7/29/2008

IL Sen. James Meeks grandstanding hurts his cause

No stranger to controversy or grandstanding, IL State Senator Rev. James Meeks is calling on Chicago Public Schools students to skip their first day of classes so he and other ministers can bus them to toney suburban school districts to highlight the supposed inequity in funding between the two:

In a protest over the apparent inequality in education funding, Chicago public school students are being asked to skip the first day of classes.

Reverend James Meeks is organizing the school funding protest.

Reverend Meeks is also asking parents to enroll their children in wealthier, white, suburban schools. Chicago Public Schools spends about $10,000 a year on each student. While some suburbs spend almost $20,000 per pupil.

We'll leave aside for the moment the supplemental funding that comes from local taxes enacted at the behest of the residents of those suburban communities to ensure the quality of their children's education. We'll just focus on Meeks' lunacy in crafting a plan that hurts his own cause:

Back in Chicago, CPS' board president is concerned about the funding gap and how missing the first day of school may negatively impact funding for the year.

"Our money is dependent on average attendance. The first day of school is very important because that is the day we have the highest attendance and really pull out the stops to get children in school, that's the day we do it," said Rufus Williams, CPS board president.

As is usually the case with grandstanding, it isn't very well thought out.

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Filed Under: Illinois Politics

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