Look at over-reliance on property taxes in funding schools
I write in response to the article titled "Illinois has a new spending plan" (see Illinois Issues, May 2000, page 10). The fact that the General Assembly has to use revenues from the tobacco settle-ment to provide property tax relief shows how bad this problem has become.

Relying on property wealth (or lack thereof) creates numerous problems. First, property ownership today has a much smaller relationship to one's net worth than in Colonial times. Today, with several ways of earning tax-deferred income, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, there are several methods to increase one's personal portfolio. How-ever, they do nothing to educate children in public schools. How net worth is determined has changed over the past 200 years, but the reliance on property taxes in Illinois to fund the costs of local school districts has not.

Second, most other states have made efforts to alter the way their public schools are funded. Most of the Mid-western states, which are comparable to Illinois in diversity and economic back-ground, have passed legislation to change the way their schools are funded.

Poll results demonstrate Illinois' taxpayers are willing to accept a modest increase in the personal income tax to provide new revenues to public schools, as long as there is property tax relief.

The issue was not addressed in the early 1990s because the state had severe financial problems. Now that the state is in better fiscal shape, when is the appropriate time to fix the problem?
James T. Durkin
Woodridge

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Why do we neglect our children's education?
Why do the citizens of the United States not provide financial equality for our high school students?

Money spent per student in 1998-99 varied in Illinois from $4,051 in Dallas City in Hancock County to $13,527 in New Trier High School near Chicago. The Dallas City high school is closing because there is not enough money to make repairs to meet safety standards required by the state. Whereas, New Trier offers 240 courses, including art and music, for its students. Is this fair?

Lillian M. Snyder
Professor emeritus
Western Illinois University

U of I enigma
Why should undergraduate students pay exorbitant tuition and expenses to attend the University of Illinois to be taught by other students when they can attend Illinois junior colleges for one-fifth of the cost and be taught by experienced professors with doctorates and master's degrees?
George E. Brazitis
Champaign

Correction
The Juvenile Justice Commission advises the Department of Human Services, not Children and Family Services as reported in the June issue (see page 34).

Illinois Issues July/August 2000 | 40---Also available in PDF