The conversation over equitable education in Illinois rages on with a favorable outcome in sight for the state’s students, teachers, educators, and communities, according to advocates. And yet, as the state’s elected officials mull over the details of legislation that would secure an equitable funding model, the conversation as to what are the needs of the African American community in terms of education and education funding is still being had.
Fortunately, the Defender sat down with three dynamic African American women community organizers to discuss equitable education funding for the latest installment of our education podcast: Chanelle Bell, Taylor Beale, and Jade Jenkins. During the nearly hour-long conversation, the women spoke openly about the state’s plummeting credit, individualized education plans for students, privilege, a savior complex in the classroom, and much more.
Lee Edwards: On the state of the education funding and all things happening in Illinois, where are we now? The summer is here. Have we made any progress in terms of educational funding?
Taylor Beale: We have made progress. Senate Bill 1 passed through the house and is waiting for the Governor’s approval. Senate Bill 1 is basically a research-based model for educational equity, where it’s closing the adequacy gap between all of the districts in Illinois. It’s not just because you have a higher population you get more money. It’s need-based, like whoever needs the money, gets the money. Right now we’re just waiting on the governor’s approval, but there is hesitation that he might veto the bill for other interests that he is seeking before he signs it.
Jade Jenkins: It barely passed through the Senate. The Senate put the bill on hold so it’s actually not at the governor’s desk. What they’re trying to do is stall and basically give legislators time to learn about the bill. Also, give the governor time to learn about the bill, but also put pressure, in case let’s say, once they have to put it on his desk, he decides to veto it, it would need to be overwritten by the House and the Senate. Right now is a good opportunity for legislators to learn about SB 1.
I’m not sure if you’ve heard about the rhetoric though, some legislators have been calling it a Chicago bail out, and that’s just not true. Every child in Illinois will benefit from this, and as Taylor was saying, it’s looking at so many different factors, like the number of low-income students, the number of English language learners, diverse learners, the money needed to ensure that classroom size is smaller, looking at after school activities, everything. Like I said, it’s a huge win, because again, Illinois is the most inequitable in how it funds public education in the US.
Chanelle Bell: There’s also a second option, or third option, because he can pass it, he can veto it, he could also add amendments to it. Enough so that it would need to be voted on again, and some legislators who missed an opportunity to vote, missed on purpose, or voted “no” could have a second chance, which could be beneficial to a certain party if they want to be on the right side of history. There’s also that option that could happen.
Jade Jenkins: I’m from California. Illinois politics is just really strange. The Secretary of Education has stated that Governor Rauner likes 90 percent of the bill, he just doesn’t like the other 10 percent, and that 10 percent is why he would veto it, which is crazy because you would think, if I get 90 percent of something that I like, I’m gonna roll with this. Especially in politics. I’m hoping that he has a change of heart and sees how again this is a benefit for everyone and it’s not a Chicago bail out at all.
Chanelle Bell: There’s also just personal relationships between politicians that come into play with this as well, that has held up the process. I’m just hoping that the people that do have the power to make this happen to realize it’s about the kids and it’s not about another politician. That has been holding us up as a state for a very long time. It’s time for that to end.
Taylor Beale: There’s another bill SB 1124-Group: 1124. Or HB 4069, which is very comparable to SB 1. However, if SB 1 passes, it’s better for CPS, which makes sense because CPS is the third largest district in the country. We have a huge population of kids that we need to service. Especially low-income communities. It would make sense that people would want to pass this bill because if Chicago benefits, everyone benefits. I do understand certain perspectives. It’s like, ‘I already have a set amount of money. We’re over-performing. I don’t wanna take from that because I don’t know how well we would do without it’. We haven’t had to do that in the past. I get it. If we pass SB 1, CPS would get additional millions of dollars throughout the tiers, compared to the other bills I mentioned. It’s better for all kids not just Chicago.
Jade Jenkins: My issue with SB 1124 is it was just put together after the legislative session ended by the Republican caucus. SB 1 is three years in the making of bipartisan work. I would take something again that has been worked on by both parties for three years, over something that was put together by one party in three weeks. It doesn’t make sense.
