Heidi Holan, the Republican challenger for the District 46 state House seat, recently expressed her dissatisfaction with the current state of education in Illinois, strongly stating that children should not be forced to attend an inferior school just because they live in a particular ZIP code.
"A quality K-12 education should be available to every child at a fair price to the taxpayers," Holan said. "Our current system allows children to be trapped in a failing school because of their address or family income level and forces taxpayers to continue to fund those inferior schools – this is wrong. Parents should be allowed to send their children to the school of their choice, and state funding should follow the child. I would support efforts which move toward that goal, such as tuition vouchers, Education Savings Accounts and opportunity scholarships."
Holan also said she supports fully funding education to avoid raising local property taxes. Unfunded mandates raise costs, leaving municipalities and school districts with few options, Holan said. Property taxes are often used to fill the gap between expenditures and revenues. Illinois homeowners, however, already pay the second highest property taxes in the nation.
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Education and property taxes are two of the principal issues addressed in Holan's campaign platform. Holan is running against Democratic incumbent Deborah O'Keefe Conroy in the Nov. 8 general election.
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