Watching Our Schools Crumbling

The State of Illinois is currently imploding financially and the politicians of both major parties seem unwilling to actually deal with the problems.   They persist in pointing fingers at the "other" party and sticking their heads in the sand.   For decades, both Republicans and Democrats have trumpeted "no tax increase" and convinced the public that State government (including all that it supports such as public schools) is bad and fat.   The result is that Illinois has one of the lowest and most regressive income taxes in the nation (3%) and a $14 Billion dollar deficit.   Schools throughout the state are now laying off teachers for next school year (some estimates say the layoffs may reach 17,000 teachers or more), and social services organizations are closing their doors because the State hasn't made payments due this fiscal year.  To put the deficit into perspective, if the State fired every State employee right now, that would amount to $4 Billion, leaving us with a $10 Billion hole.

I wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Herald and Chicago Tribune a couple weeks ago, but neither has printed it.   I am publishing it here in the hope that a few people will find it of interest and use.  It's a little long, but IMO it addresses the core issues.

Put Pressure Where It Belongs-Springfield

In recent weeks, many people have become aware of the financial difficulties being faced by school districts around the State.   In many cases, the Districts are confronted by huge revenue shortfalls and are considering draconian cuts to staff in order to meet these changes.  As a Board Member of a District directly impacted by the State of Illinois' deadbeat status, I'd like to offer several observations.

1. The budget shortfalls currently facing most Districts is directly related to the unwillingness of Illinois legislators to meet the State's financial obligations.

2. The underlying weakness causing the immediate financial problems in public education is an over-reliance on property taxes.  As the basis for public education, property taxes cause huge inequities between Districts which have lots of commercial property and those that do not.   Those that are forced to rely on homeowners as the major source of property taxes tend to have higher tax rates and tax burdens on individual homeowners.  Commercial properties bring revenue into school districts without adding students.

3. The State legislature has repeatedly refused to change the funding of public education from property taxes to the income tax over the past couple of decades.

4. When legislators wring their hands over the potential bankruptcy of public education, and say "we understand the problem, but we just don't have the money" they are being disingenuous, at best.   If the State of Illinois doesn't "have the money" it's because the legislators have refused to deal with reality and alter the State's ridiculously low and regressive income tax in order to fully meet the State's responsibility for funding education.

5. The public is rightfully concerned about the potential long-term damage to our schools, and the resultant long-term damage to our children's education caused by the current financial melt-down.

6. State legislators of both major parties should be held accountable by the public for their refusal to work for the "greater good" and ensure that all our public schools are fully funded. 

7. Local school board members have remarkably little control over how to respond to the current financial constraints.   If their Districts do not have enough revenue coming in, they have no choice but to cut staff.

8. If the public wants to effect meaningful change, it must put unrelenting pressure on its elected State representatives to deal with reality and stop finger-pointing and political posturing.   The public needs to tell our State legislators that it is well past time for Illinois to actively support public education and fund it accordingly.

Until State legislators of both major parties in both the House and Senate feel like there is a political consequence to ignoring the State's financial plight, nothing will change.   Your child's classes will inevitably get larger, and the elements of a well-rounded education, such as exposure to the arts, will become rarer.  If you truly care about your children, and equally importantly, the children of your neighbors, you need to express your outrage to your State representatives.

Public education is about the education of everyone, including your child and the children of your neighbors.  Just as we all benefit from good roads and bridges, we all benefit from good public schools.  And, one way or the other, we will all pay for the destruction of public education in Illinois.

Free Speech & The Internet

I'm a long time member and supporter of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), but I have to say I  disagree with the organization's position in a lawsuit involving anonymous speech at a newspaper web site in Illinois.   The case and EFF's position are covered here.  Essentially, the son of a local candidate engaged in a heated "discussion" with an anonymous poster, and the candidate felt that the poster had gone too far in his/her comments.  The candidate has sought the identify of the anonymous poster through a court case, which is now at the Appellate level in Illinois.

While I think I understand EFF's First Amendment arguments, I think that there are other factors that should be heavily weighed.   The biggest issue to me, is that there are thousands of people who post mindless, unintelligible, drivel via electronic postings that never would have seen the light of day before the Internet.   In the past, when people wrote letters to the editor of a newspaper, they may or may not have gotten their views printed.  If they were printed, they had to attach their name to their thoughts and others could write challenges in response. There was some accountability involved in making public comments.

In today's electronic world, anyone can say anything about anything, on newspaper web sites, as well as other online media outlets, many of which allow anonymous comments.  The ability to make anonymous postings adds nothing whatsoever to the quality or benefit.   Perhaps a pure reading of the First Amendment doesn't distinguish between useful speech and heated nonsense, but in past years, the ability to spew nonsense was limited to standing on a street-corner.   Whether the speaker could attract listeners depended on their speech.   And it's not generally feasible to stand on a street corner and speak anonymously.  

I've commented previously on the proliferation of ignorant commentary on the Web and this case seems to cut to the core of the matter.   Do we as a society benefit from enabling anonymous comment in public forums on the Internet?   Should we hold people accountable for their opinions?  What does society gain from unaccountable and anonymous public comment?

I just can't buy EFF's argument that anonymous online comments deserve Constitutional protection.