Jack Franks and the Illinois Federation of Teachers – Follow the Money
The bilboard on Route 47 last fall that sent Jack Franks up the wall.
Regular readers may remember my extreme disappointment with liberal Democrat Jack Franks’ vote to sentence poorly-educated Chicago children to more of the same.
Chicago Pastor and State Senator James Meeks got a bill through the State Senate that would have offering an alternative. A variation of a voucher system in which parents of kids in failing schools would be able to take some money misspent now and use it to enroll their children in other schools where they hoped the education would be better.
The Chicago Teachers Union (which controls the Illinois Teachers Federation or IFT) didn’t manage to beat the bill in the Senate, but they killed it in the Illinois House…with Jack Franks’ help.
Now, with the announcement of his retiring from politics, Pastor Meeks seems to be saying that he tried the world’s way and it didn’t work. Maybe he’ll start a private school at his church.
The bill, by the way, would have saved state taxpayers about $240 million a year.
But Jack Franks voted, “No,” anyway.
He went with the Illinois Federation of Teachers union, instead of what he should have known was the right thing to do.
He got no heat for this disappointed vote from anywhere but McHenry County Blog to the best of my knowledge.
There are some local politicians whom the county’s newspaper of record, the Northwest Herald, make look good. No doubt about that.
More recently the IFT lobbyists who were undoubtedly whispering in Jack Franks’ ears were caught with their hands in the Downstate Teachers Retirement System Fund.
Pretty indefensible. One was going to get over a $100,000 a year for having substitute taught ONE day.
Jack Franks got publicity for his efforts to end the pension abuse of the IFT lobbyists whose advice he followed on Sen. James Meeks' school choice bill. The Chicago Federation of Teachers controls the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
So, what does Jack Franks do?
Like a fighter jet under attack, he tossed chaff out to make sure he doesn’t get brought down.
He attacks the IFT’s lobbyists’ pension abuse.
What nobody bothers to ask is,
“Why?”
Could it be because State Representative Jack Franks has gotten a lot of money from teachers’ unions over the years?
Of course not.
There is never any connection between the way a legislator votes and the contributions he or she receives, is there?
But after you look at the campaign contributions that Jack Franks has received over the years, you might want to ask him why he voted to poor mainly black and brown students in the Chicago school system to a continuing subpar education when he could have done something about it that would have saved $200 million a year and not hurt anyone in his legislative district.
$78,150 from the IFT and its local affiliates.
Anybody wonder why Franks sold out Chicago children or why he threw the IFT lobbyists under the bus, so to speak?
