Education

There is no shortage of reasons we need to have a world-class education system, but at its most fundamental, we need to make sure the generations that come after us, who will run the world we retire into, are properly equipped to face the challenges they will face.

Some of the challenges have been in how to properly fund our schools. The Illinois Constitution guarantees that the state will provide at least 50% of public school funding, but that goal is routinely missed. To make up that funding, local communities are forced to rely heavily on local property taxes. As a result, wealthier areas can afford better-funded schools, and the children who live in less affluent areas are not afforded the resources to provide a good quality education. That produces a socioeconomic - and often racial - disparity in education. This system must be fixed.

IVI-IPO supports

  • Elected School Boards

  • Local School Council control over Chapter One poverty funds and selection of principals

  • The state providing at least 50% of public school funding

  • Equitable funding that does not rely upon property taxes

  • Age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education and birth control instruction in public school

IVI-IPO opposes

  • Charter schools and all forms of public aid to non-public primary and secondary education

  • Reliance on lotteries, casinos, or other gambling to raise revenue for education