A press release from State Rep. Barb Wheeler:
Rep. Wheeler Encourages Citizen Testimony for SB16 Subject Matter Hearing on November 18
CRYSTAL LAKE….. Concerned about the impact the passage of SB16 would have on suburban school district revenues, State Representative Barbara Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake) is encouraging citizens from District 64 to go on line and submit written testimony stating their opposition to the bill.
“In addition to testimony that can be given in person at the November 18 hearing, the General Assembly allows for testimony that can be submitted through email, fax and U.S. mail,” said Wheeler.
“Citizens who value the quality of our schools need to band together and submit witness slips that show our adamant opposition to this bill that would divert millions in General State Aid away from our schools.”
According to Wheeler, the school districts located within the boundaries of the 64th legislative House district would lose the following amounts of GSA if SB16 is passed as written and approved in the Illinois Senate:
State Rep. Barb Wheeler and State Sen. Pam Althoff listen to Governor Pat Quinnn’s last Budget Message.
- Nippersink District 2: 79.5%
- Johnsburg District 12: 32.6%
- McHenry District 15: 85.5%
- McHenry District 156: 38.4%
- Richmond Burton District 157: 58.1%
- Crystal Lake District 47: 72.6%
- Crystal Lake District 155: 17.2%
- Grass Lake District 36: 77.5%
- Lake Villa District 41: 1.8%
- Fox Lake District 114: 86.5%
- Antioch District 117: 25.0%
- Grant District 124: 13.0%
- Wauconda District 118: 79.7%
“School funding reform is an important issue that should be addressed, but SB16 does not solve the problem,” said Wheeler. “It merely creates new funding winners and losers by taking funding away from school districts whose taxpayers already shoulder a disproportionate share of the cost of educating kids in this state. We all need to work together to derail this horrible bill.”
Citizens may provide testimony by following these steps:
1. Go to www.ilga.gov<http://www.ilga.gov/>
2. Scroll down the page and click on GA Dashboard (in red ink along the left side of the page)
3. Click on the Register icon and fill in your information (registration is recommended but not required)
4. Click on House, Committee Hearings, and then on the “Month” tab
5. Click on the piece of paper icon to the right of the listed hearing (November 18th, Appropriations- Elementary & Secondary Education)
6. Click on Create witness slip
7. Fill out the form
8. In the “subject matter” portion click “opponent”
9. Under “Testimony” you can have your written comments supplied to all board members. This is optional. Interestingly, they do not accept emailed testimony. You may fax your written statement to 217-557-2165 or you may mail it to Illinois State House, Room 426, 401 S. Second Street, Springfield, IL 62706. Make sure that your written testimony is clearly marked at the top of the page: SB16 Testimony, and your name.
10. Fill in verification code
11. Click the box to accept the terms
12. Click Submit
A “Frequently Asked Questions” document is available for those who have additional questions about the process. That document is available at: http://my.ilga.gov/Home/FAQ .
“Residents in suburban McHenry and Lake Counties have every reason to be concerned about SB16,” said Wheeler. “The fact that a hearing has been scheduled now rather than waiting until the new General Assembly is seated in January suggests that we may see movement of this bill during a lame duck session, when outgoing lawmakers are enticed to make unpopular votes.”
Reason #4930 to home school ….. the dynamics of racial identity agitprop will force this cruel Marxist redistributionist schema upon us …..regardless of RINO Rauner …. watch
Make sure Illinois loses Common Core!
That should be legislators #1 priority.
Ask the parents.
The teachers.
This is a disaster of epic proportions.
So we citizens are pitted as adversaries against other citizens, because money is collected from us all by common agreement of our rulers, and net-redistributed in some manner by agreement of these same rulers.
We are encouraged to fight one another for the scraps left after our pie has passed through the gullet of third party administration.
It may seem as though our rulers are adversarial to one another, but they all seem to agree about taking more from all citizens to be ‘fought over’.
The appearance of political advocacy for the home district breaks down entirely when citizens examine the refusal of rulers to fight against unions and school administrator on behalf of their purported constituents–ALL the citizens they are supposed to represent.
Where is the individual citizen’s advocate in this adversarial political system by which we are ruled?
If our schools spend such that they tax our homes 2.75% of total home value and rising, who will advocate for our survival?
If our school district spends $1800 per student per year on ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS vs. peer average school district administrative spending of $1000 per student annually, where is the outraged political advocate ready to defend and protect her constituent citizens?
When will we citizens see through the illusion of being represented in an adversarial process, when we are pawns being frothed up to cheerlead some issue for the narrow benefit of a few rulers who refuse to relinquish the power of channeling money from the hands of the many into the hands of the rulers’ chosen beneficiaries?