Cover Story - August 2007

IRAQ WAR IS SHORTCHANGING OUR CHICAGO STUDENTS
By Catiah Li

Imagine this, you are walking through a hallway of a learning institution. You pass the bathroom, and there are no doors. You wonder why, and it was explained “to keep the violence in plain view.” Instead of posters of respectable leaders along the walls, you see a line of marines or national guards, pointing their fingers at you to join the force of “one”. You look out the cracked windows of the hallway into a devastated parking lot with potholes in the pavement, and the old beige bricks are something out of a prison movie. You pass a classroom, you peek in, and the students are hopeless, uninterested, and cramped into old unsteady squeaky chairs. When you pass by the cafeteria, you see a class being conducted on the stools. Why are they there? It is a place to eat. You are in one of the worst Chicago public schools, but this is not the only one. There are more of them just like it, under funded, under managed, and the faculty members, underpaid.

The Chicago Public School system (CPS) is ranked number forty-nine out of fifty nationwide. We are the home of the worst school system in the country. We spend 35 cents of every dollar on our students. The only state worse off is Nevada, but that is questionable because they are pumping gaming money into their school systems. Arguably, we might just be dead last.

Historically, the fight to change public school funding dates back three decades. The quality of school largely depended on the location. If the property tax for that location was high, then the resources for those schools were better. Basically, a family living on inexpensive soil gave their kids a soiled education. Not only has it been an unleveled playing field but has only gotten worse over the past three years due to federal fund cutting.

According to the U.S. Office of Budgeting and Management, the Iraq War has cost U.S. taxpayers 600 billion dollars up to date, and will accumulate to 750 billion by the year 2008.  U.S. income tax is spent in five ways: Current Military, Post Military, General Government, Physical Resources, and Human Resources.

Human Resource spending, which funds programs such as Health & Human Services, Social Security Administration, Food and Nutrition, Housing and Urban Development, and Education, ends up using only 32% of the money. 51% of American tax dollars is spent on Current Military and Past Military. Budget cutting within the inner city public schools is just one of the domino affects of the superfluous spending overseas. It is what causes achievement gaps between ethnic students who live in the poorer sectors of the city. Much worse, is our own city, Chicago.

 Before 2004, 100 million dollars annually were given to CPS from the state of Illinois. However, since then, that funding dried up, and CPS has not seen a penny. This is very detrimental to the public school student’s quality of learning.

“With funding cuts, we have overcrowding in the northwest, and southwest schools. There just isn't enough space available for the students to learn. Some of these schools had to convert a science lab, or cafeteria into a classroom. Some are so over-populated, they have to go rent property few blocks away.” Mike Vaughn, the spokesperson for the Chicago Public School System said in an interview with Afrique, “The enrollment has to be controlled in some schools to a point where it needs to be closed to the neighborhood.  Kids who live down the street can’t go to these schools. In some cases, schools cannot afford to have a full summer because the school’s capacity was increased by 25%, forcing them to have four track schooling.”

Since the federal government has stopped the aid, Mayor Daley started his own citywide programs to provide “TIF money” tax increment financing, to help the situation. Through these programs, CPS was able to build 24 new schools, and expand 3 high schools. “Mayor Daley has been the most outspoken about this issue. However, it’s not an easy thing. In order to change ways schools are funded, we need new ways of making more money. If 48 other states has figured it out then why haven’t we?” Vaughn says. “Many investors are reluctant to help because they make the argument that money should not be given to kids who are not learning.” To the contrary, the test scores have proven otherwise. It has been steadily climbing each and every year. Statistics show that minorities do better when they stay in school longer. Most of these kids in poorer funded areas read below grade level when in the 3rd grade. However, by the time they reach 8th grade, the majority of them have caught up to their peers across the state. If the schools continue to decay due to lack of funding, these kids who have proven to do well in a prolonged school program will no longer have any school programs at all.

According to CBS news, 77% of American citizens do not support the war, yet we are feeding 51% of our nation’s budget into it. Many citizens are waiting for the 2008 election for a new, more democratic government that will mend the existing problems fostered by poor spending on behalf of the current regime. Education of our young should never be a “patchwork” system. This creates a generation of wasted youth who are the futures of America. “If we have patchwork budget, scraping by, not investing in new technology, better science labs, teachers, and high school programs, then we are shortchanging our students. They cannot compete in a 21st-century marketplace. That takes money.” Vaughn protests. A great many of people involved in education across America would like to see more money spent on families and the children’s development here in America. For the coming ‘08 election, the ones involved in public school education systems would most likely support  a candidate who can prioritize investments in teachers and students.

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