For far too long, Illinois has carried the stigma of being last in the nation when it comes to state support of education. Ending that embarrassment will take knowledgeable, strong voices on behalf of more equitable school funding.
Democrat Richard Johnson of Elgin, a high school teacher and president of the Elgin Teachers Association, could be one of those voices. He is our pick for election to this open Illinois House seat in this far west suburban district.
Johnson, who teaches classes on law and psychology at Bartlett High, commuted nights for five years, from Elgin to Chicago, to earn his law degree from John Marshall Law School. He’s open to the idea of consolidating school districts to save money and wants to free districts from unfunded, costly mandates. Johnson has some work to do to deepen his knowledge of issues beyond education, but he already understands the basics of our state’s fiscal and economic problems and what it will take to solve them.
He is opposed by Republican Dan Ugaste of Geneva, a workers’ compensation attorney.
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SUN-TIMES 2018 ILLINOIS VOTING GUIDE
Ahead of the historic 2018 elections, the Sun-Times is teaming up weekly with the Better Government Association, in print and online, to fact-check the truthfulness of the candidates. You can find all of the PolitiFact Illinois stories we’ve reported together here.
