Education: August 2008 Archives

A hundred college presidents want the nation's drinking age lowered to 18. As one cowboy once told The Hound: Too much college, not enough high school. What is Lake Forest College President Stephen Schott thinking? He is one of the 100.

Veteran reporters (read old) at The News-Sun have told The Hound of the days when Illinois and Wisconsin lowered their drinking ages to 19 and 18 respectively. These university eggheads are worried about binge drinking on campus? They should have been here back in the late '70s and early '80s, The Hound was told. There was binge drinking every night!

Along with that were the alcohol-related fatals. So many in fact they dubbed the Lake County/Kenosha County line "Blood Border". College kids, high school kids, sailors --- they all died DUI deaths. This is what reported educated college administrators are pushing for, including the president of The Ohio State University.

Sounds like perhaps these college presidents have a problem on campus and want the rest of us to take responsibility for it. Which has The Hound confused about the call by the LFC prexy for a lower drinking age. When's the last time they had binge drinking at Sheridan Road and Deer Path? Don't those crazy Foresters go to Highwood to be booze hounds? Heck, Lake Forest only has one tavern, The Lantern. Do they even have a full-service liquor store?

Hopefully, calmer heads will prevail, like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and this call to get 18 year olds loaded more often will pass. And don't even bring up the fact they can vote at 18 they should be able to drink. Or, The Hound's favorite: If they can carry a rifle. Most of the collegians clamoring for a drink aren't going into the service. Bring back the draft, then we'll talk.

As for LFC prez Schott, he needs a couple of Jager bombs to sober him up. Skol!

Is North Chicago Unit School District 187 board member Charles Shipley the only one who is outraged over Gloria Harper's insistence on hanging on to her seat on the school board? Apparently, like Mr. Smith who went to Washington, Shipley is a lone voice crying in the wilderness.

Harper, who continues to hide behind legalese that she is not guilty of anything, after she and Tyrone Pipkin, a Gurnee resident on paid leave from his high-paying job as District 187's director of technology, authorized their attorneys to have the companies they owned cop a plea in federal court.

Trust The Hound on this one: If these companies --- Computer Training and Associates Inc., and Global Networking Technology Inc. --- were publicly traded, like Enron, and Harper's name happened to be Ken Lay and Pipkin's was Jeffrey Skilling, they would be in jail instead of trumpeting their non-guilt. These two were small fish and the feds cut the deal to get money back to the North Dakota school district the firms were accused of scamming and pay for the taxpayers' legal fees.

North Chicago taxpayers just keep taking it on the chin. Keeping Harper on the board and Pipkin employed on the taxpayers' dime sends a weird message to students the district is supposed to educate. District taxpayers complain about high taxes but continue to re-elect the same, tired pols.

Shipley so far has the gumption to speak out. Where's the rest of you? Perhaps waiting until April 2009 when, The Hound has been told, Harper will be on the ballot. Taxpayers, the ball will be in your court.

The Hound often wondered what the attraction was at New Trier High School, outside knowing that nearly 100 percent of the student body will go on to college and not normally state school. Usually Ivy League places. State Sen James Meeks, D-Chicago, wants Chicago high school students to find what the attraction is by enrolling them there. This could get interesting Sept. 2 when Meeks wants to bus thousands of Chicago Public School high schoolers to Winnetka.

Especially considering Chicagoans don't pay taxes to the New Trier school district, nor do the students reside in the district. Meeks wants to sidestep the residency requirement by introducing a bill barring school district residency requirements across the state. Just in time for the Woodland District 50 educators in Gurnee who are holding a proof-of-residency during back-to-skool registration this month.

Meeks complains that the way schools are funded in Illinois is unfair to poor school districts, of which he considers Chicago Public Schools. The senator laments that New Trier spends $17,000 annually per student, while CPS spends around $10,000 a year per student. He overlooks the fact that New Trier taxpayers also pay a high property tax rate to make their school one of the top in the nation, let alone Illinois. And, $10,000 per student isn't chopped liver.

Meeks equates spending money to the difference between getting a "good" education versus an "inferior" education. There's more to that, especially considering one study which found charter schools in Chicago did a better job educating students versus the usual publick school. Besides, bet New Trier doesn't spend as much on security, which would go toward educational studies there.

New Trier officials are having lawyers study the legality of enrolling Chicago students. The Hound suggests they enroll all of them and have their parents and Sen. Meeks figure out they'll get to class every day. Meanwhile, the CPS will miss out on state aid money. That's a trade-off for any skool, which New Trier would get which could mean a cheaper tax rate for taxpayers.
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