Kudos to the work Adam Andrzejewki and Bruno Behrend are doing with "For the Good of Illinois" and its PAC.
When "For the Good" released its findings that local school districts were paying extravagant amounts for taxi rides, their expose created shock waves throughout Illinois. So far, at least three especially perspective and smart school district boards have checked their taxi ride expenditures and have made policy changes as a result. This one effort may have launched a rewarding adventure of finding budget waste for both local property taxpayers and for school board members:
Gurnee Elementary District 56, Warren Township High School District 121 and Woodland Elementary District 50 near Chicago have entered into an agreement to share in-house school bus operations to achieve two goals: to save money and improve student safety.
Gurnee Elementary District 56 Superintendent John Hutton said the three districts spend about $850,000 annually, combined, in private taxi service. What bothers him most about this arrangement is the lack of control the districts have over the quality of the cab drivers.
School Transportation News goes on to say:
For the Good of Illinois reported that school districts statewide spent about $48 million from 2006 to 2011 on taxi service for students with special needs, including homeless students: 42 districts spent $28 million and five spent $20 million. So, it was just 5 percent of Illinois districts that “racked up $48 million in taxi charges,” as 95 percent complied with the state mandate to educate special needs children without taxicab transportation.
Maybe it's just three school districts, but it's a place to start. Taxpayers owe "For the Good of Illinois" a nod of thanks for the good they're doing Illinois.
