot series on television — a medium that is in nearly every home — that will build language skills in the children's dominant language. "Mi Escuelita," which means "My Little Schoolhouse," began airing half-hour programs March 5, five days a week, on WSNS-TV, Channel 44/Telemundo in Chicago. The General Assembly appropriated $850,000 in 1994 to produce the pilot series of educational programs directed to this special audience of preschoolers and their parents. The series was produced as a cooperative effort among the Chicago Public Schools, state agencies and WSNS-TV, which oversees production and airs the pilot series free of charge. -Beverley Scobell 14 ¦ April 1996 Illinois Issues
THUMBING A RIDE
Chicago is a bystander in a process that determines transportation priorities and the basis for funding for the next 20 years. As residents of Chicago migrated to the surrounding suburbs, something else followed — clout. The city is taking a back seat in a regional planning group looking at long-term transportation needs of the six-county Chicagoland area. Transportation spending in northeastern Illinois will be guided in large part by the findings of Destination 2020, a planning body made up of city, regional and state officials. But a study by the Chicago Institute on Urban Poverty found Chicago is significantly underrepresented on Destination 2020 committees. 'The key decision-making body in the planning process gives McHenry County as much voting power as Chicago," says institute Director Wendy Siegel. "McHenry County has 183,241 people, while Chicago has 2,783,726 people." Suburban representatives make up between 66 percent and 88 percent of the key committees' membership, she says. For example, the Chicago Transit Authority, PACE and METRA all have equal voting power on the body's important policy committee, even though the CTA provides 80 percent of the transit trips in the region. The other, suburban-oriented systems combined provide 20 percent. "Chicago is reduced to a bystander in a process that determines transportation priorities and the basis for funding for the next 20 years," she says. "The process severely underrepresents city residents, public transportation users and certainly low-income residents of Chicago. [It] overrepresents suburban residents, road-builders and local government entities." Groups that try to move welfare recipients into the job market want the state to reform the appointment process to include more Chicago representation. So far, their requests have gone unanswered. - Jennifer Halperin
GROUNDED
Teenage defiance of authority is legendary. Now it's a matter for courts to resolve, and some teenagers may be headed for jail. Two cases in Will County have placed the issue of parental visitation rights in the lap of the judiciary. Judges award visitation rights to divorced parents, but they face a dilemma if children refuse to visit. The Will County Circuit Court has found teenagers in two cases in contempt of its orders, and in one case it has ordered the recalcitrant child to jail. Both cases involve children who are bitter against a noncustodial parent. In one, the court ordered the child to visit and imposed a jail sentence when she refused, abetted by her mother. The sentence has been stayed, pending the outcome of an appeal. In the other case, a different judge in the circuit found two children, one 14 and the other 8, in contempt for their refusal to visit, but he has postponed sentencing the older child pending the outcome of the appeal in the earlier case. Civil libertarians protest the sentencing as intrusion into family privacy. Some experts question the authority of the courts to issue contempt orders to juveniles. The outcome is being watched because of concerns posed by children of divorced couples. - F. Mark Siebert
There are more lawyers in Illinois, and maybe better ones too You should have no trouble finding a lawyer in Illinois. The 2,573 new lawyers licensed in 1995 brought the total number of attorneys in the state to around 69,000. (The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission is still computing the total.) The total passed the 50,000 level in 1987. The growth in the profession is slowing, however. The 1995 crop of new barristers was down 7 percent from the previous year, and it may be presumed to represent a higher level of ability. The drop was attributed in part to the Illinois Supreme Court's raising the threshold grade needed to pass the bar exam. Finding a lawyer may depend on your location, though. Roughly 37,000 lawyers practice in Cook County. In contrast, a survey several years ago revealed that one of the state's rural counties had only two lawyers, who took turns acting as state's attorney. Apparently Chicago is not overpopulated by lawyers, if the law of supply and demand has any relevance. A recent survey by the National Association for Law Placement showed that new lawyers in Chicago earn $13,000 more yearly than the national median — if they join a large law firm. By the eighth year as associate (the entry level designation for lawyers) the gap has closed somewhat, but Chicago lawyers still earn nearly $10,000 above the national median. - F. Mark Siebert Illinois Issues April 1996 ¦ 15 |
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Sam S. Manivong, Illinois Periodicals Online Coordinator |
