Why Illinois Republicans Voted Against School Choice For Our Children?

I'll defer the answer to this question to someone else better informed:

A million reasons for House Republicans to oppose school vouchers

By DOUG IBENDAHL • May 11, 2010

Actually there were more than a million reasons, as I’ll explain below.

There are 48 Republicans in the Illinois House, and incredibly 22 of them voted “nay” last week on SB2494 – a bill that would have brought historic school reform to Illinois. (The names of all 22 can be found here.)

SB2494 would provide school vouchers for up to 30,000 children currently trapped in Chicago’s worst performing schools. Each voucher would represent a ticket to a better school and a brighter future.

SB2494 only needed 12 more votes to pass last week, so obviously the Republicans could have made it happen.

How could 22 Republicans possibly vote against a reform that the GOP has been cheerleading for continuously since the beginning of the Reagan Administration? It’s easy to come up with some reasons. Just follow the money and the endorsements.



Of the 22 who voted “nay” – all but three were endorsed by the Illinois Education Association prior to the February Primary Election. The IEA is the state’s largest teachers union.

On the money side, our research found that the 22 “nay” voters received a combined total of nearly $1.1 million dollars in political contributions from Illinois teachers unions over the years, with much of that coming in just the past five years.

And keep in mind, these are just the contributions given directly to the officials’ own campaign committees by the unions. The $1.1 million doesn’t include other union dollars funneled through other committees – like the House Republican Organization (HRO). HRO is the political arm of the House Republicans. House Minority Leader Tom Cross has Skip Saviano in charge of HRO as its Chairman.

The HRO received an additional $10,000 from the Illinois Federation of Teachers as recently as January 25th of this year. Oh yeah, HRO’s Chairman Skip Saviano was one of the 22 voting “nay” on SB2494.

And don’t forget, while Saviano controls a lot of campaign cash through the HRO – he still has his own campaign committee of course. And you guessed it – he picks up more contributions from the teachers unions there. By our calculation, Friends of Saviano has taken in over $95,000 from teachers unions over the years.

Full financial disclosure for the first half of 2010 won’t be due with the Illinois Board of Elections until July, so we won’t have a full picture until then. It will be interesting to see who got what leading up to last week’s vote. The month or so leading up to the November election would be another good period to check for contributions.

The Democrats receive even more money, but of course the Democrats aren’t the party constantly railing against the teachers unions. They’re pretty open about their allied relationship.

The Illinois Education Association is typically the largest teachers union contributor, but others include the Chicago Teachers Union, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and the Illinois Principals Association.

Of the 22 Republican State Representatives voting “nay” – the “Top Ten” largest overall recipients of teachers union money have been (in descending order): Don Moffitt (over $125,000); Renee Kosel (over $120,000); Skip Saviano (over $95,000); Sid Mathias (just over $95,000); Jerry Mitchell (over $89,000); Roger Eddy (over $87,000); Rosemary Mulligan (over $75,000); Jim Watson (over $66,000); Dan Brady (over $65,000); and Raymond Poe (over $54,000).

When reviewing total contributions received, keep in mind that some State Representatives have been in office a lot longer than others.

One more Republican needs more coverage here. House Minority Leader Tom Cross’ campaign committee has received more than three times as much from the teachers unions as the lead guy in the Top Ten above.

Since Cross first entered the House in 1993, Citizens to Elect Tom Cross has taken in more than $460,000 from the teachers unions – most of that in the years since Cross became House Minority Leader in 2003.

And again, don’t forget, there is also the HRO which separately raises money for, and contributes money to GOP House candidates. Cross doesn’t have an official title in HRO, but as Minority Leader he for all practical purposes controls HRO along with his top lieutenant Skip Saviano.

Tow the Cross/Saviano line and you can expect HRO help in your House race. Bite the hand that feeds you and you’ll likely be on your own and at the mercy of a Democratic challenger – until the Republicans can find another Republican to run against you in the next Primary. That’s how party discipline is enforced – through the campaign coffers. Mike Madigan does it too of course, just more competently.

As one of the “Four Tops” in the General Assembly (along with Mike Madigan, Christine Radogno, and John Cullerton), Cross has a much easier time raising money than a plain old member of the House.

The Four Tops really run the show in Springfield, and most contributors want to give where they can get the biggest bang for the buck. The teachers unions are certainly no exception.

Yes, it’s true Cross voted “yea” on the voucher bill last week, but it really looks like he was just covering his behind – even as he exhibited no leadership to keep his caucus onboard. It all looks to me like Cross once again played a duplicitous, cynical game – all designed to bamboozle gullible reporters and Republicans.

Where were the letters to the editor and op-eds from Cross & Company urging passage of SB2494? Where were the email blasts with calls to action? Where were the press conferences? Where was Cross’ floor speech prior to the vote calling on his Republican members to hold ranks for the good of the kids?

I didn’t see or even hear about any of those things – obvious things that any legislative leader serious about passing such an important bill would do.

It’s also pretty absurd to say you were serious about trying to pass a bill – when your top lieutenant and the leader of your caucus’ political arm (Saviano) was always against it. Cross could call for Saviano’s resignation today from the Chairmanship of HRO if Cross was offended by Saviano betraying the children – not to mention the GOP Platform.

Don’t hold your breath.

As we’ve seen in other cases (like when Cross and Saviano want to torpedo SB600) – they can keep most of their caucus together when they want to. They simply didn’t want to in this case. The teachers unions and their cash mattered more than the kids.

Thousands of poor families in Chicago are very disappointed. Any hope they might have entertained about the GOP being serious about offering them a hand up has been crushed.

Last week’s vote was a travesty. But is it really a mystery? No, not when 22 House Republicans had over a million reasons for throwing poor families under the bus.

Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party.