Kids' protest highlights rich-poor schools gap in Illinois

Critics say Chicago students shouldn't miss class to point out education-funding disparities.

By Amanda Paulson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the September 4, 2008 edition

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Northfield, Ill. - On what was supposed to be their first day of school this week, about 1,000 Chicago Public School students got a different sort of education.

Rather than go to classes, they boarded buses with parents, church leaders, and activists to try to enroll in a wealthy suburban district – a symbolic protest against school funding inequities that are among the most glaring in the US.

Chicago's mayor, school superintendent, and other officials condemned the boycott, saying skipping school sends the wrong message. But organizers say it's a desperate situation that calls for drastic action – and that the issue grabbed front-page headlines for the first time in years, due largely to the theatrics of the boycott.

"It's irresponsible to send kids to a system that doesn't have the resources to educate them," says James Meeks, the state senator and Chicago pastor who planned the boycott, responding to charges that having kids miss school is irresponsible. "This system does not have the money to do the job."

Equity in education funding has been a national issue for 35 years, ever since a 1973 US Supreme Court case challenged the fairness of a system in which the poorest students had the worst schools. The plaintiffs lost the case, but the justices issued a rebuke to the system, setting off a series of state litigation cases that have been surprisingly successful, says Michael Rebell, director of the Campaign for Educational Equity at Columbia University's Teachers College. In some cases, old systems like Illinois's, which rely primarily on property taxes for school funding, were changed, and in many states, lawsuits that focused on "adequacy" – the responsibility of the state to ensure that all students receive at least an adequate education – have led to more state funding to the poorest districts.

$17,000 vs. $10,400 per student

But Illinois lawsuits have been unsuccessful, and dissatisfaction with the size of the spending gap between rich and poor runs high. At New Trier High School's Northfield campus, where per-pupil spending tops $17,000 compared with $10,400 in Chicago, buses Tuesday unloaded about 2,000 Chicago students and adults, nearly all African-American. A large sign in the window read "Welcome to New Trier CPS students," and local residents stood by with more welcome signs. Students were ushered into the auditorium to fill out enrollment forms, all of which will be rejected because of residency requirements.

But the goal, say participants, wasn't for students at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to attend New Trier or other wealthy schools, but to boost funds for poor districts with less ability to rely on property taxes for their needs.

"This wasn't something people wanted to do. This was something that needed to be done," says Andre Thurman, a Chicago pastor who brought his two teenage children with him. At one daughter's high school, he notes, the balcony in the gym collapsed, and equipment and books are in a sorry state. "We're asking for better funding not only for CPS but for all the schools across the state."

School funding is a perennial issue in Illinois, which has the largest unaddressed funding gap in the US between highest- and lowest-poverty districts, according to the Education Trust, which studies the matter annually. Illinois's gap, which has been widening, stood at $2,238 per pupil in 2005. The state ranks 49th in the nation in terms of the portion it contributes compared with local revenue.

"High funding doesn't guarantee good results, but inadequate funding can tip the scales toward poor results," says Amy Wilkins, Education Trust vice president.

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