Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor
I have to give Governor Bruce Rauner credit for not taking long to show his hand and publicly attack the Higher Education system in Illinois. It has only been a few weeks since he was inaugurated and he recently unveiled his budget. A budget plan that slashes over $200 million just from the University of Illinois alone.
At the very time Gov. Rauner announced he wants to slash the Higher Education budget for all universities in the State of Illinois by almost a third, he claimed that his budget makes education a priority!
“Higher education is set to take a major hit in Illinois.
Following similar announcements by the Republican governors of Wisconsin and Louisiana, newly-sworn in Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner released what he called a “turnaround” budget, that would slash nearly $209 million from the University of Illinois.” Think Progress
“It’s time to make education our top priority again – and that’s what this budget does,” he told lawmakers Tuesday night, touting his plan to give about $25 million more to early childhood education. “With reform, we will be able to invest more in education and give our kids world class schools.” Think Progress
While the proposed budget increases some funding for K-12 education, the University of Illinois system will lose one-third of its state financing under this budget. This very same proposed budget makes absolutely no mention of any increased revenue sources or plans. What will happen to the University system if these cuts are retained in the final budget?
One can expect the cuts to cause increased fees being charged to students as well as the loss of many educational programs. The result of these massive reductions in state financing will be to transfer the costs to students who are already paying high tuition and fee costs. The loan balances of many students already into the 6 figures and Gov. Rauner’s actions will make sure that student debt will continue to climb in Illinois.
So often the claims that all areas of the State have to share in the burden of digging out of a financial hole ends up with some of the most vulnerable bearing the brunt of that burden. If the Governor is convinced that we all have to sacrifice in this job to balance the budget, why wouldn’t new tax sources be considered along with reasonable cuts?
Will these draconian cuts make it more difficult for students from poor and middle class families to obtain a college education? In this very same budget proposal, Gov. Rauner biggest cuts are aimed directly at those who are least able to afford them.
“Yet the state would spend $400 million less on higher education, $600 million less on local governments, and $1.5 billion less on Medicaid, which handles health care costs for poor residents. University leaders and mayors said they were worried, and advocates for the poor said they feared medical needs would go unmet under deep cuts to Medicaid.” New York Times
When the cities, counties and municipalities raise their taxes to pay for basic services for their residents, who has to pay for those increases? “In many cases, Rauner’s state budget cuts could simply end up shifting costs: local governments could choose to raise property taxes, state universities could raise tuition and the CTA could increase fares.” Chicago Tribune
For a man who spent at least $37 million of his own money to get elected governor, he sure has no problem making the middle class and poor pay more for a college education and for health care and local taxes and transportation costs.
Rauner seems to be following the economic model that worked so “well” for Gov. Brownback in Kansas and Gov. Walker in Wisconsin.
Just how has that austerity approach worked out for Kansas and Wisconsin?
Additional Sources: Examiner.com; Crains Chicago Business
“The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.”
It’s not public schools in general that are not succeeding. It’s society that has failed. Public schools and their students in areas in which parents are involved and engaged are thriving.
It truly disturbs me that human decency must be explained.
I don’t know where you get your information that “many of those folks have NO experience in education.” If you mean, are Teachers Unions running charters, then, no, they’re not.
If a Charter does well, it will attract students. Parents like me have the right to school choice.
I met more homeschoolers when we moved here than I’ve known in my entire life. The public schools are THAT bad. The Charters have been a God send. We parents are in the trenches, and we want a choice.
When does ad hominem and ridicule cross the line? When they taunt a person because of their marital status and when they insult one’s child. Two examples. It is really too bad that this has to be spelled out despite the lengthy discussion on this thread about this very thing.
Oh, and the beauty of school choice is that if parents don’t like how a school performs, or spends its money, or treats kids, they can vote with their feet.
The Teachers Unions want to prevent parents from having a choice.
What does that tell you about how highly they value kids?
Gatekeepers are inexperienced?
How about the charter school franchises? Many of those folks have NO experience in education. They are simply business entrepreneurs whose motivation is to make money.
Wade – why do you assume that lack of accountability is not important for Charter schools? Of course it is. Anytime there is wrongdoing it should be exposed, regardless of the source.
