Sen. Dale Righter spoke to a group of 60 teachers in Springfield June 15 about the processes of the law.

“It was a chance for me to visit with them and for them to see the capital,” Righter said. “The system of government of what is done is left up to the citizens.”

The discussion included various topics, but focused on how to turn an opinion into a law, Righter said.

Righter said teachers need to be involved in public policy.

“The education of the future is up to voters,” Righter said. “We’re educating tomorrow’s leaders. That decision making hasn’t been made and we need to get back to that.”

Righter said Illinois has always depended on property taxes in order to support the local schools for primary and secondary education.

“To shift away from property taxes is hard to do,” Righter said. “We need to smooth out or eliminate the disparity. We need to replace it with the money from income tax.”

This is not a healthy solution, Righter said.

“We talked about the process and how the decision gets made,” Righter said. “It was about state government and how it functions.”

Righter said a tax increase for education might not happen in Illinois.

“The state is not for higher taxes,” Righter said. “It’s about how the equity is distributed.”

Righter said Illinois has great teachers in their classrooms.

“We haven’t gotten all that we want to get done, but strides are being made,” Righter said.

Jennifer Brown can be reached at 581-7942

or [email protected]