I chose to raise my children in Chicago because I wanted them to experience growing up surrounded by a diverse group of friends. From celebrating Diwali with their classmates to teaching other kids about the Jewish High Holidays, I have seen the best of our diverse community represented in my kids’ classrooms. But the faculty and programs that maintain the vibrancy of our schools — from dedicated staff to arts and cultural programs — are under threat.
Our school is one of the lucky ones. Thanks to the deep engagement of parents and local businesses as well as the relatively high income level in our neighborhood, we are able to raise money to buy supplies, curriculum materials and more to support our school. But this privilege only further highlights the deep harms caused by inadequate funding for our schools.
Last year, our school community struggled to raise money to save essential staff. Key essential subjects, like library and music, have been up in the air. Students have begged district officials to retain their favorite teachers. At pickup, I have talked to a number of parents who are considering moving their children to private school. Their personal decisions reflect what they think is best for their families, but the loss of these families would only deepen the struggle for the rest of us while also highlighting the further challenges to those who cannot afford to send their kids elsewhere.
By its own words, the state is not adequately funding Chicago Public Schools. In our community, parents have been able to make up a portion of the rest, but as the cuts keep piling up, more and more parents are considering leaving the system, creating a cycle of disinvestment.
We know the federal government is failing Chicago students by cutting key funds. Our leaders in Springfield can and must do better by adequately funding CPS.
It’s not enough to speak out against the anti-education policies of this presidential administration. Illinois leaders must put their money where their mouth is in order to fully fund our schools.
— Maria Tchijov, Chicago
Editorial about District 214
Township High School District 214 is a leader in career pathways. Eighty-four percent of our graduates leave with college credit. When we built our strategic plan, the community asked that our buildings match the quality of what happens inside them.
Friday’s editorial asks whether District 214 has exhausted its other options (“Many suburban school districts are asking taxpayers for more on Nov. 3. What happens if strapped taxpayers refuse?”). Our last bond referendum was in 1971. Over the past decade, we put nearly $200 million into our buildings from existing funds, and we will keep doing so, whatever voters decide. Last year, we also cut $5 million in positions that don’t work directly with students. Any family that balances a checkbook would recognize the approach.
The $100 million that the editorial calls Plan B is not a cheaper way to do the same work. It is what existing funds can stretch to over 10 years, about a third of what’s cited in the ballot question. The rest waits. The emergency repairs don’t.
As for the reserves: Cook County property tax bills have arrived months late in recent years. Reserves are how we pay teachers and keep buildings open while we wait, without borrowing against future tax collections and passing the interest on to taxpayers.
Wants versus needs? Residents settled that. After more than 4,500 responses, the Board of Education scaled the plan back to the essentials. What’s left is the unglamorous list: fire alarms, door hardware, roofs, windows, and heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems, much of it original to buildings that opened between 1957 and 1973. Nearly 1,400 building assets are due for updating within 10 years.
The scoreboards? The gym boards were required by new Illinois High School Association shot clock rules, and not every stadium scoreboard was replaced. Sponsorships now being sold will offset the cost, and none of it is on the ballot. And yes, we work with donors. One gave $1 million for a robotics lab. But donors tend to fund student opportunities. Few will put their name on a boiler.
The cost is about $14 a month on a $396,500 home. Residents and business owners can use the calculator at renew214.org.
The district takes no position on how residents vote. We ask only that they vote with the facts.
— Scott Rowe, superintendent, Township High School District 214, Arlington Heights
More Top Picks Kitchen
Making the tracing clear
An Oct. 25 article “Mold in schools a growing problem” addresses a serious concern. Students and teachers deserve safe buildings, and taxpayers deserve a clear explanation of what went wrong.
The article cites regional rainfall trends and researchers who explain how warmer, wetter conditions can contribute to mold. It also describes building maintenance, water intrusion and ventilation problems.
What remains unclear is how investigators determined the contribution of climate change to the mold found in the particular schools discussed. Were those outbreaks traced to flooding from unusually heavy rainfall, leaking roofs, inadequate humidity control or some combination of factors?
The subheadline in print presents climate change as an established explanation. Yet the reporting does not clearly distinguish between regional conditions that increase risk and findings establishing why these buildings developed mold.
That distinction matters. Understanding the specific causes helps parents and taxpayers assess whether school officials took reasonable preventive measures and what needs to change.
Please make clear which conclusions come from building inspections, which reflect broader climate research and which remain uncertain. The strength of the headline should match the specificity of the evidence.
— Robert Barr, Downers Grove
Social safety net programs
In his Oct. 22 letter “Advent of socialism,” Matt Korzeniowski asserts that “we are voting ourselves into socialism, spearheaded by the Democrats.”
Republicans have long tried to scare us about socialism, and even communism, as governmental programs and regulations have been developed to improve people’s lives. Those scare tactics were particularly notable when Social Security and unemployment compensation were created in the 1930s and when Medicare was created in the 1960s. Yet very few Americans today would support ending these “socialist” programs.
Meanwhile, Democrats are strongly opposed to the kind of corrupt authoritarian government that Republicans seem unwilling to even speak out against. And Republicans favor tax cuts for the wealthiest, while supporting tariffs that are clobbering many families. The costs of corruption, a war of choice, and other policies that keep driving up prices, threaten the economic well-being of most Americans. And the erosion of constitutional rights and the rule of law presents an even greater threat.
Somehow, the “socialism” attributed to Democrats doesn’t seem so scary, especially given the Republican alternative.
— David J. Roberts, emeritus DePaul University professor, Skokie
A diplomat to emulate
Columnist John T. Shaw’s homage to Donald McHenry was appreciated (“‘Child of Illinois’ offers powerful lessons on statecraft and service,” Oct. 25). He is a true gentleman and a scholar, as the saying goes, although I knew him personally as a Georgetown student in the early 1970s. His style was diplomatic but firm, and he had no qualms about showing us dreamers the real world. His manner and his methods stuck, and I wish that our diplomatic relations today followed his pattern.
— Jim John, Chicago
Bears can just pay for it
Not everyone in Illinois is a Bears fan. And most of us are tired of paying for the playthings of millionaires and billionaires. The Bears want a fancy new stadium? Pay for it. Take out loans. Like the rest of us pay for the things we want but don’t necessarily need.
— Elaine Roberts, Barrington
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