Illinois wastes taxes supporting too many school district bureaucracies

By Adam Schuster

02/25/2020

Illinois could put $708 million more toward classrooms or property tax relief if it reduced school district bureaucracy to national average.

TAGS: administrative bloat, consolidation, education bureaucracy, education spending, Rita Mayfield, school district efficiency

Red-light camera backlash gains bipartisan momentum in Springfield

By Vincent Caruso

10/15/2019

Driver headaches and corruption flow from red-light cameras. Two bills with bipartisan support would ban the traffic devices in Illinois.

TAGS: corruption, David McSweeney, Grant Wehrli, Jonathan Carroll, Margo McDermed, Mark Batinick, Martin Sandoval, red light cameras, Rita Mayfield, SafeSpeed, Sam Yingling

Cost of Illinois’ education bureaucracy crowds out classroom spending

By Adam Schuster

08/20/2019

More than 9,000 Illinois school district administrators earn more than $100,000 a year. Each of them will collect at least $3 million in pension benefits during retirement.

TAGS: education, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions, Rita Mayfield, school district consolidation, school district efficiency

Illinois House unanimously passes education efficiency bill

By Adam Schuster

03/28/2019

By reducing administrative bloat in Illinois school districts, the bill would enable property tax relief while ensuring education dollars reach students and classrooms first, rather than bureaucrats.

TAGS: education, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions, property taxes, Rita Mayfield, school district consolidation, school district efficiency, taxes

Education efficiency bill would prioritize classroom spending

By Vincent Caruso

03/11/2019

A bill in the Illinois House would empower voters to reform the funding priorities of their local school districts.

TAGS: budget, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions, property taxes, Rita Mayfield, school district consolidation, taxes

Trio of occupational licensing bills en route to governor’s desk

By Vincent Caruso

05/23/2018

A series of occupational licensing reform bills making their way out of the General Assembly would help more Illinoisans enter the workforce.

TAGS: Bruce Rauner, Chuck Weaver, criminal justice reform, occupational licensing, Pam Althoff, Rita Mayfield

Lawmakers to homeowners: ‘You’ll get nothing and like it’

By Austin Berg

05/10/2018

In a matter of hours, Illinoisans saw bipartisan opposition to property tax relief and bipartisan support for higher property taxes.

TAGS: outmigration, Peter Breen, property taxes, Rita Mayfield, taxes, Tom Morrison

To prevent political bribery in Illinois, change the House Rules

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s power over Illinois politics is more precarious than ever. A steady stream of federal investigations, wiretaps and raids of people close to him, a deferred prosecution agreement with Commonwealth Edison wherein the utility giant admitted to bribing the speaker, and a grand jury subpoena served to Madigan’s office have led...

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To prevent political bribery in Illinois, change the House Rules

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Craig Richardson: Batter & Berries

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students