Education funding question draws large reader response

by Ed Wojcicki

The proposal was suggested by Gov. Jim Edgar and his special task force led by former University of Illinois President Stanley Ikenberry. But the legislature killed the idea within days and it has not been revived.

We received more than 100 responses to our question, and more than 80 percent of the respondents agreed this amendment should go before the voters, as the governor suggested. I was surprised by this lopsided response, given the General Assembly's fear of anything requiring a tax hike.

Some of our readers called the legislature fearful and cowardly, and said that's why the voters should get a direct say-so on the question. "Legislators refuse to face up to the shortfall in tax [revenue]," a Champaign reader wrote. "We need more revenue for human services — especially education."

Several used different words to describe what an Elgin reader seemed to summarize for all: "Politicians will forever be too weak-kneed to solve [the education funding problem]. Only the voters, through such an amendment, will be able to resolve the matter."

Still, some readers said the legislators have a responsibility to deal with education funding themselves, and should not pass the buck to the voters. A couple of readers considered the proposal too vague, and a couple of others questioned whether adding more money will improve students' performance.

But for the most part, readers saw the amendment as a useful tool for increasing funding for education.

Notice anything new at the bottom right corner of this page? For the first time, Illinois Issues is honoring some retired board members as "board members emeritus."

Now that we're in our 22nd year, only one charter board member, Sam Gove, remains on the board. So we thought it was timely to recognize some outstanding individuals who provided wonderful service to the magazine in our first two decades.

Current board members decided at our last meeting to recognize these predecessors for two reasons: to honor them for their service and to provide some institutional links to the magazine's origins, lest we forget the foundation they laid.

With their character, contacts and enthusiasm for public service, they helped spread the word about the importance of this "new" magazine.

Illinois Issues June 1996 ¦ 3