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New tactics needed to end poverty Illinois’ poor facing different challenges from 50 years ago, report finds By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com The number of Illinoisans living in poverty today remains relatively the same from 1960, but the faces of the state’s poor have changed, according to a new report from the Chicago-based Social IMPACT Research Center.
Changes to school funding pushed
The state’s stagnant poverty rate – nearly 15 percent today, the same as in 1960 – doesn’t mean the war on poverty has been lost in the 50 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson declared it, said Jennifer Clary, one of the authors of the report released Thursday. The many governmental programs that exist from John-
son’s Great Society simply don’t address the economic, geographic and demographic trends causing poverty today, she said. “The face of poverty has really changed,” Clary said. “We need to recalibrate our strategies for ending poverty. A lot of our anti-poverty strategies are calibrated to what poverty
looked like in the 1960s.” Nearly 1.85 million of the state’s people live in poverty today compared to the 1.45 million Illinoisans living in poverty in 1960. In McHenry County, 23,277 people were in poverty in 2012, a 0.4 percent drop from 2011, according to data from
See POVERTY, page A9
“The face of poverty has really changed. We need to recalibrate our strategies for ending poverty. A lot of our anti-poverty strategies are calibrated to what poverty looked like in the 1960s.” Jennifer Clary, one of the authors of a new report from the Chicago-based Social IMPACT Research Center
POLITICS’ GENDER GAP Local legislators work to get more women as lawmakers
Plan aims for equity among districts By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – A new report by a state Senate education committee said that streamlining Illinois’ school funding formula would provide better equity to all districts. According to the document released Friday evening, putting the vast majority of state funds into one pot, then dividing up resources based on need, would serve as a fairer distribution method than the current system, which factors in a district’s poverty for some types of state aid but not others and also treats funding for Chicago schools differently. As the state grapples with an estimated loss of $1.5 billion in revenue if lawmakers allow the temporary income tax increase to expire as scheduled next January, committee members say it’s an ideal time to have a conversation about changes. “Whatever money we have, we’d like for schools to be funded fairly,” state Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, an Okawville Republican and co-chair of the eight-member committee, said. Overspending and a $100 billion pension shortfall put Illinois in dire financial shape
H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
State Sen. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, travels in Crystal Lake on her way to an appointment Thursday. Unlike the rest of the country where women represent less than 25 percent of state legislators, three of McHenry County’s seven legislators are women. Althoff was the first woman to represent the area in the state Senate.
By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com SPRINGFIELD – While nationally the number of female state legislators has stagnated, nearly
half of the legislators representing McHenry County in Springfield are women. Getting the percentage of female legislators to match the general population is an issue that state
Sen. Pam Althoff has been interested in for a while. “Like everything else, it’s balance,” she said. “Men are from Mars and women are from Venus – and it is true. Women have the
ability to work collaboratively. It’s because we balance a number of variables in our personal lives. “We want to be economically
See GENDER GAP, page A9
See FUNDING, page A9
LOCALLY SPEAKING Brian Blau (left) and Mareena Berge
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
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Strong showings by individual wrestlers helped Crystal Lake Central secure a team championship Saturday at the Fox Valley Conference wrestling tournament. Central had eight wrestlers place at the meet. Tigers coach Justen Lehr said the tournament is a good challenge before heading into regionals next weekend. For more, see page C1.
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