Teachers Unions attempt to shut down the entire Charter School system with such tactics. However, here in CA, public school districts actually oversee Charters. I have my own concerns with how much influence they have, since clearly there is a lot rotten in the public school system.
Oh, and if ridicule is a tactic you admire, then why do you object to it when others employ it?
Mespo – Yes, I understand what Ad hominem means. Are you unaware that you engage in it? You’ve made fun of my intelligence often enough, merely because I’ve disagreed with you.
Vicious personal attacks are not “defending standards.” I’ve remarked on this before, hoping that as a guest contributor you would hold yourself to higher standards.
The Catholic Church?
Charter schools, particularly those that operated multiple charters, subcontract the running of their schools. Those contractors do not have to account for how those funds are spent.
I thought the lack of ‘accountability’ in public schools was a big issue. I guess that isn’t true for charter schools.
Maybe the meme IIOIYAAR has evolved to “It is okay if you are a charter school”.
Wadewilliams – I cannot speak for other states but in Arizona, all charters are audited every year.
I just got this from the director of the last school where I was the Instructional Specialist.
I have left out the name of the director and school on purpose. This is one of the first charter schools in Arizona.
If you live in an area where the public schools are substandard, or rife with drugs and gangs, and there is a Charter school that is a top performer, is it a tough decision where to send your child?
If the public school is a top performer, and the Charter does not fare as well, again, is this a decision that is just too difficult for parents to make?
Because the teachers unions would take that decision away. They don’t want merit based pay or the end of tenure. The entire private industry somehow manages to function, day to day, without tenure. But, somehow, it is reverting to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle if teachers be expected to perform on the job.
In fact, what gives the lie to public schools caring about kids is the fact that a public school district sued to shut down a top performing Charter school mid year because they were losing students to the Charter. Luckily, the judge sided with the Charter. I follow this issue closely, and often read about these tactics by the Union.
But, really, what would you expect from an organization that protects pedophile teachers?
“The way you get rich in this world is not by working hard,” said Marty Sullivan, an economist and a contributing editor to Tax Analysts. “It’s by owning large amounts of assets and having those things appreciate in value.”
Clearly he is unaware that the majority of rich are self-made. Every wealthy person I ever met has been self made.
Karen:
“You only seem to write ad hominem, flailing attacks. It’s a sad waste of your time, intellect, and spirit.”
*****************************
Let’s get some terms straight. Ad Hominem does not mean I insult you. Ad Hominem means I say you are a bad person for some reason and hence you should not believed. Insults are simply ridicule directed at people, propositions or motivations. My technique is to ridicule silly ideas and false statements of supposed facts with accurate facts. You may find that crass and you are quite free to skip right over them as you seemingly rarely do. Ridicule has a very illustrious history and is reserved only for the more preposterous ideas or those which front some hidden agenda of the commenter.
It was Thomas Jefferson who explained that “Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.” (Thomas Jefferson
Letter to Francis Adrian Van der Kemp (30 July 1816)). I agree.
I have no problem with competing ideas that differ from my own that are espoused in good faith. I do have trouble with below-the-belt comments about people’s family members who are alive or otherwise. And I’m not crazy about the mountebanks who spew them. I see the offending comments on this thread have been expunged (along with my rejoinders which accomplished their purpose) and, while you were lucky enough to miss them, you can be assured they were beneath the dignity of anyone.
Holding standards means you have to defend them occasionally and that’s my point. That’s not a sad waste of time or spirit; it’s sad waste of time and spirit when you don’t.
mespo – there was a time when I was first on here where you would switch between attacking people and having an actual dialogue with them. Now you are all attack. Karen is right about you and ad hominem attacks.
When a Wildlife Rehab Center Regulates Charter Schools: Inside the Wild World of Charter Regulation
Charter school “authorizers” are charged with making sure schools can be trusted with kids and with public money. Problem is, many lack the tools to do the job.
http://www.propublica.org/article/inside-the-wild-world-of-charter-regulation
Execrpt:
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded, privately run schools freed from many of the rules that apply to traditional public schools. What’s less widely understood is that there are few hard-and-fast rules for how the regulators charged with overseeing charter schools are supposed to do the job. Many are making it up as they go along.
