KADNER: Politicians care about school funding — only in election years

State Sen. Dan Biss told me he is running for governor in the Democratic primary March 20 to improve school funding in Illinois.

Almost every politician who has run for office in Illinois over the past 25 years has promised to do something like that, including incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican.

In fact, changing the school funding formula was one of Rauner’s top priorities in 2014, and the Democrats who control the legislature passed such a bill this spring.

The legislation was called “historic,” “landmark” and pretty darn fabulous by editorial page editors and most politicians in this state.

So, I asked Biss if he thought it solved the problem.

“Of course not,” he said.

And he explained that the problem is that the state doesn’t supply enough money to adequately and fairly fund public schools.

Because the state fails to do its fair share local property taxes remain the primary means of financing public education in Illinois, picking up about 67 percent of the tab. That means children living in the wealthiest areas of the state get the best schools, while poorest areas end up with the highest property tax rates and the worst schools.

In addition, as Biss was quick to point out during our discussion, no one in Cook County can understand how the property tax system works because it was designed largely by politicians who make their livings getting property tax breaks for wealthy clients and businesses.

Maybe Biss read some of the 100 or so columns I wrote about all of this stuff and was simply trying to get me to write something nice about him (he is one of six Democrats running for governor), so I mentioned something else I have written.

If politicians promise to improve education in Illinois, if they claim they’re going to adequately fund the schools and that they really care about your children, they are lying.

Biss looked like he was about to object and claim he was different, but I stated again,

“Every politician has said the same thing.” They have all lied. There is no reason to believe any of them.

By the way, J.B. Pritzker has also promised to change the way schools are funded in Illinois.

J.B. is the billionaire Democrat running against Rauner for governor, and he is backed by Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

If Pritzker and Rauner put their private fortunes together, they could more than match the additional money the state is planning to spend on public education as part of the historic school funding reform plan. And they would each still have enough leftover to spend $100 million or so on political commercials telling you how much they love your school children.

Biss says people ought to vote for him because he is not a billionaire.

Biss is a mathematician by training, which ought to count for something. But he may have trouble counting votes if he lacks the wealth necessary to buy them.

He claims that he would change the way the state finances its schools by amending the state Constitution and going to a graduated income tax instead of a flat tax.

Pritzker has said much the same.

I know Republicans feel it is unfair to tax the rich, who have worked hard to earn their money (or inherited it) and have a right to spend their fortunes however they choose.

However, if I were king, anyone who spent more than $25 million of their own money to become governor of Illinois would be declared mentally incompetent and all their property and cash would be confiscated.

I would turn it over to public school children. Why? Because I care about them, of course.

Email: philkadner@gmail.com

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