Marengo-Union Grade School District Joins Other School Districts in Seeking to Maximize Property Tax Revenue — 21 Comments
I’ve beaten this drum constantly.
People bitch when the County raises the County portion of the property tax $14 on a $7000 bill after years of cuts and no increases.
The property taxes keep going up because school board refuse to say no the the greedy teacher unions.
It’s about time that Illinois stop taxing seniors for school taxes via property taxes.
I’m ready to sell and leave Illinois because fixed income retirees in this age of 8% inflation and dwindling retirement IRA accounts are going broke.
These people are teaching the kids pure LGBQ crap.
Take your kids out!
As far back as the 1870 State Constitution, education was to be taxes by a general tax, rather thana user fee.
School Boards just don’t get it!
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Our children need to have educations that will allow them to be competitive at the national level, and on the global stage.
They *must* receive high-quality education in all STEM areas: sciences, technology, engineering & mathematics.
Sciences must include physics, chemistry, geology, geography, meteorology, astronomy, space, computer science, biology, genetics & agronomy.
Engineering & technology include electrical, mechanical, civil & biomedical engineering, and biotechnology and information & communication technologies.
We live in a world today, that is heavily dependent on a working knowledge of all STEM fields, including those not mentioned above.
A high level of reading ability, and the development of high-level analytical & numerical aptitudes, and excellent logical skills, are necessary to succeed in learning the above concept, so as to be able to secure competitive employment, and to generally function in today’s world.
In addition to the above, the children need to be educated in economics and finance, and history.
This requires the financial resources, to do a proper job.
Anything less will doom our children to lifetimes of unnecessary hardship and disappointment, as they will be unable to support themselves, find quality mates, and afford to start & raise families, in today’s world.
Crusty old folks who have refused to anticipate and properly plan for the future, and who have been determined to keep our families unlearned, ignorant and unable to keep up with developments in technology & society, just so a few tightwad old farts can pinch pennies and never have to change with the times, are welcome to leave, so that our young people can have a chance to survive in a functional society.
It only takes 20 minutes of driving through Marengo, to realize that the ultra-conservative mindset of the local area, has put our communitiy and our children at a severe disadvantage, with respect to the present and the future.
Communities like Batavia and Geneva have been much more forward-thinking, and have positioned themselves much better, to allow their children to have the educational resources that they need, to compete technologically.
Communities like Marengo, Union, Harvard, etc., are now so far behind, economically and in infrastructure and in attitudes, that the brain drain caused by local hostility towards educated & learned persons (such as myself), will be extremely difficult to ever reverse.
The result will be that, eventually, those who refuse to get with the times and make the necessary improvements to these communities, *will* get forced out, by families and singles who can no longer afford to see their futures wither on the vine, because of the stuck-in-the-mud attitudes of our local crusty old goats.
Or, by an influx of impoverished immigrants and migrants, who will have no means of survival, other than to vote to raise taxes on everyone else, because they, themselves, have nothing.
Or, by an influx of wealthy newcomers who will be more progressive-minded, and who will finally do what needs to be done to put our communities on a level playing field with others, which will require taxation.
If you are stuck on a fixed income and are unable to adequately support our communities, then it is very possible that, throughout your life, you have not prepared adequately for the future.
If you cannot see that our children and young adults need better educations and skill sets, and if you are not participating in planning for their future, then *you* are part of the problem.
Our young people simply cannot afford to sit around and watch the corn grow, decade after decade, because *you* want to sit completely still in a front-porch rocking chair, mesmerized by the soybeans, in a completely unchanging environment, until you finally pass away, so that you never have to spend a dime.
Our kids need a vibrant life, and need to have a vibrant future, in a vibrant community, where their prospects are bright.
They should not be living in a dead-end, go-nowhere ghost town, where their only bright moment comes from a fatal dose of cocaine or methamphetamine, laced with who-knows-what.
So quit griping, and stop moaning & groaning: get to work, and put your nose to the grindstone, so that our McHenry County communities stop looking like — and behaving like — derelict old ghost towns.
You must be really bored to write that much drivel.
Are you seriously advocating that we start teaching electrical and biomedical engineering to school children?
How about if instead we dump the critical race theory, the perversion acceptance lessons, and all the other woke nonsense?
With the time and resources saved, we could work on making sure that the kids can actually read, write and maybe not suck quite so badly at math.
It is entirely appropriate to teach mathematics, physics, engineering & engineering technology to elementary school age children.
The younger they are exposed to such concepts, introduced with developmentally-appropriate teaching & experiential methods, the easier it is for them to pick up on the fundamental laws of the physical universe, and how things work.
My father was a machinist. He had all kinds of tools that I played around with, when I was a child, in imitation of him.
That is why I — a girl — had no problem, whatsoever, interacting with the young men in my college physics & engineering & electronics technician courses.
When I was a little child, and we lived out on farmland under a wide-open sky, my father would lift me up on top of platform, and let me stay up for hours, through the night, staring at the starry sky, so that I could watch the stars rotate above me, and watch meteors cut across their paths.
That was my introduction to celestial mechanics.
