Daily Archives: August 12, 2006

City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

Time to consolidate school districts?

9 Comments

On the agenda Tuesday night is a request from Wilder-Waite Elementary School to be annexed into the City of Peoria.  Wilder-Waite is part of Dunlap School District 323.  They can’t be annexed yet because their boundary is not contiguous with Peoria, but they want to sign an annexation agreement so that when Peoria does annex the land between the current city limits and their property, they will also be annexed in and receive police, fire, and other Peoria services.

When Richwoods Township was annexed into Peoria, there were several school districts that shortly afterwards were consolidated with District 150; a unified school district was an important part of the annexation plans.  There was the fear that without such consolidation, Peoria schools would be divided into the haves and have-nots.

Considering the tax revenue that is generated in the northern part of Peoria that doesn’t go to District 150 but to District 323, are we not seeing that happen today? Aren’t we concentrating the wealth of the city into one school district while the other district suffers?  Isn’t it time we unified the school districts within Peoria’s city limits?

Abortion, Peoria Journal Star

Middle ground impossible in abortion debate

12 Comments

The Journal Star’s editorial today included this line: “…rather than seize on intentionally divisive issues, pro-choice and pro-life forces ought to be working together to reduce the number of abortions.”

Wishful, simplistic thinking.

Consider this quote from the National Abortion Federation: “Opponents of abortion often portray abortion as a negative problem that society should try to eliminate. While we work to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies, abortion is a valid and acceptable reproductive choice.”

And now compare that to the mission statement of the National Right to Life Committee: “The ultimate goal of the National Right to Life Committee is to restore legal protection to innocent human life.”

It may seem at first glance that these two groups want what the Journal Star says, i.e. “to reduce the number of abortions.” But that’s not really accurate. Their positions are more nuanced than that.

NRLC isn’t satisified to simply reduce abortions from, say, 800,000 per year to 650,000 per year. They want to eliminate it as an option, and for this reason: they believe that abortion kills a person — a living human being with a constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Pro-life advocates often compare abortion to slavery, pointing out that just because something is legal and sanctioned by the Supreme Court doesn’t make it right. So to them, the Journal Star’s idea to work with pro-choice advocates to reduce abortion but not eliminate it is as morally repugnant as if they were living prior to the Civil War and were asked to reduce slavery but not eliminate it.

NAF, on the other hand, isn’t really interested in reducing abortions at all, per se. They want to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies. The thought is that if there are fewer unplanned pregnancies, then there will be less demand for abortion. But if unplanned pregnancies went down but abortion demand stayed the same, they would still feel their goal was achieved.

In the final analysis, there is a gulf fixed between pro-choice and pro-life forces — one sees abortion as a “valid and acceptable reproductive choice” and the other sees it as the destruction of “innocent human life.” Hoping for middle ground is a pipe dream.

State of Illinois

Ryan’s a crook and a creep

1 Comment

I see former governor George Ryan is back in the news. Seems a number of death row inmates he pardoned are now suing a group Chicago police officers claiming that Ryan’s pardon proves their innocence. So, the defendants want Ryan to testify as to why he pardoned them. That seems reasonable — his pardon is the lynchpin of the case.

So, what is Ryan doing? Claiming “executive privelege.”

Huh. Gee, thanks, guv’nuh. Is this your way of sticking in to the system that convicted you for your licenses-for-bribes scheme? Do you have nightmares about those kids who died because your little fundraising plan? I would think the least (and I mean the least) you could do for penance is cooperate with the court.

I hope they lock you up and throw away the key.