I am kind of surprised some of you have so much faith int he people that run the government and the public schools. They have done such a wonderful job so far.

Unlike private schools, public schools don't need to meet any standards. They are the default option. Private schools have to earn their keep. And then when people bring up school choice, folks howl about robbing the schools of students. God forbid we hold teachers to any standards of excellence.

If he thinks handing money over to CPS will make a difference, then he should have done this in a different way. If that's a shot, oh well.

Please explain how the public schools will get better? Have any great ideas? The private schools are only taking money that go with the students. This allows the individual to decide how they want to spend the money allocated for their child. I do understand that some people believe in the state more than the person. I also understand that historically that does not work in the long run. Once again it comes down to give the poor a chance.

This is actually the best thing to happen for low income families in the State of IL in a long time. One of the main ways to get out of poverty is through education, and so far the public schools have not done a very good job at this. You always here the argument that we need more money for the schools, but the state and more so the City of Chicago spends more on its students than most other states. These Scholarships are based on poverty level. A family of 4 cannot make more than around $80,000 to qualify. This rules out the highly connected people that have been mentioned. Doing the same thing year after year is not gonna lead to better results just the same bad ones.

...and a further decline in public schools. The state should not be encouraging private school for anyone. All it does it help facilitate further decline for the unlucky who don't get "saved".

The scholarships are available for out of district state schools

Not over yet.

It's easy to sit back on his perch and be such a skeptic. Folks that are paying Illinois taxes and trying to do what's best for their children have to worry about these things. .

It's easy to sit back on his perch and be such a skeptic. Folks that are paying Illinois taxes and trying to do what's best for their children have to worry about these things. .

Shifting any government funds to private schools hurts public schools and this does it indirectly.

I think this the disconnect for some. What you want and think is best for your child is not always in line with what is best for Illinois kids in general.

Denis,

If 200 under performing students from Dundee-Crown were able to enroll tomorrow at your sons small private high school, what would happen to those test scores? What would the parents of current students do with their children?

The education of your children is a very personal matter. And it will vary depending on the school district, the child, the value system of the family, and a host of other factors.

What I can say is that collectively, our society of failing a good portion of the children. We are scoring way too low on international tests. If you tell me that increasing my property taxes 25% or 50% would change that, I will vote for it right now. I voted for the last tax increase put before me by D300 around 2006. Unfortunately, that is the last time they can go to the well because it came out that they lied about enrollment projections. Oops.

Middle-class (and above) students compare well internationally. It's the working-class and poor kids who bring the scores down. Teachers in other countries actually have authority over their students, but that's a different (and difficult to quantify) issue.