What a difference four votes can make.
Four votes meant the failure of a bill that would have provided a statewide minimum-base level of education funding through the 2000-2001 school year. The plan passed the Illinois Senate but failed to receive the three-fifths majority necessary to pass in the Illinois House–by a mere four votes.
Now the governor has called all legislators back to Springfield on Dec. 2 for a special session to reconsider the legislation. I am glad he did it. Even though the bill did not satisfy everybody, it includes many of the key components of an education plan that most legislators can agree on. I hope that a few more legislators have thought over this legislation and changed their minds. I think that it is a good possibility.
As a member of the House Republican Education Task Force, I helped to shape many of the elements in the final plan, and I chose to co-sponsor it. The plan includes such important reforms as: an extended period before teachers receive tenure; a new no “social promotion” policy, coupled with mandatory remedial programs; and a $1.1 billion school construction bond program.
This plan also encourages good management by placing a cap on administrative costs and requiring that the state superintendent of education serve under a performance-based contract. We have also included a reading block grant to give local schools some flexibility in how they teach reading.
Most of these things were not included in the governor’s plan last spring, and I think they were certainly worth holding out for.
I have said I cannot support an income-tax increase, which is the main reason I voted against the governor’s plan last spring. And even though his plan raised income taxes, it did not guarantee long-term property-tax relief. I also didn’t think it included the necessary academic reforms, many of which we had proposed in the Republican plan.
There is something about the new education package that I want to be perfectly clear about–taxes. This plan includes tax increases on cigarettes (14 cents per pack), riverboat gambling (a graduated tax on gross receipts) and phone calls (about 50 cents for every $25 in calls). I would have preferred the “Kids First” House Republican plan, but it appears impossible to guarantee enough votes without supplementing the general revenue of $120 million with taxes devoted to funding.
I continue to believe that this plan could be accomplished without increasing taxes, but it would take a miracle to pass it in the House. The taxes are a last resort. They are user taxes and will have less of a negative impact on the economy than an income-tax increase. We found some middle ground and, while it might not have been all we wanted, it was reasonable.
This bill is a good compromise. I think it will be beneficial to the students in my district and across the state. I voted “yes” the first time around as a co-sponsor, and I look forward to doing so again when we return to Springfield in early December. Our children deserve no less.
