U-46 insider supports D300 fight

As a parent with two kids in the U-46 school system, a two-time candidate for the U-46 board of education and a former vice chairman of the U-46 Citizens Advisory Council, I know the financial misery school districts are facing.

I think this is a perfect example of the need for Springfield to reform the whole TIF/EDA system. It also illustrates the need for tax reform. A company should want to stay in Illinois but also willingly locate in Illinois without being bribed to do so. And face it, after 20-plus years, with Prairie Stone well along on the development road, it is nothing but a bribe.

It seems rather myopic for a company to shortchange the education of its future workforce.

Most TIF’s and EDA’s are approved for roughly 20 years. While TIF’s and EDA’s are slightly different, TIF’s are generally created to improve blighted areas. The effects are the same; loss of revenue to school districts. Unfortunately, schools districts, and ultimately the children, don’t have millions of dollars to spend on lobbyists.

Therefore, I am proud to support District 300. I fervently hope parents, the board of education and the U-46 administration join District 300. In the end, we will be judged by how we advocate for our future.

Gary Percy

Elgin