Letters: Illinois must keep its promise and maintain evidence-based funding for schools

Chicago Tribune

5 days ago

Illinois made a promise to its children in 2017 — a promise that every student, no matter their ZIP code, deserves a fully funded public education. Lawmakers kept that promise by passing the evidence-based funding (EBF) formula. Since then, students are doing better. Schools are stronger. Communities are more stable.
Now, that progress is at risk.
Before EBF, more than 160 school districts in Illinois were operating with less than 60% of the resources they needed. That meant outdated textbooks, overcrowded classrooms and not enough counselors, nurses or special education services. Today, just one district remains below that 60% mark.
The average adequacy level in underfunded districts has climbed from 67% to 77%. That's not just a number — that's more teachers in classrooms, more help for struggling students and more opportunities for success.
Take the small district that was finally able to hire a full-time social worker. Or the growing high schools that now offer dual-credit programs, saving students thousands in college tuition. In Chicago and beyond, pre-K classrooms have expanded, graduation rates have risen and students are recovering from the deep impacts of COVID-19 faster than in many other states.
None of this happened by accident. It happened because the Illinois General Assembly made a long-term commitment to invest in public education: $300 million in new state dollars each year, targeted to the districts that need them most. The plan also included reimbursements for special education and transportation, plus a Property Tax Relief Grant fund to help ease the pressure on local taxpayers.
This wasn't a one-year fix. It was a deliberate, bipartisan effort to repair decades of inequity — and it's working.
But seven years in, some are questioning whether we can keep going. The economy is uncertain. Federal COVID-19 relief funds have disappeared, and other federal funds are in jeopardy. Districts have seen reimbursements for non-negotiable mandated categorical (MCAT) costs erode. And inflation is hitting families and school budgets alike. That's exactly why now is the wrong time to pull back on EBF or MCATs. Our schools need steady support to keep moving forward, not to start slipping back.
EBF isn't just good policy. It's also one of the most effective education investments Illinois has made in a generation. Lawmakers deserve credit for enacting it — and for holding the line through tough years.
Now we're calling on them to stay the course.
Let's keep our promise to Illinois' nearly 2 million public school students. Let's keep building on the progress we've made. And let's send a clear message: In Illinois, we don't shortchange the future.A bill, HB 1234, that is pending in the Illinois Senate proposes putting the secretary of state's office in charge of studying the fairness of underwriting factors used in auto insurance pricing — specifically, credit scores, ZIP codes and age. While the insurance industry is not opposed to a study, the way this legislation is structured raises serious concerns.
Rather than forming an independent task force to conduct an impartial review, the measure would place full control of the study in the hands of the secretary of state's office, which wants to eliminate these very factors. This arrangement is akin to putting the wolf in charge of the hen house — the conclusion seems predetermined.
The secretary of state's office has no insurance expertise, and it does not possess the technical knowledge needed to accurately assess and evaluate the factors that contribute to pricing in the auto insurance market. The fact is this: No one wants to pay more for insurance than they should. And that's why insurers use a wide range of driving and nondriving factors to ensure that no single variable has a disproportionate impact on an individual's premium. When insurers can accurately price policies, consumers benefit with lower rates overall, more choices for coverage, and greater market and price stability.
Misguided legislation can have direct financial consequences for residents. For example, the state of Washington serves as a cautionary tale: After banning credit-based insurance scoring in 2021, over 60% of Washington drivers saw increased premiums.
Given the secretary of state's established opposition to certain underwriting factors, handing over control of this study raises significant concerns about impartiality. A more credible approach would be to entrust an independent body, such as the University of Illinois Office of Risk Management & Insurance Research, with conducting a truly objective analysis. By having the University of Illinois conduct the study, policymakers could ensure that Illinoisans receive unbiased findings and avoid unintended consequences that may increase costs for consumers.I am writing to express my concerns about the safety issues faced by thousands of public transportation operators like me. I'm a proud member of ATU 241 and have been a CTA bus driver for seven years on routes such as King Drive and Cottage Grove on the South Side. These routes are crucial lifelines for the community.
Every day, I transport children to schools such as Simeon Career Academy and Phillips Academy High School and adults to work or medical appointments. My work supports people like Mary, a wheelchair user I regularly take to the University of Chicago Medical Center. She relies on me to get her there safely. Many others depend on the CTA for their daily needs. If we fail to pass a bill soon, people like Mary and the communities I serve will be adversely affected, impacting all of Illinois.
However, growing safety challenges overshadow my responsibilities. Transit workers face physical attacks and threats. Bus drivers operate their routes without any other staff. Despite having a panic button in my bus, I often resort to prayer for reassurance, which is unsustainable. Our community deserves safe public transport, free from fear. Incidents of attacks on workers and riders make headlines, yet effective safety improvements are lacking.
If we are to retain a quality workforce that can serve the ridership demands, it is imperative that any legislative reform must also address safety.
I urge state legislators to prioritize funding for the United We Move legislation to enhance security and support for drivers. Our goal is a safe and welcoming environment for everyone relying on public transportation. Improving bus safety is not just a priority — it's also essential. By working together, we can ensure every journey is safe for our community members. Both public transit operators and passengers are desperately relying on this immediate decision.In Leslie S. Richards' op-ed 'Philadelphia's transit faces deep cuts. Chicago can still avoid this fate.' (May 21), she makes a clear case that Chicago needs to act now in order to avoid drastic and ultimately costly reductions in service. I accept that. Too many people need reliable and continuous rail and bus service, and it would be awful for a city the size of Chicago not to have suitable mass transit.
But what continues to infuriate me is how and why Chicago is in this mess in the first place. Sure, the pandemic impacted ridership significantly, but everyone knew ridership would continue to be slow to come back, and we certainly knew when federal dollars would dry up. Many of the structural problems facing mass transit in Chicago existed well before the pandemic and could have been addressed years ago, before the current crisis.
Chicago's transit system got stuck with an old funding model that couldn't keep up with rising costs. Leaders should've taxed more services, such as streaming, to raise steady money. They also missed chances to keep riders on board with improved safety and better service. Merging agencies and setting aside a rainy-day fund would've helped too. Instead, the city leaned on temporary federal cash, and now that that's gone, we're facing this huge gap.
This is typical of our city: Don't address the problem initially and then simply wait for the crisis in order to attempt to fix it. Poor leadership all around. And the city and state taxpayers will bear the cost of any fix — and does anyone really think our government is capable of doing that effectively?