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With rituals over, people
are still talking 'education'

by Ed Wojcicki

Rituals are still meaningful. That was evident January 11 in Springfield's Prairie Capitol Convention Center as Gov. George H. Ryan took the oath of office, and the state's first woman lieutenant governor, Corinne Wood, was sworn in along with four other state constitutional officers. Two days later, members of the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate were sworn in at the state Capitol and opened the 91st General Assembly.

An air of solemnity, seen less and less in this era of increasing informality, lent dignity to the ceremonies. Such rituals are good for the human soul. They remind us that others came before us, and still others most assuredly will follow us. As Ryan said before officials took their oaths of office, inauguration day is one of those times when Illinoisans come together to celebrate who we are as a state.

Best wishes to all of the new statewide officials and legislators.

We asked our readers last fall to advise the new governor on what his top priorities should be. They frequently mentioned education funding, transportation and various kinds of campaign finance reforms, as well as economic development. Readers were responding in the thick of the campaign season.

Almost absent from our reader responses was any mention of gun control or tough-on-crime measures, in contrast to the heavy emphasis on those subjects in the campaigns.

A few readers did mention health care, managed care reform and property tax reforms, but education seems to be primary in our readers' minds.

A Centralia reader listed "Education!!!" as his top three priorities, not just the first one. "If we do not educate our children," he wrote, "our state will continue to decline to a point beyond repair."

Ryan and Wood say they want education to be their top priority, too.

It's timely to mention there's a new book about all of Illinois' governors — and you'll see it advertised in this magazine. This historical collection is the second edition of Mostly Good and Competent Men, published this month by the University of Illinois at Springfield.

The first edition, crafted by now- deceased Chicago Tribune writer Robert Howard, is more than 10 years old. With the change in power at the State- house, we decided to add chapters on Govs. Jim Edgar and George Ryan.

This is among the first assessments of the Edgar Administration in book form. Written by Illinois Issues editor Peggy Boyer Long, it puts Edgar into context, with a focus on the fiscal problems he inherited. Its balanced analysis is well worth reading. 

Illinois Issues February 1999  3


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