Jackson Potter and Kate Lowe: Public education and transit benefit Chicagoans but aren't being fully funded

Chicago Tribune

6 hours ago

Everyone deserves quality public education and transit, whether residing in the Gold Coast or Roseland, Little Village or Peoria. But there's no magic that can make education and mass transit work. World-class systems of public accommodation require significant funding.
Beyond our belief in education and mobility as critical rights, both systems pay collective dividends.
Drivers benefit from less congestion because of folks riding buses and trains. The air is cleaner. And, public transit fuels $35 billion of economic activity in the region. Similarly, when students have access to quality pre-K-12 education, their lives are transformed, employers have more access to ready workers, families are stabilized and neighborhoods experience lifelong health and economic benefits.
We're not surprised to see big business leaders, conservatives and elites disingenuously talk about reform, mismanagement and the boogeyman of government waste in education and transit. For instance, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency fixates on claims of fraud and waste that fail to materialize while his own corporate interests benefit immensely from government subsidies. Government policy for the few gets a free pass while the services that benefit the many, like public schools and transit, face attack on multiple fronts.
Of course, we want public dollars used effectively with accountability. There have been missteps and failures. But the purported solutions, such as privately run charter schools or new transit agencies, have exacerbated budget constraints and service cuts. Instead, we need to mobilize for the political will to directly tackle decades of underfunding and the structural factors — such as racial inequality, poverty and car dependency — that present challenges for the provision of public goods.
It is not possible to realize the transformational potential of public education when the state of Illinois ranks 44 out of 50 states in equitable funding, leaving more than 80% of districts inadequately funded.
As states prepare for draconian federal cuts to school programs that support English language learners, community schools and equitable practices, the most recent budget passed by the Illinois General Assembly reduces the amount needed to comply with the state's own evidence-based school funding model instead of expanding it. This is already matriculating to districts such as Chicago Public Schools in the form of reduced staffing for dual language programs, restorative justice coordinators and special education programs.
We cannot fight President Donald Trump's cuts to schools and services by cutting the programs he seeks to destroy.
Likewise, while all Chicagoland transit agencies face a funding crisis, the CTA is especially underfunded, accounting for more than 80% of riders in the region, but receiving less than 50% of regional transit dollars.
At the end of May, rank-and-file legislators were left with only hours to make sense of public transit revenue strategies. The new proposed governance arrangement will underrepresent riders and the city of Chicago. The legislature did not offer a solution for the long-term needs of the people of Illinois. Instead, we're likely to see more ghost buses and trains, as operators quit because of feeling their jobs are at risk.
Rather than what is in front of us, legislators should return to the governance solutions in the United We Move bill that offers fare integration, service coordination and representative voices from riders, residents and workers on the transit boards. But that is secondary to providing the revenue needed to prevent the potential cuts to 50 CTA rail stations, 74 bus routes, as well as PACE and Metra cuts.
The state of Illinois is supposed to represent a beacon for progressive policies in a moment of great peril. The best resistance to Trump is by setting the example of how we govern differently, in a way that protects working people and provides for opportunity instead of fleecing them and robbing them of it.
Fully funded public schools, pensions, medical services and public transit are fully possible in our state.
We still have time to avert devastating cuts and hope for progressive revenue solutions, such as digital advertising taxes or other proposals by the Illinois Revenue Alliance.
The governor has considered only 5% of the $6 billion in progressive taxes offered by the alliance to address the tremendous funding gaps for medical, education and transit services that working families across Illinois depend on every day. Even a one-year stopgap could prevent public transit cuts. Longer term, we must revisit the progressive income tax amendment despite the rhetoric of reform-fixated elites.
Our rights, equity, economy and environment depend on swift action and equity-oriented leadership for education and public transit.