Open Illinois.org

State Representative Kathy Ryg (D59-Vernon Hills) is on the right track. In the Daily Herald today, Ryg encourages more transparency, writing:

…before additional taxpayer dollars are poured into Illinois’ broken public school system. I have filed HB5769 – Education Fiscal Accountability amendments to the School Code as a result of research and collaboration by elected officials, advocacy groups, educators, administrators and school board members. As you suggest, the bill provides for increased transparency so taxpayers understand how money is being spent in their local schools and can evaluate if that investment is leading to good outcomes for students.

Taxpayers deserve to know how school districts (and all levels of government, local and state) are spending tax dollars in order to operate. All school spending should be posted online in a searchable, user-friendly, itemized manner, like a PDF. This is not hard to do!!!

If the state decides to pass Ryg’s HB5769, they have no reason not to demand the same of themselves and implement comprehensive transparency, already written in HB4765 (Illinois Accountability Portal). This bill has been held up since April 2008 after passing the House unanimously.

Let’s get going, Illinois.