And that was how it came to be that I was able to easily teach college astronomy courses to other students, when even my own professors could not.
When my own daughter was but a little girl, I brought her up into the astronomical observatory dome, and taught her how to move the great big telescope around, and how to use all the optics.
She loved being up there *so* much, I put a camping cot into the observatory dome, so that she could fall asleep under the stars of the opened dome, while I did my own work, because she preferred falling asleep under the stars, snuggled up in her sleeping bag, than for us to be at home.
That was how she was able to sit with the class and take the astronomy exams that I administered to the students, and get better scores than even the college students did.
When children are introduced to such concepts at a young age, they absorb nature, and the concepts of nature, like a sponge.
It is the students who are *not* introduced to these concepts at a young age, who often struggle when they first encounter them in college.
There are all sorts of educational kits available for young children, in robotics, electronics, mechanical design, toolmaking, etc.
When I was a kid, I did not play with Barbie dolls.
Instead, I had Lincoln Logs, Legos, Tinkertoys and Erector Sets.
I had absolutely no problem with math, whatsoever.
It came easily to me: I was always at the top of my class.
I was very fortunate, in that I was NOT treated any different by my father, than my brothers were.
And, that my father was a machinist and mechanic.
I was right there under the hood of the car, with my dad, when he would work on wiring harnesses, or changing the alternator, or whatever needed to be done, with me handing him his tools, as he asked for them.
The same thing can be done, in the classroom, if you have a creative, intelligent and skilled teacher, and you have the necessary tools, equipment & supplies.
Most adolescent children can learn how to use a drafting table, drafting tools and the basic elements & features of “AutoCAD/Autodesk”-type software.
Most adolescent children can learn to responsibly use an oscilloscope, frequency generator, soldering iron, electronics components, etc.
Most adolescent children can learn to responsibly build & launch hobby rockets, and build working model airplanes, and other airborne devices, and so learn the basics of aerodynamics.
Just go over to American Science & Surplus, over in Geneva on Roosevelt Rd., to see examples of kits for young kids.
If they have a knowledgeable parent, teacher, 4-H leader, Scout leader, or whomever, to introduce such projects and concepts and provide materials, the natural curiosity and drive that most young kids possess, if encouraged to do so, takes it from there.
Certainly, they will appreciate field trips to go see a rocket launch or airplanes at an airport or on an airstrip.
And they will usually have loads of fun, learning to play auto mechanic or construction worker or bricklayer.
So why not take them on a tour of Fermilab or of Argonne?
My daughter always had lots of fun, looking over all the impressive and complex laboratory equipment there, and from different angles and heights.
Once these experiences embed themselves in the minds of children, they serve as an excellent foundation for mathematics and spatial skills, all the way up through high school & college, and beyond.
Then, one day, you may find that you have a kid who grows up to build one of these:
Regarding some public schools wanting to teach sexual deviancy and crt nonsense: Within the past year, elements of the Biden Regime in Washington DC had categorized parents who went to school board meetings to protest these topics as “terrorists”.
Good luck with all that stem stuff and voting for Democrats.
University of Michigan, with former Bears Quarterback Jim Harbaugh as head coach, is playing a football game in Ohio this afternoon. It has long been said that college football is the farm system that trains players for the National Football League.
College football players have a very rigorous schedule of practices, travel. Have to wonder how many of them are STEM students.
Recently surveyed Chinese Schoolchildren surveyed say they want to be astronauts, American kids surveyed want to be Internet ‘Influencers’.
Tells you all you need to know, how that 30 X more per pupil in the U.S. vs China was spent.
I understand that senior citizens and disabled persons on fixed incomes, may be particularly affected by inflation and tax increases.
Furthermore, I understand the hardships of seniors and disabled persons who may feel pressured to give up a home, and possibly even be faced with homelessness, due to rising costs.
So it is logical to look into the possibility that state &/or local tax exemptions, assessment freezes, etc., may exist, for the purpose of assisting seniors and disabled persons, especially those who are vulnerable to the threat of loss of a home, to either shield, or at least reduce the impact, of tax increases and other costs of living that may exceed the ability to comfortably pay, without threat to life or health.
I am not an expert on these matters, and would want to investigate more, but my initial examination of information available on the internet, would seem to indicate that senior citizens, and certain disabled persons, may qualify for various considerations.
Senior citizens with concerns about financial ability to pay property taxes, may be eligible, as Illinois residents and property owners, for a property tax freeze, if household income is below a certain threshold. Websites indicate that seniors should apply for a freeze through the local county clerk’s office.
There also appears to be a program that allows for a deferral of all or a portion of real estate taxes and special assessments (up to $5,000). This deferral is something like a loan against a property’s market value.
A homeowners exemption may be available.
A senior freeze exemption may freeze the equalized assessed value of an eligible property.
There also seems to be a property tax rebate program.
There may be other helpful programs, too, to help defray the impact on seniors at or above a certain age, and at or below a certain annual income level.
I am not an expert, and would encourage senior citizens and disabled persons to speak with knowledgeable tax experts and state & local taxing authorities, and state & local departments of aging and senior benefits programs.
