Education lawsuit against the state

Assuming I understand correctly, this lawsuit could lead to statewide (if not nationwide) education reform. Click here for the full article, or just look below for quotes I pulled.

The Chicago Urban League has filed a lawsuit against the State of Illinois and the Illinois State Board of Education calling for the state’s current school funding scheme to be declared unconstitutional and in violation of the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003. The lawsuit asserts that the State of Illinois has, for decades, discriminated against families based on race and has deprived African American, Latino and other minority children of a high quality education.

The lawsuit challenges the State’s method for raising and distributing education funds to local school districts and the Illinois State Board of Education’s implementation of the system.

The Chicago Urban League wants the court to agree that the public education financing mechanism in Illinois violates the Illinois Civil Rights Act and Illinois Constitution and order the State to take the necessary steps to eliminate the constitutional violation and remedy the statutory violation.

“Illinois ranks 49th in the nation for the funding gap between rich and poor students, and white and minority students,” said Mary Ellen Guest, campaign manager of A+ Illinois, the state’s leading advocate for improved school quality and funding. “It should come as no surprise that Illinois also ranks near-last for the achievement gap between these groups of students.”

Tags: Chicago Urban League, education, Illinois, lawsuit
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Elgin is the best ever!

According to Best Life magazine, Elgin is the 52nd best place in the US to raise a family. Woo hoo! They looked at 257 American cities total–Honolulu is #1 and Clarkesville, Tennessee came in dead last.

Here’s how other Illinois cities stacked up:
17. Naperville
19. Springfield
52. Elgin
60. Chicago

I’m not sure if I trust the ratings though because #32 is Las Vegas. Why would Vegas rank higher than Elgin? More casinos?

Tags: best place to raise a family, Chicago, Elgin, IL, Illinois, magazine, MSN, Naperville, quality of life, ranking, Springfield
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StoryTube!

Now this is just awesome. Elgin kids in grades 1-6 that are served by Gail Borden Library can submit videos inspired by their favorite books to Youtube to be entered into a contest. The competition is between us and four other public libraries across the country. The winner will receive $500 in books for herself and $1,000 to go to her school or library.

So far there is one entry. Check it out!

I would’ve been all over this when I was a kid! My one hope is that Gail Borden can provide a video camera for the students whose families do not own one. It’s not the highest quality, but I will offer the use of my digital camera’s video capabilities if there are any kids out there reading this who need it.

If you know any children in the area, spread the word about this contest! And throughout the rest of the month, keep searching “Story Tube” on Youtube in order to find the video entries as they come in. This is such a great way to encourage both reading and the use of new technologies.

Tags: Books, competition, contest, Elgin, Gail Borden Library, Illinois, public library, public schools, reading, StoryTube, youtube
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Be in a Johnny Depp movie!

Apparently an upcoming movie is being filmed in Aurora soon and they’re looking for extras. Unfortunately I’m too tall to qualify. Bummer!

Men must be less than 6-foot-2 with a jacket size no larger than 44 and female extras must be shorter than 5-foot-8 with a dress size no larger than 10.

To sign up, call Joan Philo Casting at (312) 924-1840. When you call in a recorded message will prompt you to leave your name, phone number, and make sure to let them know you are calling for the Aurora shoot.

Tags: acting, Extra, Joan Philo Casting, Johnny Depp, movie
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A cool shirt.

My brother told me about this shirt. Um…did I mention my birthday is in March?

Also, any Elgin creatives want to help me come up with a clever Elgin-themed tee? If so, email jessica.elgin@mac.com.

Tags: Busted Tees, clothes, Illinois, t-shirt
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Allow me to make fun of my state’s capital for a minute.

I went to the Springfield, IL website for work-related reasons, where I saw a funny headline.

First vehicle “booted” as city goes after parking scofflaws.

Photo of a booted car, for those who have never seen one. Photo from dcist.com

I wondered, why is booted in quotes, and who uses the word scofflaws? I mean, they have a nice photo of Abe Lincoln on their site, but they’re still in the year 2008 right?

Springfield’s Honest Abe graphic.

So I clicked the link. To a former Chicagoan who thinks of “the boot” as a regular occurrence, the article was pretty funny. They actually published who got the first boot on their car!

The City of Springfield has applied the “boot” to the first vehicle that belongs to an individual who owes $500 or more in unpaid parking tickets. The vehicle was located in the 100 block of North Fourth Street. It is owned by Gary Corcoran, who has since come forward and paid all of his past due parking tickets.

Poor Gary! Though I’m glad to hear he came forward and paid his tickets.

Sometimes small towns are cute. I wonder what other things people can get their name in the paper over? And how many people do you think have been gossiping about that scofflaw Gary Corcoran?

Tags: Abe Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, articles, cars, humor, Illinois, joke, news, parking tickets, parking violation, small towns, Springfield, the boot, tickets
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