An opportunity to be a hero to thousands of children is awaiting Gov. Rod Blagojevich. By changing the way Illinois funds its schools, he can offer many kids a way out of poverty. Of course, he is fully aware of the need for change, as state Sens. James Meeks and Emil Jones, among others, are screaming in his ear for justice for their constituents.
The governor seems to be deaf, though, to the cries of all who call for school-funding reform. And while he would have to be Horton to hear my little Who voice, maybe, just maybe I will be Jo-Jo, the little shirker whose “Yopp” will make the difference.
When Rod Blagojevich was just a pimply-faced, pubescent boy, Congress passed a pretty piece of legislation titled the Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974. The most important sentence of this act reads, “The Congress declares it to be the policy of the United States that ... all children enrolled in public schools are entitled to equal educational opportunity without regard to race, color, sex, or national origin.”
In 1974, chances are Rod was too busy stumping for student council votes to be aware of the act. Now, however, he bears the responsibility for ensuring that this policy is carried out in the state of Illinois. At the moment, to say that he is failing miserably in this capacity is a gross understatement. Because of the way schools are funded in this state, Illinois ranks dead last in several important categories.
Illinois’ heavy reliance on local property taxes to finance its schools has resulted in “the largest gap in per-pupil spending between the highest and the lowest poverty districts, as compared to every other state in the nation,” reports The 2005 Illinois Poverty Summit. A+ Illinois, an organization working for public school funding equity, reveals that 18 districts in Illinois reported a per-pupil instruction expenditure of more than $14,000 in 2003.
On the other end of the spectrum, 46 districts reported a per-pupil expenditure of less than $6,000.
What does $8,000 buy a student? Options. Kids in suburban schools have access to the latest technology, every advanced-placement class in existence, and music, art and sports facilities worthy of professionals. Suburban students believe they are entitled to the quality education they receive, and they are right. Every student in the state is entitled to such an education. However, many urban and rural students do not receive that to which they are entitled.
Imagine trying to learn to conduct research without computers, the Internet or even library books. Imagine learning about health and science from 20-year-old text books. Imagine trying to grasp chemistry or physics concepts without books or lab equipment. Imagine the ceiling and walls crumbling around you and the stench of backed-up plumbing filling your nostrils while you struggle to learn.
Such conditions exist in Illinois schools. Teachers try to teach and students try to learn under such circumstances every day in our home state. Eventually though, frustration mounts; teachers move on to jobs in the suburbs; students turn to the streets. With little education, they turn to crime or welfare to survive. They turn to drugs and alcohol to escape the ugliness of the squalor from which they cannot escape. Yes, $8,000 can buy a lot. It can buy a life.
Not everyone wants to change the system, though. Those for whom the system is working want the status quo maintained. And those for whom the system is working are the elite, wealthy, politically connected few. Most politicians are slaves to these elite campaign fund contributors, not their consciences. In order to change the system, Gov. Blagojevich will have to do the right thing rather than the politically expedient thing.
If the governor and state legislators fail to remedy the school funding inequities, more children will be doomed to a life of devastating poverty with each passing year. Already, Illinois is home to the highest child poverty rate in the Midwest, according to the Poverty Summit, and the rate continues to climb.
It rose a startling 10 percent from 1999 to 2004. If I could put faces on these statistics, faces of precious, innocent babies, would that move Gov. Blagojevich to act? All children deserve the equal educational opportunities that offer them the chance to escape the circumstances in which they were born. Providing these opportunities is the right thing to do, and it’s the law.
Over the last 30 years, a long procession of governors ignored the law. Gov. Blagojevich inherited the result of his predecessors’ failure to fairly fund our schools. However, if he does not address the problem, he bears responsibility for the dismal futures of today’s disenfranchised children.
On the other hand, if he spearheads the effort to reform school funding in a manner that equitably shares resources with the children of urban Chicago, East St. Louis (yes, it is in Illinois) and rural districts around the state, he can take credit for improving the lives of thousands upon thousands of today’s children.
Perhaps tonight, before his kids go to bed, the governor should read “Horton Hears a Who” to them, and when he reads, “… some poor little person who’s shaking with fear/ That he’ll blow in the pool! / He has no way to steer! / I’ll just have to save him. Because, after all, /A person’s a person, no matter how small,” he should think of Illinois’ underprivileged children.
Well, this is the end of my little Yopp. You know, governor, a donkey could do worse than follow the example of a soft-hearted elephant.