In reply to the letter by Donald Coater in the Oct. 21 edition of The Chicago Tribune, I have to say that the finger of guilt is being pointed in the wrong direction. Mr. Coater`s simplistic statements seem to have no factual basis, yet few question them.
While legislation (both federal and state) can determine how much money is put into ”education,” it cannot determine how that money is spent. Therefore, the money that is intended for use in teachers` salaries and funding for certain classes could very possibly be used to buy a special new truck designed to carry folding chairs to different school rallies.
For instance, at Eastern Illinois University, the school that I am presently attending, I listened to the president of the university announce that the school is going to break ground on the site where a new hall annex will soon stand, in which the entire upper floor will be lounge area. Then he turned around and said that there wasn`t enough money in the school`s budget to pay the teachers a decent salary.
The Republican Party is not to blame for the economic problems facing the public universities; the people who budget the money are.
