Tryon Praises Citizen Involvement in Legislative Process

A press release from State Rep. Mike Tryon:

Representative Mike Tryon Responds to Successful Derailment of SB16

SPRINGFIELD….. With the banging of the gavel that signified the end of the 98th General Assembly in the Illinois House on Wednesday, suburban legislators celebrated the successful derailment of Senate Bill 16. In response to the effective campaign to kill the bill, State Representative Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) has issued the following statement:

“My hat is off to the more than 7,000 citizens who filed opposition slips on SB16 and the almost 5,000 people who signed the anti-SB16 petition.

During my 10 years in the House of Representatives I have never seen this level of citizen engagement on a legislative issue.

Mike Tryon

Mike Tryon

“I have no doubt that that the magnitude of public resistance was a key factor in the bill’s inability to advance during this legislative session.

“It appears the message was delivered loud and clear that suburban taxpayers, who already pay a disproportionate share of the costs for educating Illinois children, will not idly stand by and watch their hard-earned tax dollars diverted away from their kids’ schools and toward Chicago and downstate districts.

“I look forward to the continuation of the school funding discussion next year and will continue to insist that true equity be a key element of the process.

“When we have a current scenario where many collar county taxpayers are paying around $5 per hundred dollars of assessed valuation toward their school taxes and the City of Chicago, which only pays $2.80 per hundred dollars of assessed valuation, there is an issue with equity.

“I encourage a continuation of the debate and look forward to seeing fairness and real equity in the ultimate solution.”


Comments

Tryon Praises Citizen Involvement in Legislative Process — 11 Comments

  1. Disgusting!

    He just nailed McHenry County taxpayers with higher taxes!!!!

  2. Tryon is saying the right thing to get re-elected.

    That is not what’s best for the students.

    Education funding is broken in Illinois in many ways.

    To say that funding for monopoly schools is preserved is not a success.
    The number one priority of spending in the government monopoly schools is salaries, benefits,
    retiree healthcare, pensions, administrative power, board member power, and union power.

    In return for providing that money, politicians get voted into office.
    The only way the cycle will ever be broken is when parents and taxpayers understand the current
    system.

    That is a long way off.

    Those in power are very good at hiding the flaws of the current system.

    And the just passed further restrictions on FOIA is just going to make revealing those flaws more difficult.

    After parents and taxpayers understand the current monopoly public education system in terms of financing, academic performance, spending, etc., they will demand change.

    But that takes a lot of effort for little personal financial gain.

    The key is schools are a monopoly.

    Monopoly schools worked well when there were one room school houses with the only employee in the building being a teacher.

    Especially in United States urban and suburban schools, monopoly schools are not going to produce the most well educated students.

    The hallmark of the United States is choice.

    There is no choice in most government monopoly school districts.
    You attend the neighborhood school.

    Period.

    There are some exceptions, mainly in charter schools in large urban school districts, but even there, you are in the school district’s control to some extent.

    Would you receive the best service if there was only Wal-Mart, and not Target, K Mart, Meijer, etc.

    How about if there was only GM, and not Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, etc.

    How about if there was only Home Depot and not Lowes, Ace Hardware, True Value, Sears, etc.

  3. The cycle will never be broken as long as We, The People, allow public sector unions to hold OUR children hostage!

    There is only one solution: End the right to strike for public sector unions.

    Run for school board office!!!

    NOW!

  4. Why McHenry County real estate can only continue to sink in value as rulers relentlessly raise tax levies 2007-present:

    A household earning median income in McHenry County cannot qualify for a conforming mortgage loan on a median priced home in McHenry County as property tax rates rise from 3% to 4%.

    $77,325/12 x.28=$1804 ($1804 is highest monthly payment qualifying for conforming mortgage)
    $233,000 loan (amortized over 30 years at 4% mortgage rate)=
    monthly payment at national average property tax rate

    1.25%=$1355

    monthly payment at Eastern McHenry County property tax rate 3%=$1695

    monthly payment at Western McHenry County property tax rate 4%=$1889

  5. As long as we calculate the cost of education on a per-kid basis and then give that money to school districts to spend, we’ll never have real education finance reform.

    Education is the parents’ responsibility, but government treats parents as if they’re incapable of making proper choices for their own children’s education.

    Thus, it takes the matter of where or how kids are educated out of their hands. That will continue to be the case until parents demand that it change.

    The only way to provide fair educational funding and improved educational outcomes is to provide vouchers to parents and let them choose where their kids go to school.

    Of course, that will entail a complete re-examination of which level of government, State or local, is responsible for collecting and distributing that money, which is the subject of an entirely different post.

    But suffice it so say that without a complete overhaul, nothing that comes out of Springfield is going to provide a sensible solution for how we educate our kids and how it’s paid for. I for one have no confidence that this will happen.

    The real power in Illinois rests with the legislature, and if the last election proved anything, it proved that Illinois is too wedded to the status quo to make any substantive change possible.

  6. Woodstock CUSD 200 schools spend:

    1.$14248 vs $11397 peer average per student per year.

    2. On Administration: $1805 vs. $1001 peer average per student per year.

    3. On Operations, Food Service, Other: $2246 vs. $1810 peer average per student per year.

    SOURCE: http://nces.ed.gov/edfin/search/search_intro.asp

    (This is result of State enforced monopoly–no competition allowed).

  7. The NCES figures are lower than reality because NCES does not include the state pension contribution and overhead such as US Department of Education, Illinois State Board of Education, Regional Office of Education, and an many cases Special Education and Vocational Education districts, and the list goes on.

    And on a related note there are pension liabilities, retiree healthcare liabilities, and bond debt service.

  8. Mark thanks, just citing figures that others can readily access.

    Also these stats are years old, and Dist. 200 has kept raising tax levy as enrollment drops, so annual-expenditures-per-pupil are even higher!

    There is only one solution I can see: fiscal death of all prey, let predators starve/or/feed on one another.

    Can anyone suggest a better solution?

  9. Match the (2012 assessment year, per Zillow.com) Property Tax to the Property!

    1. $5136
    2. $5264
    3. $4850
    4. $5486

    1. Detroit MI 48221 home on a golf course: 4600 sq ft, 4 bed 4 bath on .56 acres. Sold Jan. 2014 at $225,000.

    (Detroit is famous for having gone bankrupt, unable to pay for pensions or city services, unable to provide police, water or schools…and having “skyrocketing” property tax rates).

    2. Brick NJ 08724 home: 1692 sq ft, 3 bed 2 bath Sold June 2013 for $250,000.
    (New Jersey is famous for having, allegedly, the highest property tax rates in USA).

    3. Woodstock IL 60098 home: 1616 sq ft, 3 bed 2 bath home Sold July 2013 for $95,000.
    (Woodstock IL is alleged to have a lower tax rate than New Jersey…).

    4. Beverly Hills California 90210 : 2117 sq ft 2 bed 3 bath condo Sold Oct. 2012 for $605,000.

  10. Re: “The real power in Illinois rests with the legislature”

    That statement may apply to the passage of legislation but the content of legislation is dictated by unions and other special interests.

    A good example is the recently passed legislation relative to MCCD.

    I wonder if the County Board has the backbone to stop a tax increase from being included in the next MCCD budget?

    I wonder if local taxpayers have the backbone to demonstrate on behalf of themselves against a teacher’s union during the next teacher strike?

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