Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Illinois Student, “Why I Won't Go to College in Illinois”: My Reply


The Chicago Tribune is featuring this letter-to-the-editor from a Mundelein High School student.
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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