First, here is her
letter (I've removed her last name because I am not personalizing my differences). I’ll reply below.
I couldn’t agree more
with your editorial “Illinois Exodus: Flight of the expats.” As an 18-year-old
who is about to embark on my endeavors as an adult, I too am fleeing Illinois
for many of the same reasons as the families you interviewed.
The first is college
tuition, cited by the Carpenter family. I am one of the only people I know who
did not apply to University of Illinois or any Illinois school for that matter.
The Illinois school system is broke and gives very little merit aid to in-state
residents.
Second, after
graduating college, I do not want to pay the expensive property taxes in Illinois.
I will not want to pay those outrageous rates with a relatively small income
after college, especially when I’ll also have to purchase a car, a home, and
pay back student loans. How is a young professional ever supposed to buy a home
and settle down in Illinois with these taxes?
Lastly, state
politics is a deal breaker for me. The Heard family touched on this a little
too. I cannot stand to sit back and be swindled by House Speaker Michael
Madigan. I do not want to spend the rest of my life where power-hungry
politicians are hurting honest politicians and hardworking citizens. It is not
right, and I will not fall victim to it.
I really appreciate
this editorial. I think it sheds light on many issues that should be addressed
in the upcoming election. I hope that this exodus will send a message to
politicians of Illinois that from young (like me) to old (like the people you
interviewed), we are unhappy with our state.
— Abbie ____,
Mundelein
***
Dear Abbie,
Your letter is clearly written and states several rationales for not applying to the University of Illinois,
and also for deciding to leave Illinois.
Respectfully, I offer
a counter-perspective.
I am a parent of a
current UIUC student who has received more than $10,000 over the past four
years in merit aid.
I’d simply say this: If you don’t apply, you’ll surely get
zero financial aid. Why not at least try?
You’re right about
property taxes. That said, if you move to a low- or no-property tax state such as
Oklahoma, Arizona, Kentucky, or West Virginia, the family you might raise will
have teachers who walk out in the middle of the school year because they haven’t
had a raise in 10 years, or their pensions are being cut without even holding a
single legislative hearing, or their classrooms are terribly under-provisioned
with supplies and books.
What you’ll probably do, Abbie, is enroll your child
or children in a private school and pay $10,000 or more a year—and you’ll still
be paying taxes in some way for public schools. Yes, your tax bill will be lower but the cost of educating your children won't necessarily be less.
You are right about Mike Madigan. He has had
a terrible stranglehold on Illinois politics and many residents have been hurt in one
fashion or another by this lack of political competition. It’s a sad state of
affairs.
But speaking of affairs, none of our elected leaders has had a sexting-laced
affair that has crippled state politics, as is occurring just across our
border with Missouri and its disgusting governor.
We haven’t had a state supreme court chief justice
elected twice after being thrown out of office due to ethics violations—and that
was before Roy Moore was exposed as a sexual predator who violated a 14 year-old girl.
If you plan to attend
Michigan State, I hope you’ll think twice about a school culture that permitted
a team doctor to sexually molest more than 200 young women your age on that campus, and
retained a dean who stored pictures of these naked victims on his office
computer.
If you enroll at Penn State, you might say a prayer for the 10 year-old
boy who was raped in the football stadium locker room by the second-in-command coach. You might also say a prayer for the Penn State freshman who recently died in a senseless binge-drinking hazing accident.
The truth is that
Illinois has many serious problems and you are wise to consider other schools for your education and
states for your long term future.
But you appear to believe that the grass is greener on the other side of the Illinois border. In fact,
Abbie, the grass has lots of weeds and dirt patches wherever you go.
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