Contact: Joe King, Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-4299
February 18, 2005
Education tops list of concerns in Illinois, more spending
wanted
DeKALB , IL – Gov. Rod Blagojevich's recently proposed budget,
which calls for a modest increase in funding for education, likely
comes as a disappointment to most Illinois residents, say researchers
at Northern Illinois University .
According to the 2005 Illinois Policy Survey, education was
the number one concern among Illinois residents, and an area
where the vast majority of people wish to see more money spent.
Responding to an open-ended question, 25 percent of those surveyed
identified education as the most important problem facing the
state. That response outpaced the second most frequently cited
concern (jobs/unemployment) by 8 percent.
Most respondents were also willing to dig a bit deeper in their
wallets to address those concerns. Nearly 80 percent supported
more spending on education and said that they would be willing
to spend an additional $25 a year in taxes to ensure that educational
services were at least maintained at their present levels.
None of these figures came as any surprise to researchers.
“Education has ranked among the top one or two concerns in almost
every year of the survey, but it is higher this year than we
have seen in some time,” said NIU Professor of Public Administration
Mike Peddle, who oversaw the survey along with Barbara Burrell,
associate director of the NIU Public Opinion Laboratory.
“I think many people were expecting progress on school funding
in this session of the General Assembly,” Peddle said. “However,
the governor's budget proposal was a jolt back to reality, and
initial signs are that hopes for school funding reform this year
may have been premature.”
Perhaps, Peddle speculates, the chilly reception that many legislators
have given the governor's proposed budget, particularly as it
pertains to education, could signal another showdown is on the
horizon in Springfield .
“The governor has been adamant in his opposition to any increase
of the sales or income tax, and he has been consistent in saying
that he believes there is still fat to be cut from the state
budget. If legislators truly want more money for schools, the
governor may be using this proposal to challenge them to find
that money by cutting in other areas,” Peddle said.
All of this talk about education comes at a time when the perception
of the quality of K-12 education in Illinois is declining.
In the 2000 Illinois Policy Survey, 65 percent of respondents
rated schools in their community as excellent or good, compared
to only 49 percent this year. That perception has changed the
most in the collar counties surrounding the city of Chicago .
In 2000, 81 percent of respondents living in that area rated
local schools as excellent or good, versus only 60 percent this
year.
“I think that people are increasingly aware of the fiscal strain
that is being placed on their schools by things like property
tax caps and state and federal budget issues,” said Peddle. “And,
as a result of things like the No Child Left Behind Act, schools
that previously thought they were doing well are being told that
there is room for improvement.”
The survey, now in its 21 st year, is a joint effort of the
NIU Center for Governmental Studies and the NIU Public Opinion
Laboratory. It was comprised of responses from 1,309 adults across
Illinois and has a confidence interval of +/- 3 percent.
A complete copy of the 2005 Report on the Illinois Policy Survey
(including charts and graphs), along with news releases regarding
some of the findings, can be found online at: http://www.niu.edu/pubaffairs/presskits/ips2005/index.html
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