Credit where it’s due, Tribune: 

While money isn’t the most important factor toward improving educational outcomes, it’s a big factor. You can be an engaged parent devoted to your kids’ schooling and still get undercut by the system. Why? Because basing education funding on property wealth means the wealthier districts get the best teachers, more teacher aides, more speech pathologists, more special education experts, more counselors, more social workers, wider curriculum choices, deeper athletic programs and on and on.

The schools with lower property wealth and more challenges get fewer resources. Less help. Less opportunity — even with involved, loving parents.

Well, and it’s a self-perpetuating cycle. Higher taxes drive businesses out, which drive taxes higher, which drive businesses out, which drive taxes higher, until finally there’s nobody left to tax but the homeowners, who pay more out of pocket and get less for it.

The ones that can afford to, move. The ones that can’t bear the burden and that’s been ridiculous forever.

The comments, naturally, are reasonable and not at all terrified and racist and crazy HAHAHAHAHAHA:

To call the current school funding process “immoral” is to rage against capitalism generally, which I’m pretty confident this “journalist” would readily do. Yes, people with more money are willing to pay more to have their kids educated well (though more money itself seldom results directly in better education). Sorry, but that’s how capitalism works. By the author’s rationale, wealthy people shouldn’t be entitled to better health care, homes, cars, clothes, vacations, etc., than poor people….

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Why doesn”t this clueless member of the Trib editorial board address the parenting gap instead of the spending gap? I am not, nor have I ever been a parent of any child in any Illinois school district, but I am so sick of the liberals complaining about this isn”t fair, that isn”t fair. If you don”t like your station in life, go out and educate yourself better and earn it for yourself. Enough already. Whatever happened to the idea of self reliance and self determination? Y

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Oh this should be good. Take away funding from the wealthier districts and give it to poorer districts? That sounds great, except that it involves more of the same liberal crap. Wealthy people need to pay more money for the benefit of poorer people. Never mind that the reason many wealthy people are in those neighborhoods paying exorbitant real estate taxes is because of the better schools. I can’t wait to see this happen. Single handedly, this will do more for clearing the wealthy out of Illinois than any other single government “fix” could. Please Illinois. Go for it. For those of us looking from the outside in, it can only prove hilarious.

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The money in Illinois is wasted on pensions, teacher/admin salaries, and junk like ipads.

I don’t know how you get people like this past the idea that poor people secretly have it awesome.

A.