Fix school system before adding educational funds

Gov. Quinn's proposed 1 percent increase in the state's income tax has garnered a great deal of newspaper coverage and general discussion regarding education. It also got him the endorsement of the teachers union. Big surprise!

Consider these facts about the public school system in our country and the Northwest suburbs:

• Since the 1960s, the national cost per student in constant dollars has increased 300 percent while performance has declined.

• 50 years ago 60 cents of every education dollar went into the classroom. Now only 40 cents does. My investigation of a local district indicated 41 cents was going into the classroom.

• Even some honor roll students require remedial classes before they can be accepted into local community colleges. • A recent newspaper article indicated little relationship between teacher pay and student success. It listed the top-paying subjects for high school teachers in Illinois. They are: 1) dance, 2) calculus, 3) driver education, 4) drama/theater arts and 5) broadcasting. English didn't even make the top 10.

The data suggest that our school system is in shambles. What is needed is more parental involvement and less TV and video games. Also needed are school boards that remember they represent the community. We all need to recognize that the teachers unions are very effective at raising salaries and could care less about student achievement.

It should be obvious that money will not be the solution. A reasonable approach would be to not increase education funding until a minimum of 60 cents of every dollar goes to the classroom. Insanity can be defined as doing the same things and expecting different results. To shove more money into education for political reasons is insanity.

Richard Kaiser

Elk Grove Village