However, you may wish to search the internet, using search strings like “Illinois senior citizens property tax” and “exemption” or “freeze” or “assistance”, in various combinations.
One helpful recent page, on the website of an organization known as Hecht Group, is titled, “Illinois Property Tax Freeze For Seniors”:
That article makes special reference to McHenry County and Woodstock, as, apparently, we are sufficiently famous for high property taxes, that something had to be done so that seniors are not being driven out of their homes, in droves.
Another potentially useful website is the Illinois Department of Revenue, which has articles like this one:
I, personally, have never even been able to begin to invest in real estate or other property in McHenry County. It has never been a priority of our county, townships and municipalities to try to retain our own residents through economic development, and to make it possible for the children of McHenry County to actually settle here and start families after extensive post-secondary education and internship & employment experiences.
The local culture seems, in general, inclined to drive its university graduates and persons of high intellect out of the county, especially persons with mathematics, science & engineering skills. The culture seems to prefer mediocrity, as less threatening to local egos and to the established order, and so has been unwilling to develop the necessary supports for the development of institutions & industries necessary for a professional class of highly-educated scientists & engineers to be able to operate efficiently & economically, and in good health. High-calibre women, in particular, are made to feel very unwelcome to take root here. Even supporting our very humble McHenry County College, seems to be a strong point of contention. In short, there seems to be some sort of strange resistance of the local populace to offering permanent employment to well-educated physicists & engineers.
(Some of that resistance, seems to come from this McHenry County Blog, btw.)
So I have no personal experience with property tax matters in McHenry County. My only experience with real estate matters was in Iowa, until Illinois dragged me back here. So I cannot give advice based upon experience as a McHenry County real estate owner.
However, it does appear that senior citizens of relatively modest or humble incomes, may be eligible for various provisions that could help alleviate the impact of the various proposed property tax levy increases that seem to be popping up.
I would imagine that County Clerk Joe Tirio, and other other elected McHenry County officials, would be amenable to informing and aiding this audience and other members of the public, about these matters.
It is certainly reasonable and fair to try to assist our senior citizens and disabled persons (especially our veterans), especially during these times of high inflation and economic turbulence.
Perhaps Mr. Skinner might consider assisting his regular audience, by writing some blog articles to inform of potential courses of action, should the proposed increases become reality, and/or perhaps by publishing helpful materials and commentary that Mr. Tirio & other officials may be able to provide.
Dawn Mueller, you just don’t get it. You opine through your lengthy rambling soliloquy on this blog an apparent desire to create some marvelous community of progressive right thinking people. I say soliloquy because you’re talking to yourself and everyone else tuned out your arrogant opinion. Please devote another lengthy essay on how smart you are. Remind us again of your vast knowledge and education.
You cite the wonderful communities in more populated areas. We’ll move there. The business and industrial economies of the communities you cite like Batavia and Geneva with their wall to wall residential and businesses are able pump millions more tax money to their schools so they can spend more on your desired technology. You are a loon, with no disrespect for the beautiful birds. You use the term Progressive, a euphemism for liberal. You denigrate the Marengo community for its conservative attitudes. Damn those Neanderthal knuckle draggers. Just tax the hell out of property owners to accomplish your utopia of social elites. Screw the retirees.
You state: “If you are stuck on a fixed income and are unable to adequately support our communities, then it is very possible that, throughout your life, you have not prepared adequately for the future.”
What a load of bull excrement. People blessed with good genetics may have lived into their 80’s and likely retired 20 or more years ago. They raised their children and supported the schools but now the progressive forward thinking educated elitist like yourself, find it appropriate to blame them for not prepare adequately. What a moronic statement.
You are the problem. People like you get on school boards and approve liberal agendas and yield giving the teachers everything they want. Get over yourself.
Thank you Dawn.
I’ve been awaiting the official guidelines, from the Committee on How You Can Keep Your Home.
The United States already spends more than enough on primary and secondary education.
Only a couple of small European countries spend more per student, yet our results are abysmal.
Throwing more money at the problem will do nothing to fix the situation,, but it will definitely make the unions happy.
Well, these are interesting comments.
I grew up on farmland in SW Coral Township.
Last time I checked, Coral is not exactly known as a hotspot of “liberal” upbringing.
But there was a time that we liked to think of ourselves as progressive farmers.
John Henning, as school board president, was very desirous that Riley School hire a good science teacher.
I was in the same class at Riley School as Tammy Henning.
There was a time when we called ourselves “progressives” around here, and not “conservatives”.
There were some of us, like old Mr. Frank Beck, who preferred to stick with older farming methods.
But many of our farming families actually wanted to be profitable, and to be able to pass down an improved farm and family farming corporation to our descendants.
We used to think it was a sign of prosperity, to be able to invest in a brand-new John Deere combine, and to be able to park the old red International in the back barn, to be used for less demanding tasks, when desirable.
But some folks around here got old, I guess, and sat around the kitchen table listening to Sean Hannity and other talk radio hosts, who started espousing the language of the “Movement Conservatism” of William F. Buckley, Jr.
