Sangamon Sun reports:
If one aspires to become a politician in Illinois, there's one tried and tested route.
Attend private elementary and high schools.
Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes the Sangamon Sun, researched the K-12 school choices of Illinois' top elected officials-- present and past-- and found a clear, unmistakable trend.
They may politically support Illinois' public schools, but an increasing number of elected officials are opting out of using them personally.
The LGIS report comes as Governor Bruce Rauner and Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich are pushing a measure that would give a state tax deduction to philanthropists who underwrite private school scholarships for low-income students.
Many opponents of the measure attended private schools themselves.
LGIS found that private schools produce a disproportionate number of statewide officials, state legislators, members of Congress and judges. And not just in Chicago and its suburbs.
There's more:
All four state legislative leaders are Catholic school products, elected by dozens more state legislators who graduated from of one of Illinois' 70-some Catholic high schools.
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-St. Ignatius) and Senate President John J. Cullerton (D-Wheaton St. Francis) square off with House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Fenwick) and Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington Central Catholic).
The Springfield presence of Chicago-area institutions like St. Ignatius, which counts five active legislators as alums, and Fenwick, which counts two to go with former Governor Pat Quinn, are well-established.
Imagine that. The great moments of Blue America! Are Chicago public schools just expensive babysitting operations?
