Observations and comments about state government by State Representative Robert W. Pritchard.
Governor Announces Home Financing Package for Veterans
Governor Quinn has launched the Welcome Home Heroes Program to promote home ownership for Illinois veterans, active military personnel, reservists and Illinois National Guard members. The financing package is available statewide, and provides a forgivable grant up to $10,000 toward the purchase of a new home, as well as an additional mortgage tax credit up to $20,000 over the life of the loan.
Welcome Home Heroes is funded by $5 million in Illinois Jobs Now! capital funds and $5 million from the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Interested veterans, service members and their families can contact a lender in their area to apply. A list of lenders is available here.
Think Tanks Suggest Ways to Stretch Education Dollars
I recently attended a meeting sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to discuss ways to improve educational outcomes with resources that are expected to continue shrinking. The Gates Foundation along with the Fordham Institute has plenty of suggestions for policy makers and school administrators.
While the ideas were focused at the elementary and secondary school levels, they have application to higher education as well. I will be discussing the ideas in more detail at my Education Council meeting next month but here is a brief summary.
They suggest adopting teaching innovations and technology more quickly. Use virtual courses, expand class size for the best teachers and utilize the community college for courses with very small class sizes.
Other ideas include reducing mandates and reporting requirements, limiting state dollars for small districts and high cost programs, and capping spending for learning-disabled students to their percent of the population. Ideas were presented for reallocating staffing benefit costs and compensation based on skills and duties rather than tenure and undirected professional improvement.
The Gates meeting coincided with the recent announcement that the Chicago Public Schools has entered into collaboration with the Gates Foundation to share what works among its charter and traditional schools. The goal in these efforts is to break down barriers between the two, often-competing educator factions.
My Education Council will meet in mid January to discuss implementation of reforms and current issues. If you’d like to join this group of teachers, parents, administrators and taxpayers, contact my office for meeting details.
Finally, may this season of hope extend into 2012 that the legislature will work together to continue addressing major fiscal issues and budgeting for results. As always, feel welcome to contact me with your ideas and concerns.
District Office 815-748-3494 or E-Mail to bob@pritchardstaterep.com
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