Known as “authorizers,” charter regulators have the power to decide which charter schools should be allowed to open and which are performing so badly they ought to close. They’re supposed to vet charter schools, making sure the schools are giving kids a good education and spending public money responsibly.
But many of these gatekeepers are woefully inexperienced, under-resourced, confused about their mission or even compromised by conflicts of interest. And while some charter schools are overseen by state education agencies or school districts, others are regulated by entities for which overseeing charters is a side job, such as private colleges and nonprofits like the Audubon wildlife rehabilitation center.
One result of the regulatory mishmash: Bad schools have been allowed to stay open and evade accountability.
Karen,
You don’t have to pay capital gains taxes on the main domicile in which you’ve been living for at least two years when you sell it…unless it’s sold a for a certain amount of money.
From the IRS:
Topic 701 – Sale of Your Home
If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may qualify to exclude up to $250,000 of that gain from your income. You may qualify to exclude up to $500,000 of that gain if you file a joint return with your spouse. Publication 523, Selling Your Home, provides rules and worksheets. Topic 409 covers general capital gain and loss information.
In general, to qualify for the exclusion, you must meet both the ownership test and the use test. You are eligible for the exclusion if you have owned and used your home as your main home for a period aggregating at least two years out of the five years prior to its date of sale. You can meet the ownership and use tests during different 2-year periods. However, you must meet both tests during the 5-year period ending on the date of the sale. Generally, you are not eligible for the exclusion if you excluded the gain from the sale of another home during the two-year period prior to the sale of your home. Refer to Publication 523 for the complete eligibility requirements, limitations on the exclusion amount and exceptions to the two-year rule.
http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=7297
Highway robbery of Charter School industry.
“Every year, millions of public education dollars flow through Mitchell’s chain of four nonprofit charter schools to for-profit companies he controls.
The schools buy or lease nearly everything from companies owned by Mitchell. Their desks. Their computers. The training they provide to teachers. Most of the land and buildings. Unlike with traditional school districts, at Mitchell’s charter schools there’s no competitive bidding. No evidence of haggling over rent or contracts.
The schools have all hired the same for-profit management company to run their day-to-day operations. The company, Roger Bacon Academy, is owned by Mitchell. It functions as the schools’ administrative arm, taking the lead in hiring and firing school staff. It handles most of the bookkeeping. The treasurer of the nonprofit that controls the four schools is also the chief financial officer of Mitchell’s management company. The two organizations even share a bank account.”
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/10/massive-fraud-pa-charter-schools-under
Massive fraud in PA charter schools.
“The tally also includes $6.3 million that federal prosecutors allege Dorothy June Brown defrauded from the four Philadelphia-area charters she founded.
But the authors give special attention to another recent case involving a city charter: New Media Technology Charter School in the city’s Stenton section. The former CEO and founding board president went to federal prison in 2012 after admitting they stole $522,000 in taxpayer money to prop up a restaurant, a health-food store, and a private school they controlled, and for defrauding a bank.
From 2005 to 2009, when the crimes were occurring, third-party auditors hired by New Media failed to spot the fraudulent payments.
“Fraud detection in Pennsylvania charter schools should not be dependent upon parent complaints, media exposés, and whistle-blowers,” the authors wrote. Rather, they urged, the system should be proactive and use forensic accounting methods.”
Inga – today I saw that a local school bookstore manager absconded with $70k. The LA school system blew millions on an iPad system that the students hack within minutes.
Turley a Democrat? What nonsense.
Turley supports Citizen United.
Now here is a REALLY hard question so put on your best thinking cap…what party supports Citizen United?
Now see if you can handle a few more.
What party supports ACA?
What attorney is working to defeat ACA?
What House majority leader hired what attorney to sue the President?
A Look at Some of the Driving Forces behind the School Reform Movement and the Effort to Privatize Public Education
http://jonathanturley.org/2013/03/03/a-look-at-some-of-the-driving-forces-behind-the-school-reform-movement-and-the-effort-to-privatize-public-education/