A+ Illinois

What is A+ Illinois?

A+ Illinois is a broad statewide coalition of concerned organizations and individuals that advocates for comprehensive reform of the Illinois ' school funding and tax systems. A+ Illinois believes that the current system of funding education through local property taxes disadvantages students living in lower-income areas. The organization advocates for the state government to play a larger role in funding public schools in order to ensure that students have the ability to succeed academically regardless of where in Illinois they live.

Issues

Illinois' reliance on property taxes to fund education has created massive disparities in spending and achievement among local school districts. Although education advocates had formed coalitions to address this issue in the past, they had not yet succeeded in overhauling the tax system to better support schools.

In recent years, the education funding crisis in Illinois public schools has worsened. The majority of school districts across Illinois are in fiscal crisis, forcing districts to cut teachers and programs and to increase class sizes. In 2005 Illinois remains 48 th among the 50 states in terms of the state funding provided per student and in 2004, Illinois received a grade of F on the Education Week “Quality Counts” report for funding equity in public schools. The problem was not restricted to poor urban communities; suburban and rural schools were seeing changes in the quality of their schools as well. Large numbers of students in Illinois were clearly suffering under the existing system.

Getting Started

The Right Timing

Concerned organizations and individuals saw the terrible state of Illinois public schools and in early 2004 advocates renewed their efforts to reform the tax structure and the system of school funding. The dire financial straits of Illinois' schools combined with changes in the state-level political landscape gave advocates renewed hope. Campaign Director Bindu Batchu explains: “The changing political line-up in Springfield —a [new Governor and Senate President] were elected—which made it an opportune time. In the past a lot of things had gotten road-blocked by the way the Illinois Senate works and by a lack of leadership from the Governor, and we saw an opening.”

Building Coalitions

A wide variety of organizations that have had an historical interest in education finance and tax reform issues began meeting to share their strengths and resources. The groups knew from past experience that in order to achieve the broad reforms that they wanted, they would need a strong coalition. There are eight central coordinating organizations that formed A+ Illinois. These groups have a variety of interests and areas of expertise and include such seemingly dissimilar organizations as the Chicago Urban League and the Illinois Farm Bureau, as well as organizations that specialize in issues of school funding and tax reform. In addition, nearly 100 groups, ranging in focus from education and children's advocacy to business and labor, have endorsed A+ Illinois' core principles.

Strategy

In the past, members of A+ Illinois had twice attempted to change the school funding system through litigation, but both times the court had found the issue nonjusticiable and sent plaintiffs to the legislature for relief. The coalition decided that the most effective way to influence the legislature would be through a comprehensive public awareness campaign that would make school funding and tax system reform major political issues, forcing the legislature to act.

Campaign Goals

A+ Illinois has five core goals or principles that are endorsed by the organization's supporters, including nearly 100 organizations from around the state. These goals are to:

Ensure that all children receive a quality education by establishing adequate, reliable, sustainable funding for Illinois schools

Develop state-based tax revenues based on a fair, efficient, stable, responsive, and transparent system that is not regressive, that encourages responsible and accountable use of public funds, that helps create responsible economic development, job creation and sound regional planning, and that helps close the state's structural deficit

Support proven strategies that build capacity to improve student learning and close the student achievement gap.

Put our state on more sound fiscal footing to protect education, human services, and community programs that are vital to the well-being of children and families, particularly those Illinoisans most in need.

Break the strong correlation between individuals' addresses and the quality of their schools, availability of housing options, and the health of their local community and economy.

Methods

Involve the Community

Public awareness campaigns can be useful tools when litigation has failed and the legislature lacks the motivation to address the campaign issue, as was the case in Illinois . By informing people about the problem and its implications, groups can create a public consensus and mobilize support for their cause. School funding in Illinois was a prime candidate for this strategy—early polls and focus groups showed that most residents didn't know much about school funding, but once they had the facts they were dramatically more likely to support the campaign's suggested reforms.

The success of a public awareness campaign also depends on the issue and its context. Because the school funding situation in Illinois was in such clearly terrible shape, people could be easily mobilized. Ann Courter, Budget & Tax Policy Initiative director at Voices for Illinois Children, explains: “The issue has more traction now than it's ever had, because things are worse than they've ever been.” A+ Illinois has focused on a major media campaign to raise awareness in the community. Through billboards, radio spots, direct dial calling and a large grassroots effort, A+ Illinois hopes to bring the issues of school funding and tax reform to the awareness of legislators and the governor.

Create Diverse Coalitions

Perhaps the greatest strength of A+ Illinois was the coalition building that occurred both before and after the campaign's official launch. In early 2004, in response to increasingly dismal statistics about Illinois' public schools, eight groups with varying interests—some focused on the state's tax structure, others devoted to improving schools—decided to work together to reform the state's school funding system. This coalition strengthened A+ Illinois' efforts by:

Extending the Reach of the Campaign The eight coordinating organizations each have large and unique constituencies. Together, along with dozens of endorsing organizations, they have been able to bring A+ Illinois' message to a much broader segment of the population than a single organization or a smaller coalition would have access to. For instance, the partnerships have allowed leaders from rural and urban communities—who sometimes perceive themselves as being in conflict with one another—to come together for a common cause. Courter explains: “It's not just a big city issue; it's very big in the downstate rural areas as well. Certainly our Farm Bureau members have been very supportive. Many of them are on school boards in these rural communities, and they know firsthand how bad the education crisis really is.”

