On WTTW's Chicago Tonight yesterday, Center for Tax and Budget Accountability executive director Ralph Martire discussed the school funding crisis in Illinois and expressed his support for State Sen. James Meeks' effort to highlight the issue.  "We've got to get people as outraged about the fact that for decades we haven't given children an adequate education in our state," he said.  "And when they get the same fervor and outrage over that that they have over this silly day of missed school, maybe we'll make a change."

Talking about the tax code's effect on the state's fiscal situation, Martire also pointed out that "Illinois has got a $600 billion economy -- $600 billion.  The cost of the tax increase needed to fix our problems would be about $6 billion.  That's one percent of our economy."  Watch it:

For more on the education funding issue, check out Will Burns' column from last week.