2010-04-16 Caravan to the Capitol Springfield Trip

We really didn’t know what to expect when we decided to make the trek to Springfield. Planning was hindered by spring break and the fact that legislature was not in session the past couple of weeks.

The reporter who accompanied us on the trip spoke with me on Tuesday afternoon for a story to be published Wednesday morning. I told her what I knew of how the day would go but that there were many unknowns. She said that no matter what it would be an adventure.

She was right about that. Hundreds of parents around the state and locally have let us know that they are supportive of our efforts. People have been thanking us in person and online. Most interested people were unable to arrange a day off work, or had things going on with kids that prevented them from traveling with us. Even of those who made plans to come on the trip, many canceled in the two days leading up to the trip, some at the very last minute.

Though that was disappointing, our group was large enough and included parents from three school districts, a grandfather, students from elementary, middle, and high school, a reporter and photographer. Some rode our two buses from the mall, others from Springfield, 204, and West Aurora met us in Springfield in the cafeteria of the Stratton Building. On the way down we had heard from Alderman Rick Mervine that he, Mayor Weisner, and a delegation from the City of Aurora were in town also meeting with legislators for similar reasons and would like to meet up with us at some point if it worked out.

None in our group had ever planned or participated in such a trip before. Some were wearing “Restore Education Funding” t-shirts. We all had buttons that said the same. We had signs saying “Restore Education Funding,” “Re-prioritize Spending,” “No Tax Increase,” “Stop playing your games with my future,” and others plus two banners. We saw several other groups there standing up for their causes as well.

After lunch we had a tentative meeting scheduled with Tom Cross. We knew the room would not hold all of our group so we sent several people to hold up signs in the first floor of the Capitol building and out front. It was a beautiful day so no one minded standing outside.

The meeting went well. In addition to Tom Cross and his Chief of Staff Matt O’Shea, we were joined by state representatives Darlene Senger, Mike Fortner, Kay Hatcher, Mike Connelly, and Raymond Poe.

We had about a half hour in which we found out more about what is and is not going on in Springfield and what concerned taxpayers can do about it. We found out there is talk of a six month budget, which would not help school districts at all since they need to budget for the whole school year. It is very discouraging to hear how things work in our state government.

The best things we can do are to write to Governor Pat Quinn, Speaker Mike Madigan, and Senate President John Cullerton and to share the video we made. Rep. Hatcher said that the core of a healthy community is a healthy education system. Rep. Connelly and Rep. Fortner said that state law requires budgets of counties, cities, and school boards to be available for public viewing for some time before a vote, yet the state is not held to this standard and those voting on the appropriations may see the bill only minutes before the vote. A proposed bill would change this process.

We were off to a good start. Some from our group went to a meeting with Senator Linda Holmes.

When it was time for us to return home, it still seemed possible we might be able to meet with a few other legislators we had contacted ahead of time but hadn’t yet connected with. We had also run into the Aurora delegation and there were still tentative plans to join them later.

Most of us wound up going home on one of the buses, while some chose to stay later and wound up meeting with Sen. Chris Lauzen. I was torn about whether to stay but wanted to ride home with the kids I’d brought with me and to get home to my kids who had been unable to miss important things at home to make the trip with us. As it was, we were gone from home over twelve hours.

Despite writing for this paper for three years, I’m not used to speaking with reporters. We’ve had a lot of interest in the trip and Lori Price and I have fielded phone, e-mail, and on camera questions. We’ve had coverage several places including the Beacon, Naperville Sun, Sun-Times, Daily Herald, NCTV, Positively Naperville, and Medill News Service.

Overall it was a good trip and an interesting experience. We felt we needed to do something more than writing letters and making phone calls. This trip combined with our Facebook page “Caravan to the Capitol – Restore Illinois Education Funding” with almost 500 fans and our video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGA9bEwLqs are part of our attempts to make sure that Illinois education does not lose $1.3B in funding for next year and that Illinois students will not see changes to the quality of their education.