I was thinking about Sen. Shadid’s recent actions regarding the Public School situation, and it sounds to me like he’s speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

He’s asking the governor to delay signing SB 2477 — legislation that would allow the Peoria School District to request the Peoria Public Building Commission (PBC) build schools for Peoria — until the school board gets public input on where a new school should be built. A recent Journal Star article reported that Shadid was “dissatisfied with the way District 150 went about identifying the school site. He said the process was secretive and didn’t include public input.”

However, SB 2477 removes public input from the process of financing new schools. Right now, the school board would have to get authority to issue bonds for school construction via referendum. This would be a binding referendum — one where voters decide whether or not the school may take on more debt. Under SB 2477, the school board doesn’t have to ask the public for permission; they can just go to the PBC and have them issue bonds for school construction.

Sen. Shadid sponsored SB 2477 and says he still supports the legislation. Why? He told the Journal Star:

“It’s very difficult in Peoria to get a referendum passed for District 150. I think nobody will argue that,” Shadid said. “The need is there desperately, but let’s do this the right way.”

So it appears “the right way,” according to Sen. Shadid, is to let the school board make all the binding decisions (siting, financing), but only let the public have advisory input. If he were really concerned about public input, why would he sponsor legislation in the first place that takes away the public’s right to make funding decisions, the ultimate power over the district’s long-term plans?