Maybe that’s when we stopped calling ourselves “progressives” and started calling ourselves “conservatives”.
So I don’t know…maybe you nostalgic fellows would rather pull out the old red 1945 Farmall again, and ditch the spiffy bright green & yellow GPS/GNSS-enabled John Deere with computerized seed injection control.
And also maybe ditch the continuously-updated NOAA meteorological weather satellite images, and the NEXRAD weather radar…
If you look at my profile photo on my Twitter account, @Magnetodawn , you will see that I look pretty “conservative”.
I do not exactly resemble one of those purple- or green-haired “liberals”, as you like to call them.
My Coral Township Illinois prairie roots are showing…
My mother and father were obliged to downsize and relocate, after the old farmhouse was struck by lightning and burned down, and my father suffered a series of heart attacks & strokes.
Age happens. To both people, and to farmhouses.
After my father passed away in 2005, my mother relocated to Boone County, to a small trailer home in Four Seasons in Belvidere. Her sister, my Aunt Alice Amidon, formerly of Harmony Rd in Harmony and former administrator of Florence Nursing Home in Marengo, had already relocated to a small mobile home in Greenview Estates.
I had looked at a home in Indian Trails for my mother, but, unfortunately, it was just days before Mrs. Verna Corcoran was murdered by an illegal alien from Mexico, in her home next door. That made me uncomfortable about purchasing a home at Indian Trails, without knowing what exactly had happened, as the investigation would take time. So it was decided to settle her in Belvidere, where she would be not far from her retired sister.
So, with age, they were both obliged to downsize and retire, and relocate from McHenry County to Boone County, where taxes were lower and smaller & more affordable residences suitable for seniors could be found.
It would have been nice, had McHenry County planned more such residences here for senior citizens, so that our aging seniors and elderly would not feel obliged to leave McHenry County.
And it would have been nice, had I been welcomed back to McHenry County after obtaining my physics degree, with job opportunities in the Marengo area that would have allowed me to support my parents, and would have allowed my whole extended family to stay there, intact, preferrably in the Marengo-Union area, if not in Coral, Riley or Harmony.
But, alas, that did not happen.
Most of my old classmates have been obliged to move, too. For example, Tammy Henning became a cardiac care specialist nurse practitioner, and went to work in Rockford and Beloit. She married Jerry Boxleitner. I think they presently reside out near Beloit.
I do not know that many of my old classmates, at all, were able to stay in McHenry County and find ways to support themselves and start families of their own, here.
I will be leaving again, very soon, within weeks, as it is clear that I and my skills are neither appreciated nor wanted here.
I was once a rising matinee idol who was banned from Hollywood for bedding a favorite groomed starlet of a studio exec.
Further, my tragic accident when my Model T plummeted off Mulholland Drive, which caused my lisp as well as the advent of Talkies, combined to end a once promising career.
Ummm, stop me if I’m taking this ‘tragic tale too far.
ESA (European Space Agency) just posted a video giving a flavor of ESA’s “Space for Education 2030” programme for educating Europe’s children to prepare for the careers and culture of a spacefaring society.
Even while ESA partners with NASA today, Europe will be a part of the global competition that America’s children will face in the near future.
Similar space-based educational programmes are underway in UK, India, Japan, Australia, South Africa, China, etc.
This is what kindergarten, elementary school, junior high and high school is beginning to look like, in school districts that are preparing their children, around the world, now.
Students learn about electronics; tool-making; machining; rocketry; space mission planning; cubesat function, design, construction, deployment & operations; rocket launch operations; spaceflight operations; planetary exploration, etc.
It is happening in every nation now with a space agency.
For example, NASA has educational outreach programs in schools across America: classrooms can tune in, remotely, via internet.
An example classroom project is NASA’s ongoing Radio Jove project, which teaches teachers & students how to construct & use a radio receiver & antenna system to detect radio signals from the planet Jupiter, and how to record, display, archive & access the data from the various participating Radio Jove stations located in countries all around Earth. These data are used in conjunction with data from the Juno spacecraft mission now at Jupiter, to teach children planetary science and radio science & engineering:
I’ve beaten this drum constantly.
People bitch when the County raises the County portion of the property tax $14 on a $7000 bill after years of cuts and no increases.
The property taxes keep going up because school board refuse to say no the the greedy teacher unions.
It’s about time that Illinois stop taxing seniors for school taxes via property taxes.
I’m ready to sell and leave Illinois because fixed income retirees in this age of 8% inflation and dwindling retirement IRA accounts are going broke.
These people are teaching the kids pure LGBQ crap.
Take your kids out!
As far back as the 1870 State Constitution, education was to be taxes by a general tax, rather thana user fee.
School Boards just don’t get it!
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Our children need to have educations that will allow them to be competitive at the national level, and on the global stage.
They *must* receive high-quality education in all STEM areas: sciences, technology, engineering & mathematics.
Sciences must include physics, chemistry, geology, geography, meteorology, astronomy, space, computer science, biology, genetics & agronomy.
