Progress Illinois

The evidence that Illinois' education system is riddled with shortcomings just keeps mounting. The latest, the results of last spring's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exams, has garnered surprisingly little attention but drives home how inequitable the state's education system has become. For the eighth consecutive year, low-income and minority fourth and eighth graders in Illinois continue to lag far behind their middle- and upper-income and white peers. What's stunning is how wide the gap is. The Tribune has some details:

In fourth-grade, for instance, 18 percent of low-income students were deemed proficient or higher in math compared with 54 percent of other children.  And just 11 percent of African-American students tested at least above the proficient level, compared with 20 percent of their Hispanic classmates and 52 percent of white children.

That's a whopping 36 percent gap (PDF) between poor fourth-graders and their economically-advantaged peers. Unfortunately, eighth-graders didn't fare (PDF) much better; 45 percent of the "haves" proved proficient, compared with 14 percent of the "have-nots." Meanwhile, the gap between black and white students is even wider.

As the veto session began this week, education advocates were in the Statehouse to unveil a set of reforms designed to snag a portion of the $4.35 billion federal "Race to the Top" pot. "We say it's time to strike a new bargain," the Illinois Association of School Business Officials' Mike Jacoby said at a press conference unveiling The Dialog Group's proposal (PDF), which calls for new state learning standards and additional charter schools. "Local school districts are not equipped to handle this all their own. We need to face the fact that resources are needed."

But even with momentum building for Sen. James Meeks' (D-Chicago) HB 174, which would finally change the tax system to fund schools adequately, the bipartisan group sidestepped the issue and called for a "discussion" on school funding to be "framed in the language of student outcomes." As we've noted before, the Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) has already been through this process. Five years ago, the group established an optimal per pupil rate for funding schools -- based on low-spending districts that post the highest results. Still, the state has yet to reach the goal of $6,405 per student.

Let's hope the latest round of dismal test results serves as a wake-up call to lawmakers. After all, even if the state is awarded Race to the Top money, it would still fall far short of the $3 billion a year that the EFAB says is needed to bring the state's schools up to snuff. If education "reformers" are serious about moving the state's schools forward, they're going to have to lead by example and show lawmakers how to stick their necks out.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user churl.