Getting Different Points of View In addition to catering to diverse audiences, the partner organizations also have widely divergent interests. While some, such as the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, specialize in fiscal policy and human services in general, others, such as the Illinois Education Association, have school improvement as a primary goal. By approaching the issue of school finance reform from different sides, these groups are able to provide complementary justifications for the same beneficial policy action.

Distributing the Workload A campaign of the scope and ambition of A+ Illinois requires more resources than any one organization can provide. Furthermore, all the coordinating organizations continue to work on other projects and none can devote itself exclusively to the campaign. The expansive coalition has allowed each group to focus on the areas where it can contribute the most, maximizing valuable time and resources. For example, the Chicago Urban League and Voices for Illinois Children combined their research capacities to conduct the polls and focus groups that helped kick off the campaign, while the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability focuses on crafting and promoting legislation. Batchu believes the varying strengths of the organizations enhance the campaign's chances for success: “[We tried to bring together groups] that have had a historical interest in this issue, but also those who have clout in Springfield, who have policy expertise, who have the organizational resources and staff to contribute toward the campaign,” she says.

Get the Media Involved Early

Clearly, positive media exposure is indispensable to any public awareness campaign. The media can let people know about upcoming events to bolster attendance, encourage people to learn more about the campaign issue, and even influence legislators and other key figures. Engaging the media early ensures adequate coverage and makes media outlets more likely to show sustained interest in the campaign. A+ Illinois garnered media attention from the beginning through:

Holding a Launch The campaign's Feb. 10, 2004 launch set the tone for media coverage of the campaign by introducing the coalition members and clarifying their common goal. It included large rallies in Chicago and Springfield , a mass e-mail announcement, and an extensive media kit with information about educational inequity and flaws in the tax structure. At least three major newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune , covered the launch.

Keeping the Media Updated During the first three months of the campaign, the groups put out over a dozen media releases—about one every two weeks—covering such topics as education-related congressional testimony, local education referenda, and campaign-sponsored community forums. As a result, area newspapers and radio stations (including the local NPR affiliate) increased their reporting on school funding issues, often calling campaign director Bindu Batchu for input. In addition, Chicago Parent magazine, with a readership of approximately 250,000, ran an editorial endorsing the campaign.

Focus on Schools and Students

To personalize the effects of inadequate school funding, A+ Illinois often puts students, teachers, concerned parents, and other direct stakeholders in the spotlight. For example:

The campaign's town hall-style meetings are often held at schools, and teachers and parents are always invited to speak. Courter explains: “The panels included local folks … who can talk about how the school funding issue touches the community. Then we pair that with experts who can speak to the economic impact.”

The “Take a Legislator to School” series brought government leaders into schools experiencing severe budget shortfalls to speak with students, faculty, and staff.

The A+ Illinois website contains an archive of school profiles that show how specific communities have been affected by and responded to the budget crisis.

The strategy of involving schools in all aspects of the campaign creates interest among potential supporters by providing concrete, accessible examples of how insufficient funding affects schools. Moreover, the media may be more eager to attend events where they can create human interest stories by interviewing students, parents, and teachers about their experiences in poorly funded schools.

Impact

Influencing Political Discourse

A+ Illinois believes that its efforts have been effective in shifting public discourse towards the issues of tax reform and school funding that it has been advocating. During the most recent Senate opening-session addresses, both the State Senate President and the Speaker of the House focused education. They addressed the need to revamp the school funding system and eliminate inequities and urged legislators to address the state's fiscal crisis, emphasizing the need for lasting change instead of one-time solutions, all important aspects of A+ Illinois' campaign. Although it's difficult to quantify the degree to which the campaign influenced these politicians, Batchu says A+ Illinois is “playing a significant role in terms of getting the issue on the political radar screen.”

Pressuring Key Players

The group has also taken a more aggressive stance with Governor Blagojevich, who has pledged to fix school funding, but refuses to raise taxes. In his Feb. 17, 2005 budget address, the governor acknowledged that the state's school funding system relies too heavily on property taxes. According to Batchu, the governor's decision to say this in a public forum is noteworthy: “[He] was directly addressing all of us and saying, ‘I applaud your interest in this and your efforts,'” she says. However, the governor's education funding proposal would generate only $140 million for education, an amount that falls far short of the governor's campaign pledge to raise the foundation level by $1000 over the course of his term. Moreover, the proposal calls for taking money from other important programs rather than restructuring the tax system to raise revenue. Largely because of A+ Illinois' work over the past year, the media was quick to criticize the governor on these points. On Feb. 11, 2005, the Chicago Tribune ran a headline story questioning the governor's claim that the school funding situation is improving.

Increasing Awareness

Overall, says Batchu, the campaign is “at a tipping point in the state with the issue becoming front and center politically. We've spent a lot of time getting it on the radar screen, and now it's really escalating.” She says school funding reform is now “one of the top two or three issues in Illinois politics,” whereas at the campaign's inception, “we were just trying to get any newspaper to cover the issue of schools, because it was seen as a very local issue.” Batchu says the public awareness campaign has also created a broad base of supporters across the state that will send e-mails to political leaders on a regular basis in response to A+ Illinois “Action Alerts.” “The response rate has grown rapidly,” says Batchu. “Today, the governor and legislature are getting hundreds of letters every time we send out an alert, and that's really satisfying.”

For more information on A+ Illinois, including a timeline, examples of campaign media, and useful resources, click here.

Prepared May 24, 2005