Engineering & technology include electrical, mechanical, civil & biomedical engineering, and biotechnology and information & communication technologies.
We live in a world today, that is heavily dependent on a working knowledge of all STEM fields, including those not mentioned above.
A high level of reading ability, and the development of high-level analytical & numerical aptitudes, and excellent logical skills, are necessary to succeed in learning the above concept, so as to be able to secure competitive employment, and to generally function in today’s world.
In addition to the above, the children need to be educated in economics and finance, and history.
This requires the financial resources, to do a proper job.
Anything less will doom our children to lifetimes of unnecessary hardship and disappointment, as they will be unable to support themselves, find quality mates, and afford to start & raise families, in today’s world.
Crusty old folks who have refused to anticipate and properly plan for the future, and who have been determined to keep our families unlearned, ignorant and unable to keep up with developments in technology & society, just so a few tightwad old farts can pinch pennies and never have to change with the times, are welcome to leave, so that our young people can have a chance to survive in a functional society.
It only takes 20 minutes of driving through Marengo, to realize that the ultra-conservative mindset of the local area, has put our communitiy and our children at a severe disadvantage, with respect to the present and the future.
Communities like Batavia and Geneva have been much more forward-thinking, and have positioned themselves much better, to allow their children to have the educational resources that they need, to compete technologically.
Communities like Marengo, Union, Harvard, etc., are now so far behind, economically and in infrastructure and in attitudes, that the brain drain caused by local hostility towards educated & learned persons (such as myself), will be extremely difficult to ever reverse.
The result will be that, eventually, those who refuse to get with the times and make the necessary improvements to these communities, *will* get forced out, by families and singles who can no longer afford to see their futures wither on the vine, because of the stuck-in-the-mud attitudes of our local crusty old goats.
Or, by an influx of impoverished immigrants and migrants, who will have no means of survival, other than to vote to raise taxes on everyone else, because they, themselves, have nothing.
Or, by an influx of wealthy newcomers who will be more progressive-minded, and who will finally do what needs to be done to put our communities on a level playing field with others, which will require taxation.
If you are stuck on a fixed income and are unable to adequately support our communities, then it is very possible that, throughout your life, you have not prepared adequately for the future.
If you cannot see that our children and young adults need better educations and skill sets, and if you are not participating in planning for their future, then *you* are part of the problem.
Our young people simply cannot afford to sit around and watch the corn grow, decade after decade, because *you* want to sit completely still in a front-porch rocking chair, mesmerized by the soybeans, in a completely unchanging environment, until you finally pass away, so that you never have to spend a dime.
Our kids need a vibrant life, and need to have a vibrant future, in a vibrant community, where their prospects are bright.
They should not be living in a dead-end, go-nowhere ghost town, where their only bright moment comes from a fatal dose of cocaine or methamphetamine, laced with who-knows-what.
So quit griping, and stop moaning & groaning: get to work, and put your nose to the grindstone, so that our McHenry County communities stop looking like — and behaving like — derelict old ghost towns.
You must be really bored to write that much drivel.
Are you seriously advocating that we start teaching electrical and biomedical engineering to school children?
How about if instead we dump the critical race theory, the perversion acceptance lessons, and all the other woke nonsense?
With the time and resources saved, we could work on making sure that the kids can actually read, write and maybe not suck quite so badly at math.
It is entirely appropriate to teach mathematics, physics, engineering & engineering technology to elementary school age children.
The younger they are exposed to such concepts, introduced with developmentally-appropriate teaching & experiential methods, the easier it is for them to pick up on the fundamental laws of the physical universe, and how things work.
My father was a machinist. He had all kinds of tools that I played around with, when I was a child, in imitation of him.
That is why I — a girl — had no problem, whatsoever, interacting with the young men in my college physics & engineering & electronics technician courses.
When I was a little child, and we lived out on farmland under a wide-open sky, my father would lift me up on top of platform, and let me stay up for hours, through the night, staring at the starry sky, so that I could watch the stars rotate above me, and watch meteors cut across their paths.
That was my introduction to celestial mechanics.
And that was how it came to be that I was able to easily teach college astronomy courses to other students, when even my own professors could not.
When my own daughter was but a little girl, I brought her up into the astronomical observatory dome, and taught her how to move the great big telescope around, and how to use all the optics.
She loved being up there *so* much, I put a camping cot into the observatory dome, so that she could fall asleep under the stars of the opened dome, while I did my own work, because she preferred falling asleep under the stars, snuggled up in her sleeping bag, than for us to be at home.
That was how she was able to sit with the class and take the astronomy exams that I administered to the students, and get better scores than even the college students did.
When children are introduced to such concepts at a young age, they absorb nature, and the concepts of nature, like a sponge.
It is the students who are *not* introduced to these concepts at a young age, who often struggle when they first encounter them in college.
There are all sorts of educational kits available for young children, in robotics, electronics, mechanical design, toolmaking, etc.
When I was a kid, I did not play with Barbie dolls.
Instead, I had Lincoln Logs, Legos, Tinkertoys and Erector Sets.
I had absolutely no problem with math, whatsoever.
