 Consumer research group WalletHub says Illinois ranks 45th among all the states
when it comes to federal funds going back to states, something spokeswoman Jill
Gonzales says means the Land of Lincoln is less reliant on federal dollars.
“One would be the most dependent, 50th the least dependent, so Illinois is
pretty independent on it’s own,” Gonzales said.
However, Bill Foster, Democratic U.S. representative for the 11th District, said
Illinois taxpayers aren’t getting their money’s worth when it comes to federal
funding for things like education, infrastructure and social services.
“This forces us to eventually increase state taxes, which causes industrial
flight,” Foster said.
Gonzales said the amount of a state’s gross domestic product plays a role.
“A low dependency on the federal government usually means a high GDP, and
Illinois is definitely up there,” Gonzales said.
However, Foster said the reason Illinois gets fewer tax dollars from the federal
government is because it’s among the larger states, which typically get less.
“The federal government should not be in the business of massive redistribution
of wealth between the states,” Foster said.
Foster said one major problem is the lack of federal reimbursement for natural
disasters to a state like Illinois, which saw flooding in the southern part of
the state at the end of last year but no federal funds were awarded for cleanup
efforts.
The WalletHub study can be found at this link:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700/
CHARTER SCHOOL NETWORK HAS CONCERNS ABOUT CHARTER UNIONIZATION
While a charter school in Chicago is forming a union, the Illinois Network of
Charter Schools wants to ensure other unions don’t impose.
Illinois law does not force a charter school to create a union, but does allow
for the option among members.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers touts the recent vote approving a union for
the Passages Charter School in the city’s West Edgewater neighborhood. Workers
voted to join the Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff Local 4343. However,
Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, has some
concerns.
Broy said there could be problems if the Chicago Teachers Union takes an
interest in bargaining on behalf of charter school unions, noting, “I think they
will likely make it more of a political statement than it will be a
collaboration between teachers and management, and that does worry us long
term.”
Broy said unions representing teachers at charter schools should work to retain
flexibility to be innovative and to think about different staffing structures.
Broy added, “To the extent that a union contract will prioritize a
one-size-fits-all approach, that is counter to the charter model.”
Broy also said charter schools should not work against their best interests if a
union is formed at a charter school.
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 “Provided that there’s an agreement to do it and the management
and labor can work together to maintain charter autonomy, then it
can work quite well,” Broy said.
Of the charters in Chicago, Broy said the majority have chosen to
remain independent of unions and only two of the 15 charters outside
of Chicago have a union.
Meanwhile Broy says 700 parents from across the state will be in
Springfield Wednesday to lobby lawmakers in support of more charter
school options.
THIRD PARTIES IN UPHILL BALLOT ACCESS BATTLE; MISS OUT ON MEDIA
COVERAGE DURING PRIMARY
Last week was the first week that political parties other than
Republicans and Democrats were able to circulate petitions to get on
the November ballot in Illinois, and candidates are pointing out the
large disparities in the process.
Libertarian candidate for state comptroller Claire Ball told WMAY
Springfield she has to get at least five times more signatures than
her Republican and Democrat opponents, which is 25,000 signatures —
a big undertaking.
“We’re going to be out there every single day hitting up every train
station, every event, every festival, just gathering signatures,”
Ball said.
Meanwhile Rich Whitney, who ran as the Green Party candidate for
governor in 2006 and 2010, said the process for new parties is like
the Greek myth of Sisyphus.
“It’s like rolling that boulder up the hill and then it rolls back
down over you and you have to start over again,” Whitney said.
As the Green Party candidate for governor Whitney, was able to get
more than 10 percent of the vote in 2006, securing the Green Party
as an established party. But in 2010 the party got below the
threshold, which removed the party’s established classification.
Meanwhile new-party candidates say the problem isn’t just the
disproportionate number of signatures they have to collect to get on
the ballot, it’s also the months of missed political media coverage.
Per Illinois election law, new party candidates were allowed to
circulate petitions beginning March 29. That’s two weeks after the
March primary and nearly four months after Republicans and Democrats
could begin collecting signatures and generating media coverage.
Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate Kent McMillen said that missed
media time is detrimental to fully informing voters. “They only
focus on who is the most well-known or who makes the most outrageous
statements,” McMillen said. “I believe that’s a disservice to the
voters.”
Meanwhile Whitney said Illinois’ system is extremely unfair for
parties other than Democrats and the GOP.
“It’s a tilted playing field,” Whitney said. “That’s what we have in
the American political system today and nowhere is it more tilted
than in Illinois.”
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