Wednesday, July 30, 2008

James Meeks Suportts Publick Skools

A commentary by Dan Proft:
Supporting more money for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is not the same thing as being a supporter of public education.

This distinction is lost on both the media and our political class as witnessed by PR stunts like the one pulled by Illinois State Senator James Meeks yesterday.

Meeks wants to bus Chicago public school students up to New Trier High School in Winnetka on the first day of school to protest the disparity in funding levels.

While it may be that per pupil expenditures for the Chicago Public Schools (roughly $11,000 per student) exceed the national average, exceed the state average and exceed the averages of each of the collar counties in the metropolitan region, Meeks believes that because another district is spending more then, by definition, Chicago is not spending enough.

Senator Jimmy One Note has conveniently chosen not to address the districts that spend considerably less for considerably better results and the Chicago media are polite enough not to press him on this matter.

Meeks has also been spared having to explicate how only 6% of Chicago public school students will go on to earn a bachelor's degree by the age of 25. That appalling result comes with a $4.6 billion annual price tag.
Something else worth reading!

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