To those of you who were able to join us for our 2002 Annual Luncheon that featured gubernatorial candidates Rep. Blagojevich and Atty. Gen. Ryan, thank you for contributing to its success. It was exciting to be part of history-making — the Council was the first organization to jointly host the candidates, and both made specific commitments to meeting metropolitan Chicago's top regional challenges.
So what's next? For MPC, we'll continue to work closely with the candidates and their advisors, providing background on these problems and their solutions. More publicly, we'll be working over the next 18 months to build the political will for needed policy changes. Below are a few opportunities to get involved and have your voice heard.
Education quality: Illinois has an appalling student achievement gap. Too many children in poor areas are saddled with larger class sizes, less qualified teachers and lower expectations, resulting in too many of their schools showing up on the state's Academic Early Warning List. While there's broad consensus that our over-reliance on the local property tax to fund schools exacerbates this gap, there's still not agreement on what to do about it. We do know that low spending, high achieving schools invest about $5,500 per child, yet the state's per-pupil foundation level is stuck at $4,560 for the second year in a row. This fall, the Education Funding Advisory Board, of which I'm a member, will hold hearings around the state on a blueprint for a unified school quality, accountability and funding package that could be acted on in 2003. Candidates need to hear that there's support for change. Let's make improving student performance a rallying cry in Illinois.
For more information, visit www.isbe.state.il.us/EFAB/.
Sensible growth and housing options: Many in this region struggle daily with a disconnect between where jobs are located and where housing affordable to average workers can be found. Families are squeezed, paying more than they can afford on housing and transportation or commuting 60 or 90 minutes to work each way and feeling robbed of leisure time. Employers find it difficult to recruit and retain workers who are dealing with these stresses. The answer is to give people more choices: townhouses and apartments within walking distance of every transit station; homes on smaller lots with shared open spaces; and more job opportunities in older areas with decent transportation options and an available workforce. The problem is, there simply are not enough voices to balance the "not-in-my-back-yard"-ers. To help change this, contact your mayor and urge him or her to adopt the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Housing Endorsement Criteria, which establish a new yardstick for communities to use to attract a mix of housing.
Traffic gridlock: The countdown has begun for next year's federal transportation bill. As we did in advance of Illinois FIRST, Business Leaders for Transportation will be leading the effort to raise public awareness on the need for freight, transit and road investments, identify possible funding sources, and forge consensus on regionally significant transportation priorities. With competition from other parts of the country, one thing is clear: we can't afford to have competing agendas between communities or between transportation agencies. Boost our efforts by giving us the names of area employers we can recruit as new members of Business Leaders for Transportation.
As always, stay in touch on these fast-breaking issues by checking in here at www.metroplanning.org.