It came easily to me: I was always at the top of my class.
I was very fortunate, in that I was NOT treated any different by my father, than my brothers were.
And, that my father was a machinist and mechanic.
I was right there under the hood of the car, with my dad, when he would work on wiring harnesses, or changing the alternator, or whatever needed to be done, with me handing him his tools, as he asked for them.
The same thing can be done, in the classroom, if you have a creative, intelligent and skilled teacher, and you have the necessary tools, equipment & supplies.
Most adolescent children can learn how to use a drafting table, drafting tools and the basic elements & features of “AutoCAD/Autodesk”-type software.
Most adolescent children can learn to responsibly use an oscilloscope, frequency generator, soldering iron, electronics components, etc.
Most adolescent children can learn to responsibly build & launch hobby rockets, and build working model airplanes, and other airborne devices, and so learn the basics of aerodynamics.
Just go over to American Science & Surplus, over in Geneva on Roosevelt Rd., to see examples of kits for young kids.
Or look at their website, here: https://www.sciplus.com/
If they have a knowledgeable parent, teacher, 4-H leader, Scout leader, or whomever, to introduce such projects and concepts and provide materials, the natural curiosity and drive that most young kids possess, if encouraged to do so, takes it from there.
Certainly, they will appreciate field trips to go see a rocket launch or airplanes at an airport or on an airstrip.
And they will usually have loads of fun, learning to play auto mechanic or construction worker or bricklayer.
So why not take them on a tour of Fermilab or of Argonne?
My daughter always had lots of fun, looking over all the impressive and complex laboratory equipment there, and from different angles and heights.
Once these experiences embed themselves in the minds of children, they serve as an excellent foundation for mathematics and spatial skills, all the way up through high school & college, and beyond.
Then, one day, you may find that you have a kid who grows up to build one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acb8FR5fk3o
Info per Illinois State Board of Education
https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Annual-Statistical-Report.aspx
Regarding some public schools wanting to teach sexual deviancy and crt nonsense: Within the past year, elements of the Biden Regime in Washington DC had categorized parents who went to school board meetings to protest these topics as “terrorists”.
Good luck with all that stem stuff and voting for Democrats.
https://katu.com/news/local/debate-emerges-over-racism-and-white-supremacy-in-math-instruction
University of Michigan, with former Bears Quarterback Jim Harbaugh as head coach, is playing a football game in Ohio this afternoon. It has long been said that college football is the farm system that trains players for the National Football League.
College football players have a very rigorous schedule of practices, travel. Have to wonder how many of them are STEM students.
Recently surveyed Chinese Schoolchildren surveyed say they want to be astronauts, American kids surveyed want to be Internet ‘Influencers’.
Tells you all you need to know, how that 30 X more per pupil in the U.S. vs China was spent.
I understand that senior citizens and disabled persons on fixed incomes, may be particularly affected by inflation and tax increases.
Furthermore, I understand the hardships of seniors and disabled persons who may feel pressured to give up a home, and possibly even be faced with homelessness, due to rising costs.
So it is logical to look into the possibility that state &/or local tax exemptions, assessment freezes, etc., may exist, for the purpose of assisting seniors and disabled persons, especially those who are vulnerable to the threat of loss of a home, to either shield, or at least reduce the impact, of tax increases and other costs of living that may exceed the ability to comfortably pay, without threat to life or health.
I am not an expert on these matters, and would want to investigate more, but my initial examination of information available on the internet, would seem to indicate that senior citizens, and certain disabled persons, may qualify for various considerations.
Senior citizens with concerns about financial ability to pay property taxes, may be eligible, as Illinois residents and property owners, for a property tax freeze, if household income is below a certain threshold. Websites indicate that seniors should apply for a freeze through the local county clerk’s office.
There also appears to be a program that allows for a deferral of all or a portion of real estate taxes and special assessments (up to $5,000). This deferral is something like a loan against a property’s market value.
A homeowners exemption may be available.
A senior freeze exemption may freeze the equalized assessed value of an eligible property.
There also seems to be a property tax rebate program.
There may be other helpful programs, too, to help defray the impact on seniors at or above a certain age, and at or below a certain annual income level.
I am not an expert, and would encourage senior citizens and disabled persons to speak with knowledgeable tax experts and state & local taxing authorities, and state & local departments of aging and senior benefits programs.
However, you may wish to search the internet, using search strings like “Illinois senior citizens property tax” and “exemption” or “freeze” or “assistance”, in various combinations.
One helpful recent page, on the website of an organization known as Hecht Group, is titled, “Illinois Property Tax Freeze For Seniors”:
https://www.hechtgroup.com/illinois-property-tax-freeze-for-seniors/
That article makes special reference to McHenry County and Woodstock, as, apparently, we are sufficiently famous for high property taxes, that something had to be done so that seniors are not being driven out of their homes, in droves.
