By Jeffrey Gaunt
jgaunt@dailyherald.com
Posted Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Illinois schools need to improve, and that will require more money — which  schools won’t get without greater accountability, a diverse panel of public officials said Monday.

The group, made up of civic leaders and education professionals from around the state, unveiled a plan they say would make Illinois a global leader in education.

“The Burnham Plan for a World-Class Education,” named after visionary architect Daniel Burnham, proposes a laundry list of accountability reforms and an extra $3.4 billion to fund public education.

“It’s not about more money in the system,” group member and former state schools superintendent Max McGee said. Rather, he said, it’s about students, taxpayers and parents getting the most academic bang for their buck.

Group members say the plan is derived from the best education programs used around the country.

It includes dozens of reform measures, such as teacher and principal evaluations with real consequences, and academic and financial reports that would allow for easy comparisons between the state’s school districts.

The plan also provides for mandatory training of school board members and more professional development for teachers and administrators.

And it seeks to increase competition among school districts themselves — raising the cap on the number of charter schools, and in some cases, even letting students transfer between public school districts.

“We believe this Burnham Plan is a blueprint for the greatest educational system in America and beyond,” McGee said.

If only they could figure out how to pay for it.

Group members said they couldn’t agree on the best way to fund the multibillion dollar proposal.

State lawmakers this year already shot down one school funding idea — the governor’s gross receipts tax.

Another plan, the income tax swap put forth in House Bill 750, has seen little sustained success in Springfield.

But group members said Monday that their Burnham Plan is more about reform than it is about money.

“It’s never been just about throwing money to the schools,” said Ralph Martire, group member and executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. “We have a chance to make the kind of change that will finally move Illinois forward, not just in a resource standpoint, but in an accountability standpoint.”

To that end, group members hope to garner support for their plan among school leaders, unions, lawmakers, taxpayers and others.

“There’s a clear understanding in Springfield now that you have to tie the accountability piece to the money piece,” Martire said. “You can’t do one without the other.”

Other members of the group include Cook County Assessor James Houlihan, state teachers union head Jo Anderson, Metropolitan Planning Council leader MarySue Barrett and Elgin Mayor Ed Schock, representing the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.

Group members said they hope to collaborate with the mayors caucus, a consortium of 272 Illinois mayors who last month unveiled their own proposal to increase accountability in the public education system.

“There’s no question that school funding, financial reform, has been on everyone’s mind,” said Mike Jacoby, group member and executive director of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials.

“We’re moving farther and farther away from being able to adequately fund education in Illinois,” Jacoby said.

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