Madigan and taxes; Rep. Monique Davis and HB232; and the Olympics
Sat AM odds and ends:
Daily Herald on our lawmakers' appetites,
Current state taxes can no longer satisfy lawmakers’ spending appetites, all but ensuring a tax increase is coming this spring, House Speaker Michael Madigan recently told a suburban audience.Collin Hitt on one lawmaker's efforts to make sure technology not part of better education,
“Before we finish the budget in May or June, Illinois is going to need a tax increase,” said Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, during an appearance this week at the College of Lake County’s Lakeshore Campus in Waukegan. “You’ve heard it many, many times: We need more and better education. That takes money.”
Amidst efforts by the Chicago Teachers Union to shut down the Chicago Virtual Charter school,State Rep. Monique Davis (D - Chicago) has introduced legislation designed to stop public schools from funding a form of distance learning called"virtual schooling."And the Gov wants to use some of the money Illinois doesn't have to underwrite Chicago's bid for the Olympics,
Illinois traditionally has been supportive of greater student access to learning technologies. The state board of education has funded and maintained the Illinois Virtual High School for ten years. Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn recently has begun promoting his I-Connect Initiative to provide every seventh grader with a laptop computer.
Introduced in January, Davis' legislation to prohibit virtual schools (HB232) working its way through committee would ban the Illinois State Board of Education and local school boards from, "establishing, maintaining, or in any way supporting any virtual schools or virtual classes for elementary or secondary students in [Illinois]."
The legislation has subsequently allowed for "virtual classes" in public school, yet still denies charter schools funding for virtual learning of any kind, even with privately-raised funds.
Like their counterparts in California, Illinois taxpayers could be on the hook to help bankroll Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics.Great, just great....
On Saturday, the U.S. Olympic Committee will decide whether Chicago or Los Angeles will represent the United States in the international competition to host the summer games.
If Chicago gets the nod, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he will commit $150 million in state funds as a safety net in the event the games lose money.
1 comments:
If the kids in Monique's district start getting their learning somewhere else via computer, that is pretty scary for the teachers and adminisgtrators in her district. As in most Illinois districts, those teachers aren't really that competent and they are terrified at the potential offered by distance learning to replace them and more efficiently expose children to intelligent and competent educators.
Distance learning and its inherent potential for competition is definitely not a win for the teachers' welfare societies...our local schools.
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