Another potentially useful website is the Illinois Department of Revenue, which has articles like this one:
“What are the qualifications for the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Program?” https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/QuestionsAndAnswers/pages/386.aspx
And here are two more articles:
https://www.seniorsprotalk.com/illinois-senior-property-tax-exemption/
https://donotpay.com/learn/property-tax-freeze-for-seniors-illinois/
That second link makes reference to this Illinois state statute:
(35 ILCS 200/15-172)
Sec. 15-172. Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption.
https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=003502000K15-172
I, personally, have never even been able to begin to invest in real estate or other property in McHenry County. It has never been a priority of our county, townships and municipalities to try to retain our own residents through economic development, and to make it possible for the children of McHenry County to actually settle here and start families after extensive post-secondary education and internship & employment experiences.
The local culture seems, in general, inclined to drive its university graduates and persons of high intellect out of the county, especially persons with mathematics, science & engineering skills. The culture seems to prefer mediocrity, as less threatening to local egos and to the established order, and so has been unwilling to develop the necessary supports for the development of institutions & industries necessary for a professional class of highly-educated scientists & engineers to be able to operate efficiently & economically, and in good health. High-calibre women, in particular, are made to feel very unwelcome to take root here. Even supporting our very humble McHenry County College, seems to be a strong point of contention. In short, there seems to be some sort of strange resistance of the local populace to offering permanent employment to well-educated physicists & engineers.
(Some of that resistance, seems to come from this McHenry County Blog, btw.)
So I have no personal experience with property tax matters in McHenry County. My only experience with real estate matters was in Iowa, until Illinois dragged me back here. So I cannot give advice based upon experience as a McHenry County real estate owner.
However, it does appear that senior citizens of relatively modest or humble incomes, may be eligible for various provisions that could help alleviate the impact of the various proposed property tax levy increases that seem to be popping up.
I would imagine that County Clerk Joe Tirio, and other other elected McHenry County officials, would be amenable to informing and aiding this audience and other members of the public, about these matters.
It is certainly reasonable and fair to try to assist our senior citizens and disabled persons (especially our veterans), especially during these times of high inflation and economic turbulence.
Perhaps Mr. Skinner might consider assisting his regular audience, by writing some blog articles to inform of potential courses of action, should the proposed increases become reality, and/or perhaps by publishing helpful materials and commentary that Mr. Tirio & other officials may be able to provide.
Dawn Mueller, you just don’t get it. You opine through your lengthy rambling soliloquy on this blog an apparent desire to create some marvelous community of progressive right thinking people. I say soliloquy because you’re talking to yourself and everyone else tuned out your arrogant opinion. Please devote another lengthy essay on how smart you are. Remind us again of your vast knowledge and education.
You cite the wonderful communities in more populated areas. We’ll move there. The business and industrial economies of the communities you cite like Batavia and Geneva with their wall to wall residential and businesses are able pump millions more tax money to their schools so they can spend more on your desired technology. You are a loon, with no disrespect for the beautiful birds. You use the term Progressive, a euphemism for liberal. You denigrate the Marengo community for its conservative attitudes. Damn those Neanderthal knuckle draggers. Just tax the hell out of property owners to accomplish your utopia of social elites. Screw the retirees.
You state: “If you are stuck on a fixed income and are unable to adequately support our communities, then it is very possible that, throughout your life, you have not prepared adequately for the future.”
What a load of bull excrement. People blessed with good genetics may have lived into their 80’s and likely retired 20 or more years ago. They raised their children and supported the schools but now the progressive forward thinking educated elitist like yourself, find it appropriate to blame them for not prepare adequately. What a moronic statement.
You are the problem. People like you get on school boards and approve liberal agendas and yield giving the teachers everything they want. Get over yourself.
Thank you Dawn.
I’ve been awaiting the official guidelines, from the Committee on How You Can Keep Your Home.
The United States already spends more than enough on primary and secondary education.
Only a couple of small European countries spend more per student, yet our results are abysmal.
Throwing more money at the problem will do nothing to fix the situation,, but it will definitely make the unions happy.
Well, these are interesting comments.
I grew up on farmland in SW Coral Township.
Last time I checked, Coral is not exactly known as a hotspot of “liberal” upbringing.
But there was a time that we liked to think of ourselves as progressive farmers.
John Henning, as school board president, was very desirous that Riley School hire a good science teacher.
I was in the same class at Riley School as Tammy Henning.
Tammy is the daughter of Jim & Sharon Henning:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/rrstar/name/james-henning-obituary?id=19467763
Jim Henning was John Henning’s brother, of the stalwart Henning farming family of Harmony.
The Hennings wanted Tammy and all the other Henning kids to have a great education, as well as all the rest of us who were in school with them.
Tammy & I used to be on the same Riley School bus route, with the Malakers and other old Harmony & Coral & Riley farming families.
I distinctly recall seeing copies of “Progressive Farmer” magazine in our various homes, back-in-the-day:
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/home
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Progressive_Farmer
There was a time when we called ourselves “progressives” around here, and not “conservatives”.
There were some of us, like old Mr. Frank Beck, who preferred to stick with older farming methods.
But many of our farming families actually wanted to be profitable, and to be able to pass down an improved farm and family farming corporation to our descendants.
