I, a life member of Illinois Education Association (IEA), was truly disappointed that my organization followed its political action committee and endorsed Democrat Dawn Clark Netsch over Republican Gov. Jim Edgar.
What a short memory they have. In his first term, he made education funding and reform a priority in Illinois by increasing funding to elementary and secondary education.
He enacted new laws that hold Illinois schools more accountable. Edgar also signed the early retirement incentive program for education employees. Local school districts benefited from this program by reducing the number of personnel at the top of the salary structure.
Does Netsch have any reform programs? It looks like IEA is only going on the assumption that she will raise our taxes 42 percent to provide $1 billion on education spending.
