Funding the Future by Investing in Education

“The State has the primary responsibility for financing the system of public education,” reads Article 10, Section 1 of the Illinois State Constitution. In the 84th, school districts overwhelming are funded through local property taxes. Some districts receive as high as 88% of their revenue from local property taxes. Statewide, schools receive an average of nearly 60% of their revenue from local property taxes. The state needs to fulfill its Constitutional promise to fund the future of our society. I believe the school portion of local property taxes needs to be replaced with income tax.

I have a three-part plan for changing the way we fund and build schools.

1.Give the schools more authority in approving new housing developments.

2.Freeze the education portion of your property tax bill for as long as you own your home and increase the income tax from 3% to 4% over a four-year period . Families making under $80,000 will be exempt from the income tax increase.

3.After completing Step 2, gradually eliminate the school property taxes while increasing the income tax from 4% to 5% over 10 years. Families making under $80,000 will be exempt from the income tax increase.

Building a Better School

Districts like the 84th, one of the fastest growing areas in the country, have schools constantly playing catch-up in order to find room and resources for new students.

According to the 2007 Illinois State Board of Education report cards, seven public high schools, which have students living in the 84th, have class sizes larger than the state average. Two of those high schools (Minooka Community and Plainfield Central) are forced to educate on a split shift schedule in order to accommodate their abundance of students.

School districts must ask voters to pass referenda and increase their property taxes every time they need a new school. This can take years to happen, and in the meantime schools become more crowded. School districts need the freedom to build what they need when they need it.

Right now the developers and villages are the only ones at the table when it comes to growth. I want to bring the students, schools and property tax payers to the table so that we can grow together instead of apart.

Growing Together

We need to build infrastructure as we grow. I am in favor of building a new hospital in the 84th district so that our residents have access to good health care.

The state roads in the 84th were designed for a more rural community that this area resembled 20 years ago. I will see that the state will turn its attention to the 84th, a district that needs it the most, when it comes to distributing money for road improvement and expansion.