Casino Cash for Schools: More Funding and More Concerns

Governor Blagojevich recently boosted his education spending plans by another $300 million, a positive step toward expanding preschool and improving school-funding adequacy. However, substantial problems still hamper these funding proposals.

Casino-expansion costs would fall heavily upon our already overburdened, low––and middle–income families, and “sweeping” special state funds would face legal challenges. The resulting revenues still would fall short of needs and would do little to repair the unfairness of Illinois’ school-funding system. Read more about FY2006 budget proposals for education, as well as Voices’ support for the A+ Illinois campaign’s approach of comprehensive, school-funding, and state revenue reforms at www.voices4kids.org.

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The Campaign for School Funding Reform – Illinois HB 750

“State tax reform and education spending––remedying that shameful inequality––are spiritual issues. . . that have to do with the value and somebodiness of every child.”

John M. Buchanan, “The Grace of God and Somebodiness”

Facts:

Illinois ranks 48th in the nation in the level of state funding for schools.

Because the state has failed to give the proper resources to educate our children, the burden falls on the local communities to close the money gap through property taxes.

Children in wealthy neighborhoods typically attend good schools and children in poor neighborhoods attend schools too often characterized by inadequate or unmaintained facilities, overcrowding, limited core courses, and cuts in sports, music, art, and drama.

In Illinois, an education funding gap between rich and poor communities is the widest in the nation.

If Illinois increases the income tax to 5 percent from 3 percent, $5 billions will be generated for Illinois schools.

What you can do:

Write to your governor, your state senator, and state representative and encourage them to support the School Funding Reform Legislation.

Tell them
- A good education should not depend on where a child lives
- Dependence on property taxes to pay for our schools is not fair
- You support an increase in Illinois income tax if all the money goes to schools
- You want school funding reform to be their top priority

Visit http://www.elections.state.il.us or call 312.814.6440 to find your elected representatives

For more information, please visit:

A+ Illinois (www.aplusillinois.org)
Voices for Illinois Children (www.voices4kids.org)
Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (www.ctbaonline.org)

The Presbyterian Coffee Project brings Presbyterian congregations nationwide together with small-scale farmers in developing nations. By offering a great cup of coffee—and spreading the word about fair trade—our congregation is helping impoverished farmers build a better economic future for their families and communities. Fair trade guarantees that small farmer cooperatives receive at least $1.26 per pound for conventional coffee, and $1.42 per pound for shade-grown, organic coffee.

By purchasing fair trade coffee, you make a difference in the lives of small farmers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia by ensuring that the people who grow the beans used to brew your coffee:

- Receive a fair price for their hard work and care in growing your coffee
- Benefit from being members of a democratic co-operative
- Have access to co-op services such as healthcare, education and training
- Emphasize agricultural practices that are healthy for the land and farmers
- Enjoy the stability of a long term trading partner, Equal Exchange

Click here for a list of where to buy fairly traded coffee in the Chicago area.

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MAKE HUNGER HISTORY

Hunger Facts in the United States

The U. S. Department of Agriculture reports that in 2003, 36.3 million people, including 13.3 million children, were food insecure (meaning they had difficulty putting food on the table).
Requests for emergency food assistance continue to grow. America’s Second Harvest, the nation's largest hunger-relief organization, reports that 40 percent of such requests come from working families.

In 2003, nearly 36 million people in the U.S. lived below the poverty line, 4.3 million more than in 2002. In 2003 nearly 13 million children lived in poverty. This represents 17.6 percent of all people under the age of eighteen in the United States.

The poverty line for a family of four was $18.200. The number of children living in “extreme poverty” (where the household income was less than half of the poverty line) exceeded 5 million. One full-time minimum wage worker earns only $10.712 annually, falling more than $4.000 below the poverty line for a family of three.

The number of people receiving food stamps also continues to grow. In August 2004 participation in the food stamp program increased to 24.6 million from the approximately 17 million individuals participating in 2001. Experts attribute the increase to a combination of factors including, a weak economy, better outreach programs, and improvements made in the last farm bill (such as restoring eligibility to legal immigrants).

There are also significant numbers of eligible people who do not receive food stamps. The U. S. Department of Agriculture’s latest statistics show that in 2002, the food stamp program served 54 percent of those eligible to receive benefits.

Make Hunger History

Each person who is concerned about hunger is a valuable resource, and each person can encourage and enable others to contact their members of congress to urge them to adopt a concrete plan to cut hunger in half by 2010.

Letters in support of legislation aimed at cutting food insecurity in half by 2010 are available here.

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ADVOCACY LINKS

Presbyterian Legislative Action Center
http://capwiz.com/pcusa/home/
 
PC(USA) Mission through Advocacy
http://www.pcusa.org/navigation/mission.htm
 
National Council of Churches
http://www.ncccusa.org/
 
Find your local, state and national government officials:
http://www.elections.state.il.us/dls/pages/DLSAddresscrit.asp

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