CAT Tracks for March 5, 2004

CAT Tracks for March 5, 2004

ALTERNATIVE FUNDING?

May the guessing begin...

Gov coyly hints at new source of school funds

March 3, 2004

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
Chicago Sun-Times

Trying to turn the tide in favor of his school takeover plan, Gov. Blagojevich said Tuesday he's eyeing a "new funding source" that would bolster state support for public schools and shift the burden away from beleaguered property taxpayers.

Blagojevich refused to identify the revenue idea, except to say that the discussion is "still in an incubator stage" and includes "certain things that are interesting -- certain things that are a little bit controversial."

And he continued to hold the carrot over the General Assembly. The governor said once again he would not entertain a major overhaul of the state's school funding until lawmakers approve his plan to take over the State Board of Education.

"If we're going to have serious discussions about the inequities of the funding formula, we have to have this kind of reform first because the taxpayers have been burned way too many times in this state," Blagojevich said.

In January, Blagojevich used his annual State of the State address as a forum to bash what he called the "Soviet-style bureaucracy" of the state school board.

In a move patterned after Mayor Daley's 1995 takeover of the Chicago Public Schools, he called on lawmakers to create a new Department of Education.

On Tuesday, Daley joined Blagojevich at Northside College Prep to shore up support for the governor's plan on the eve of a pivotal hearing by the entire Senate. "This is a bold move. ... I want to compliment the governor," Daley said.

The tease about a new funding source for schools was an apparent attempt to appease the Senate's black caucus. Earlier this week, the nine-member bloc declared its opposition to the governor's plan on grounds that it is "superfluous and irrelevant" until Blagojevich finds a better way to fund Illinois schools and boost test scores.

The governor has slammed the door on a tax swap -- higher income or sales taxes in exchange for lower property taxes -- on the grounds that it would violate his promise not to approve an across-the-board tax increase.

"There are those who believe there's a way to incrementally increase education funding. This is what we're doing [with a $400 million increase in each of the last two years]. There's a third alternative. There could be a new funding source."

Black caucus rips state schools plan

Blagojevich's bid to gut agency faces another hurdle

By Ray Long and Courtney Flynn, Tribune staff reporters.
Tribune staff reporter Molly Parker contributed to this report.
Published March 3, 2004

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposed education overhaul came under strong attack Tuesday from the Senate black caucus, giving the governor another significant hurdle to surmount for a plan already receiving a chilly reception from many lawmakers.

Blagojevich's plan to gut the State Board of Education and assume its duties is scheduled to be debated Wednesday in a rare committee hearing encompassing the full Senate. The governor is scheduled to be among those who will testify.

But even before he did, members of the black caucus threatened to vote against his proposal and accused Blagojevich of making a show of acting boldly on education reform while actually displaying a lack of leadership.

Meanwhile in Chicago, Blagojevich raised the possibility that he might find what he called a "new funding source" to help raise more money to support schools without having to resort to the politically unpopular step of increasing income or sales taxes.

Later in Springfield, he said his staff had been brainstorming ways to raise revenue for schools but had nothing particular in mind. "There is no idea," Blagojevich said. "There's just a lot of ideas being thrown around a room down the road to be able to come up with some alternatives rather than those who are proposing an income tax increase."

However, Blagojevich ruled out the notion of imposing a new state tax or relying on an expansion of gambling to raise more school money. He has rejected the idea of raising the income or sales taxes as part of a complex tax swap that would increase state school money but reduce property taxes.

The black caucus took issue with Blagojevich for proposing in his next budget a $400 million increase in education but leaving it up to the legislature to decide how to distribute the money.

Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood) said the caucus would vote to stop the governor's takeover if he fails to address a series of issues, particularly a desire to increase state school spending even further. "This is an issue we cannot sit back and let go," said Lightford, who chairs the nine-member Senate black caucus.

Two of the most prominent caucus members, Sen. President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Chicago), who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, did not join in the news conference and said they were keeping an open mind on the governor's plan. But both have expressed reservations about it.

Lightford made it clear the caucus' wariness of Blagojevich's proposal was accompanied by a lingering resentment over the governor's charge last fall that legislators were spending like a "bunch of drunken sailors."

"Are you actually taking control of education, or is it easier to have the `drunken sailors' be the fall guy?" Lightford asked.

Other caucus issues ranged from a desire to address achievement gaps among blacks, whites and Hispanics, providing proper professional development for teachers and the governor's proposal to require community service for students to graduate from high school.

Another issue drawing opposition from the caucus is the governor's proposal to delay until early 2007--after the next election for governor--the issuance of a comprehensive annual report on school progress that he would assume responsibility for under the takeover plan.

At his Chicago appearance, Blagojevich said the state's education bureaucracy wastes money and needs to be overhauled before taxpayers are asked to spend much more on schools.

Appearing at a news conference with Mayor Richard Daley, Blagojevich sought to fend off questions about inequities in school funding and the link between soaring property tax bills and the reliance of many school districts on property taxes as their main source of revenue.

Daley likened the governor's proposal to the 1995 law, passed by a then Republican-controlled legislature, that gave him more power to overhaul the Chicago schools.

The mayor was initially cool to the takeover when it was first proposed by then Republican Gov. Jim Edgar, but Daley soon embraced it.

Blagojevich was serving in the Illinois House when the Chicago takeover plan was passed and voted against it. Even so, on Tuesday he lavished praise over Daley's handling of the Chicago schools since the law was passed.

"We look to what Mayor Daley did in Chicago, saw the courage, saw the willingness to stand up and take responsibility," Blagojevich said.

Daley said he would talk to individual lawmakers if the governor needs help garnering support for the measure.