Let school funding begin at church

As a state senator, Mr. Meeks knows where a significant amount of the funding comes from for education in our state, real estate taxes.

If he and the other ministers are so concerned about funding for the education of the children in there local area, they should take their churches off the tax-exempt status they now enjoy.

Imagine how many teachers you could hire and books you could buy if Rev. Meeks' own church paid its fair share of real estate taxes? Now multiply that by all of the churches (of all denominations) throughout Chicago. Imagine the new revenue that would bring to the local school districts.

If Mr. Meeks and the other ministers were truly sincere about wanting better schools and better funding for the children, instead of telling them to boycott the first day of school and trying to enroll in schools in other districts, they themselves would step up to the plate and "start the giving at home" and give up their tax exempt status.

Instead of asking children to be at the front of education funding reform, as a state senator and a minister, Mr. Meeks is in a unique position to lead the change himself.

He could work with his religious counterparts to stop taking their tax-exempt status, and as a state senator, he could work with the legislature to create laws or guidelines to ensure that these new revenue funds go directly to the local school districts.

Now that's a press conference I would love to see.

Russ Dahl

Schaumburg