As far as CPS benefiting again, it’s the third largest school district in the country. There are slightly under 400,000 kids here. Of course, a good chunk of money will be coming to this state, I mean to this city, which has again historically been disadvantaged fiscally.
Taylor Beale: There’s a lot of rhetoric, negative rhetoric about Chicago that has been in existence for quite some time. It’s even more prominent when it comes to this situation where certain legislators are holding up the process or not getting in line because of feelings that they have about Chicago as a whole. That is disheartening to hear period because one, we’re a state. Any cities, children are your children and that should be the thought process when working on these kinds of bills and policies; right now there is such a separation. It’s like Chicago and us when all of it is us. The whole state is us.
It’s really disheartening to hear certain politicians who are creating that division because of education– everyone deserves it. Everyone in the nation, everyone in the world deserves it. You trying to hold it back from a certain city because your personal feelings about the politics around it or you thinking that we get a lot. I don’t think that’s the truth at all. I would beg to say that a lot of students don’t feel the same way.
Lee Edwards: What about these reports coming in about the status of Illinois credit. How does that impact – all these proceedings? Because it seems like every news report seems to be worse and worse. It seems to showcase the situation of education in Illinois as dire.
Jade Jenkins: It’s all interrelated. Illinois is on pace to become the first state in the United States to have junk credit, which is sad, and so when you think about the budget and education … I mean, it just makes me wonder who are we electing, to be honest, who are these people in power who would just let it get this bad? Our governor, who was supposed to be the champion of education, is really disappointing. We know we need a budget ultimately to really fund schools. Schools have been backlogged.
I don’t know if you have seen on the news how there are over a billion dollars of the backlog. So many schools downstate are talking about they don’t know if they can open next year. All of this is interrelated.
Taylor Beale: I wouldn’t put the blame on the governor, totally. I mean, yes, he is accountable for the state. However, there are other politicians who have been in office longer than he has. This is only his first term. I’ve got to commend him for not budging when the pressure has been placed on him. However, he is responsible. This is the third year we’ve gone without a budget, right? I mean put the self-interest aside, put the pride aside and do what’s best for kids.
Teachers are leaving. I was a former teacher. I’m no longer teaching anymore because I have to make a greater impact for my kids, where I can’t do it inside the classroom anymore. I need to advocate for them in other ways besides making sure they have a test score. That’s no longer the case. That’s not going to get them to and through.
Lee Edwards: Is that common, teachers leaving to advocate or go to other fields?
Taylor Beale: Well, actually all three of us were former teachers, and all three of us were former teachers in Chicago. That does speak volumes that there are three teachers in this room who are now three community organizers. Why is that? Because somebody had to stand up and say something. What I’m finding is a lot of people who are standing up and saying something actually don’t have that background in the classroom that I think often it informs my work and it informs my advocacy.
There are certain experiences that I have that are really important to talk about when there are certain people saying that every Individual Education Plan (IEP) is fully funded well. I actually know firsthand that not every IEP is fully funded because I’ve had IEP students in my class who were not getting the needs, getting the tools that they needed that was mandated by their IEP. There is a discrepancy.
Taylor Beale: Last time we spoke. That’s a big thing that people are talking about in Chicago as well, if you go to the Board of Education meetings that happen once a month you will hear a whole bunch of parents and teachers going up to the board and saying, “Hey, my students IEP is not being fully funded, but yet you keep saying every month they are being fully funded.” Why is there such a huge discrepancy between the people who are setting policy or setting the budget and the people who are actually supposed to be receiving the benefits of that? That means that one party is actually not being truthful.
Jade Jenkins: I just don’t get … Where else can you not just pay your bills? If I don’t pay my bills, I’m gonna be homeless, so when I look at the governor and the other politicians … I agree this is his first term. I’m just looking at the domino effect. CPS is what a billion dollars in debt? They just borrowed, they just took out another huge loan, huge interest rates. At the end of the day, it’s the schools that suffer, it’s the taxpayers.
You can’t tell me you care and you’re … I’m looking at his actions and other politicians actions. If you really care, pass the budget, pass SB 1, I mean to sign it once it gets to your desk. Put your money where your mouth is.
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