BOOK REVIEW By ELIZABETH R. ZEIGLER
Associate professor of political science at Illinois College, Jacksonville, she was active in the campaigns for a new constitution for Illinois and closely followed the activity of the constitutional convention.
Jane Galloway Buresh, A Fundamental Goal: Education/or the People of Illinois. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1975, pp. 129. $3.45
FEW DELEGATES to the Illinois Constitutional Convention which met in Springfield in December of! 969 wished to serve on the Education Committee. Although recognizing the importance of education, delegates felt there would be little notice paid to an article which the public wanted "kept out of politics," and which some advocated omitting from the Constitution entirely.
Jane Galloway Buresh contends that education is a very political issue and illustrates this thesis by describing the "gamesmanship," bargaining and compromising that went on in this committee. Taking her title from the first sentence of the new article in the Constitution, the author gives an excellent account of the constitution-making process as illustrated by the evolution of the education article.
As administrative assistant to the Education Committee, Buresh was in an advantageous position to observe committee activities. She used interviews, a questionnaire, and research materials provided for the committee in preparing this report, originally submitted to the University of Chicago as a dissertation in the history of education.
Buresh described the committee as divided into two factions: the "Young Turks" who worked for innovation and reform, and the "Old Guard" who were more concerned with acceptability and therefore tried to maintain the status quo. Members came to the committee with certain ideas which, according to the author, were not appreciably affected by the testimony of witnesses, research materials, or the wishes of their constituents. Public concern influenced committee decisions on a couple of occasions, since members were always mindful of the necessity of obtaining voter approval of the final product.
A chapter is devoted to each of the five major topics debated: the structure of the education system, educational objectives, higher education, aid to nonpublic schools, and school finance. These debates are masterfully summarized by Buresh, a keen observer with a good grasp of the issues. However, her appraisal of the final product tends to be sympathetic and uncritical. An acceptable article was achieved by evading the most controversial issues, especially that of aid to nonpublic schools. To avoid opposition, the committee retained this section of the 1870 Constitution without change.
The author's view that "the 1970 education article may promote the most far-reaching changes of any article in the new document" seems somewhat inflated. The General Assembly has implemented the constitutional provision for a state board of education but has refused "primary responsibility" for school finance. It continues to delegate responsibility for education to local school districts. Thus equal educational opportunity is still denied Illinois pupils because of unequal wealth. Forced to rely on the overburdened property tax, public schools face increasing financial difficulties.
This well organized, readable volume is a worthwhile addition to the series on "Illinois Constitution Making" edited by Joseph Pisciotte. Educators will be impressed with the necessity of mastering political tactics to achieve their goals. Students interested in constitution making, decision making, policy making or the functioning of the political system in general will find this book useful.
November 1975/Illinois Issues/331