We used to think it was a sign of prosperity, to be able to invest in a brand-new John Deere combine, and to be able to park the old red International in the back barn, to be used for less demanding tasks, when desirable.
But some folks around here got old, I guess, and sat around the kitchen table listening to Sean Hannity and other talk radio hosts, who started espousing the language of the “Movement Conservatism” of William F. Buckley, Jr.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_conservatism
Maybe that’s when we stopped calling ourselves “progressives” and started calling ourselves “conservatives”.
So I don’t know…maybe you nostalgic fellows would rather pull out the old red 1945 Farmall again, and ditch the spiffy bright green & yellow GPS/GNSS-enabled John Deere with computerized seed injection control.
And also maybe ditch the continuously-updated NOAA meteorological weather satellite images, and the NEXRAD weather radar…
If you look at my profile photo on my Twitter account, @Magnetodawn , you will see that I look pretty “conservative”.
I do not exactly resemble one of those purple- or green-haired “liberals”, as you like to call them.
My Coral Township Illinois prairie roots are showing…
My mother and father were obliged to downsize and relocate, after the old farmhouse was struck by lightning and burned down, and my father suffered a series of heart attacks & strokes.
Age happens. To both people, and to farmhouses.
After my father passed away in 2005, my mother relocated to Boone County, to a small trailer home in Four Seasons in Belvidere. Her sister, my Aunt Alice Amidon, formerly of Harmony Rd in Harmony and former administrator of Florence Nursing Home in Marengo, had already relocated to a small mobile home in Greenview Estates.
I had looked at a home in Indian Trails for my mother, but, unfortunately, it was just days before Mrs. Verna Corcoran was murdered by an illegal alien from Mexico, in her home next door. That made me uncomfortable about purchasing a home at Indian Trails, without knowing what exactly had happened, as the investigation would take time. So it was decided to settle her in Belvidere, where she would be not far from her retired sister.
So, with age, they were both obliged to downsize and retire, and relocate from McHenry County to Boone County, where taxes were lower and smaller & more affordable residences suitable for seniors could be found.
It would have been nice, had McHenry County planned more such residences here for senior citizens, so that our aging seniors and elderly would not feel obliged to leave McHenry County.
And it would have been nice, had I been welcomed back to McHenry County after obtaining my physics degree, with job opportunities in the Marengo area that would have allowed me to support my parents, and would have allowed my whole extended family to stay there, intact, preferrably in the Marengo-Union area, if not in Coral, Riley or Harmony.
But, alas, that did not happen.
Most of my old classmates have been obliged to move, too. For example, Tammy Henning became a cardiac care specialist nurse practitioner, and went to work in Rockford and Beloit. She married Jerry Boxleitner. I think they presently reside out near Beloit.
I do not know that many of my old classmates, at all, were able to stay in McHenry County and find ways to support themselves and start families of their own, here.
I will be leaving again, very soon, within weeks, as it is clear that I and my skills are neither appreciated nor wanted here.
I was once a rising matinee idol who was banned from Hollywood for bedding a favorite groomed starlet of a studio exec.
Further, my tragic accident when my Model T plummeted off Mulholland Drive, which caused my lisp as well as the advent of Talkies, combined to end a once promising career.
Ummm, stop me if I’m taking this ‘tragic tale too far.
ESA (European Space Agency) just posted a video giving a flavor of ESA’s “Space for Education 2030” programme for educating Europe’s children to prepare for the careers and culture of a spacefaring society.
https://twitter.com/ESA__Education/status/1596074327111127040
Even while ESA partners with NASA today, Europe will be a part of the global competition that America’s children will face in the near future.
Similar space-based educational programmes are underway in UK, India, Japan, Australia, South Africa, China, etc.
This is what kindergarten, elementary school, junior high and high school is beginning to look like, in school districts that are preparing their children, around the world, now.
Students learn about electronics; tool-making; machining; rocketry; space mission planning; cubesat function, design, construction, deployment & operations; rocket launch operations; spaceflight operations; planetary exploration, etc.
It is happening in every nation now with a space agency.
For example, NASA has educational outreach programs in schools across America: classrooms can tune in, remotely, via internet.
An example classroom project is NASA’s ongoing Radio Jove project, which teaches teachers & students how to construct & use a radio receiver & antenna system to detect radio signals from the planet Jupiter, and how to record, display, archive & access the data from the various participating Radio Jove stations located in countries all around Earth. These data are used in conjunction with data from the Juno spacecraft mission now at Jupiter, to teach children planetary science and radio science & engineering:
https://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Local schools need quality educators and parents who know how to successfully demonstrate and teach these things.
We need to prepare our children today, for the future they will face tomorrow.
Schools in McHenry County need to be doing this, too.
You can mock me all you like, but…
…this *is* the reality, now.
For my part, I stand on the shoulders of educational giants, like High School Shop Teacher ‘Three Fingers Schimanski’.
When I was County Treasurer from 1966-70, I believe the Unnion post mistress was a Democrat.
State Rep. Billy Giblin, a conservative Democrat from nearby, was elected on the Bedsheet Ballot in 1964.