Budget Solutions 2012 in Sauk Valley Newspapers

The Sauk Valley Newspapers editorial board encouraged Gov. Quinn to consider ideas from Budget Solutions 2012 in an editorial published March 15.

The editorial board of Sauk Valley newspapers published an editorial encouraging Gov. Pat Quinn to review the proposals in Budget Solutions 2012:

Pointing out the plank in Quinn’s eye (click for original link)
Gov. Pat Quinn has a plan to eliminate two-thirds of Illinois? public school districts. The proposal, which would shake up public education from top to bottom, is designed to save $100 million in administrative costs.
Any idea that saves money should be investigated, to be sure, but Quinn?s scheme reminds us of a biblical quotation:

?Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother?s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?? (Matthew 7:3)

Quinn saw a speck of sawdust in public education?s eye, but failed to see the plank in his own.

The Illinois Policy Institute kindly stepped in to help enlighten the governor.

In ?Budget Solutions 2012: A Sustainable Path for Illinois,? the think tank has proposed deleting $5.8 billion of spending from Quinn?s $26.9 billion budget. That?s a mighty big ?plank? ? 58 times the size of the $100 million ?speck of sawdust? detected by the governor.

The alternative budget would reduce discretionary state spending to $21.1 billion. Cuts would come from trimming employee salaries, cutting education spending, and ending a number of programs.

The Institute?s report says Quinn?s budget, by contrast, would increase state spending by $1.7 billion, which it says is an unsustainable course ? and another mighty big plank.

The group?s alternative budget would ?fund core government services, reduce excess spending, pay down past-due debt, and even pave the way for tax relief,? according to its 100-plus-page report. (For a copy, visit www.illinoispolicy.org on the Internet.)

We encourage the governor to study the Illinois Policy Institute?s findings, as well as take a second look at his school consolidation proposal.

While streamlining public education administration might be beneficial, Quinn?s plan actually could cost the state more money. The Illinois Association of School Boards believes it would spark increases in teacher salaries, because small-district teachers paid at lower salaries, when absorbed into higher-salaried, larger districts, would have to be paid at the higher rates. It?s the law.

The IASB offered several examples. Consolidation in Carbondale might save $461,000 in administrative salaries but cost at least $1.2 million in higher teacher salaries. And in Palatine, $1.6 million in administrative salaries might be saved, but teacher salaries would balloon by an estimated $10 million.

So the governor has got some more thinking to do before finalizing his financial vision for state spending in general, and public education in particular.

Aware now of that pesky plank in his eye, perhaps Quinn?s vision will improve.