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Politics & Government

Students Bring Home Economic Stress to Class, Golf Middle School Tells Durbin

Illinois' senior senator came to Morton Grove to promote the American Jobs Act, but heard more than he expected about an underrated crisis from teachers and school officials.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin may have been passionate about promoting the American Jobs Act when he visited Monday morning before jetting off for a crucial vote later in the day in Washington, D. C.

But Durbin was almost floored when, after touring classrooms and seeing urgent needs for repairs in the school’s physical plant, he was informed by a group of teachers and school officials the negative effects of the stagnant economy on the students.

District 67 Supt. Jamie Reilly told Durbin children came to school feeling the pain of their parents’ financial problems.

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“They need the emotional support in schools,” Reilly said, referring to the jobs act preventing layoffs of school personnel, if passed.

Durbin was moved. “It’s something I’ve never thought of,” he said.

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“Kids are feeling distracted in class,” a teacher told Durbin, who sat down with some 15 teachers, officials and Morton Grove Village Trustee Shel Marcus in a group during the 45-minute visit.

The teachers are stressed, too.

“We are working under duress,” one told Durbin. “We have ceiling tiles falling down. We work in extreme heat, up to 100 degrees.”

School  ‘close to the edge’ on funding

Durbin was informed the school barely was able to restore positions for a guidance counselor and library media employee for this school year. Principal Erin Stein worries about funding for those jobs for next year.

“We are in need of more funding,” Stein said later. “We’re as close to the edge as you can get.”

Reilly took Durbin on a tour of the entire school, including the basement boiler room. He later told an eighth-grade social studies class that the use of 50-to-60-year-old equipment needing to be upgraded prevents energy efficiency for the school.

The jobs act, another bone of vitriolic debate between endorsing Democrats and opposing Republicans, would provide $25 billion to modernize 35,000 public schools nationwide.  In Illinois, the proposal would invest $1.1 billion in school modernization, supporting as many as 14,500 jobs. In addition, the legislation would invest $35 billion to prevent layoffs of up to 280,000 teachers, including 14,500 in Illinois.

“We wish we could do more,” Durbin said.

A downward spiral

The senator admitted consumer confidence is in a downward spiral due to lack of progress in hiring and the depressed real-estate market. 

“As they held back (spending), the economy stalled,” he said. “As people go back to work, they’ll pay taxes and that will help school districts. We’re trying to pivot (to kick-start the economy). Right now we’re in this unfortunate cycle where it’s going down.”

But Durbin wasn’t all gloomy when he visited Golf students in their classrooms. He first talked to a typing class taking a test. Then, he faced numerous students’ prepared questions in the social studies class. One student asked if Durbin, a mentor to President Obama, ever disagreed with him.

He replied in the affirmative when talking about the Afghanistan war.

“The withdrawal rate is too slow,” Durbin said.

Golf administrators were happy Durbin could put a face on school problems, which have often become acute.

“We fix things that are an emergency, such as leaks in the roof and water’s coming in, or broken ceiling tiles that’s a hazard,” said Stein. “Anything that’s been an immediate safety issue.”

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