Income tax should pay brunt of education bill

In the Daily Herald of May 27, letters from Eric Anderson and Laurel Bault urged the state legislature to pass an income tax increase to further the health and education of our children. I also believe an increase in the income tax is necessary for many reasons, including education.

However, I was disappointed that neither of the above-referenced letters addressed what must be part of the package in educational funding reform. That is a corresponding reduction in the reliance on local property taxes to support our school systems.

The Illinois Constitution clearly indicates that the state should be the majority funder of primary and secondary education in Illinois. The state level has hovered near the 30 percent level for years. Illinois recently ranked 49th in the nation on education funding by the state. At the same time 58 percent of my property tax bill goes to the local school district.

The impact of this reliance on property tax also has a detrimental impact on any family with moderate or low income. Children are negatively affected by this in many ways. Seniors on fixed incomes are also impacted.

I totally agree that we need education funding reform. However, to ignore tying it to property tax reform is to ignore the large gorilla in the room. Our legislators must attend to both reforms at the same time.

Royce M. Blackwell

Elgin