Better than Monday Night Football and the Republican Party Convention: Rep. Ken Dunkin, on Cable and Streaming
Jeff Berkowitz: And what do you tell those two people? Say they’ve got an income of forty or fifty thousand dollars. [Their children are] going to a school that might be rated as a “failing school” in the Chicago Public Schools, and they would like a choice to go somewhere else. What do you say to those people?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I tell them to stay engaged and be involved in their kid’s life, in their schools-
Jeff Berkowitz: Do you say stay in that school, even if the school’s not performing, just keep doing it?
************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: No, no, no. We’ll come back to Barack. You know what Barack once said, in 2002? He would consider anything--this was before he was running for the US Senate, on this show, Public Affairs, June of 2002—Barack Obama said he would consider anything that would improve what he said were “admittedly”—this is Barack Obama—“intolerable conditions of the inner-city schools.” I said, “even school vouchers?” He said, “everything has to be on the table.” That was Barack Obama, 2002. Do you agree with Barack Obama in 2002?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I think every single idea, big or small, must be on the table.
*******************************************
The "Public Affairs," show with State Rep. Ken Dunkin airs throughout the City of Chicago tonight, , at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 (CANTV) and also tonight on cable in Aurora and surrounding areas at 7:30 pm on ACTV-10. The Aurora station, Aurora Community Television, Comcast Cable Ch. 10, reaches all of Aurora, Bristol, Big Rock and parts of Oswego, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.
*************************************************
You can also watch the show with State Rep. Dunkin, here on your computer.
****************************
Jeff Berkowitz:…if you have a lot of low-income folks in there, and they happen to be African-American, what are they looking to you, Ken Dunkin, to do? Would they like you to improve the quality of education for their kids?
State Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: Absolutely.
Jeff Berkowitz: Is that the main thing?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: The people in this country-
Jeff Berkowitz: Is that, perhaps, the most important thing?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: That’s at the apex, but-
Jeff Berkowitz: And what do you tell those two people? Say they’ve got an income of forty or fifty thousand dollars. [Their children are] going to a school that might be rated as a “failing school” in the Chicago Public Schools, and they would like a choice to go somewhere else. What do you say to those people?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I tell them to stay engaged and be involved in their kid’s life, in their schools-
Jeff Berkowitz: Do you say stay in that school, even if the school’s not performing, just keep doing it?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: At the schools, as well as you taking responsibility at home. Again, I have young children.
Jeff Berkowitz: There’s only so much you can do. You’re right, you have to take responsibility, but sometimes you want competition to improve that school.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Competition is good. I won’t be led into the school choice issue. Back to Barack Obama.
Jeff Berkowitz: No, no, no. We’ll come back to Barack. You know what Barack once said, in 2002? He would consider anything--this was before he was running for the US Senate, on this show, Public Affairs, June of 2002—Barack Obama said he would consider anything that would improve what he said were “admittedly”—this is Barack Obama—“intolerable conditions of the inner-city schools.” I said, “even school vouchers?” He said, “everything has to be on the table.” That was Barack Obama, 2002. Do you agree with Barack Obama in 2002?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I think every single idea, big or small, must be on the table.
Jeff Berkowitz: Including school vouchers?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: School vouchers, to funding, to quality teachers, to quality of the facility-
Jeff Berkowitz: You have to consider that.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Absolutely. Today, we have such a disparate situation-
Jeff Berkowitz: Do you know how much we spend in the Chicago Public Schools?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: You know, I’ve heard numbers from six thousand to fourteen thousand, of late.
Jeff Berkowitz: Fourteen thousand’s right. I just checked with the CPS budget director.
State Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: The number keeps changing.
Jeff Berkowitz: I just checked with the folks at the Chicago Public Schools. They tell me the budget this year, 2008, 5.7 billion dollars, counting the capital funds, counting operating funds, everything. Proposed budget for next year: 6.1 billion, that’s billion, with a “b.” About four hundred and ten thousand students. If you divide the four hundred and ten thousand into either of those numbers, you come up with about fourteen thousand dollars per kid, per year. If there’s anybody in the city of Chicago, in the Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan, anybody—if you want to dispute what your own bureaucracy has told me, come on the show, and we’d like to hear from you. But until I hear otherwise, Reverend Meeks, whoever’s watching this, somebody’s spending fourteen thousand dollars per kid, per year. That’s the average number in the Chicago Public Schools.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: That’s if you put the capital budget there, as well.
Jeff Berkowitz: Why shouldn’t it be there? You can’t ignore it. It does something.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: It’s a separate item. So, if you take the capital out, you’ll be at about six thousand dollars.
Jeff Berkowitz: No, no, no. Hardly any less. You’ll be at about twelve thousand.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Those-
Jeff Berkowitz: You cannot argue with this unless you’re going to tell me you’ve talked with the Chicago Public Schools and they’ve told you differently. These are facts. As Senator Moynihan once said, “Sir, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.” So, folks, these are the facts. Counting all costs, fourteen thousand per kid, per year. I emphasize that because that’s a fair amount of dough. You take out the operating—the capital costs-
Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: Take out operating and capital.
Jeff Berkowitz: It knocks it down to about twelve.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: What about operating?
Jeff Berkowitz: No. You can’t take out operating. Stuff is either operating or capital. It’s one or the other.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I’m speaking of spending that is per-pupil, per-child, per school. Not operating, because you have operating engineers, you have truck drivers, you have cafeteria workers-
Jeff Berkowitz: It’s part of the school.
State Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: You have capital. I’m saying spending on books, computers, on substantive learning--
Jeff Berkowitz: But you have to provide classrooms.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Specifically for the child. You keep inflating this number here, but I’m saying-
Jeff Berkowitz: It’s the total amount. The point is, if fourteen thousand is being spent per kid, per year, and your parents, your constituents, want to say “give me that money, give me that voucher, I think I can do better, I think I can get more for my education on a private school,” parochial or otherwise, let them go. Let those people go. You go to Meeks and say, “What do you want, Mr. Meeks, Reverend Meeks, Senator Meeks? You want fourteen thousand per kid, per year, to spend at a school of your choice?” We’ve invited Reverend Meeks to be on the show. About a week and a half ago, his press person told me, a press person from the Salem Baptist Church, that she would be back to me in five minutes. It’s been about ten days.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: He’s a pretty popular individual.
Jeff Berkowitz: Well, still. Five minutes? The point is, Reverend Meeks, if you’re watching this, or if you’re the press person, you could be here with our guest, Ken Dunkin, you could be here separately. We’ll be fair to you. But, look. This is an important point here, because he wants to go down to New Trier and complain about the amount of money that’s being spent, and I don’t think Senator Meeks--knows fourteen thousand per kid, per year.
Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: Again, we have a fundamental disagreement on adding all those extras in there, operating, capital.
Jeff Berkowitz: But when people say they’re spending eighteen thousand in New Trier, they add it in, too. The point is, it ain’t so different between New Trier expenditures, and Chicago Public Schools. That’s the overriding point. We don’t want to take the whole show on that, but I think it’s an important point, Ken. I think your constituents want to know why they can’t have choice. You know, Barack Obama’s got choice. He and Michelle send their kids to the University of Chicago Lab School, a private school, okay? He’s got enough money to have choice. Paul Vallas had choice, and he sent his kids to the Christian academies, or something. So I want to know why your constituents shouldn’t have that same choice. They may have lower income, but we’re spending the money now. Why not give them that choice?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: But, here…the other part of that argument is, money alone will not, is not at the apex.
Jeff Berkowitz: I understand.
Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: If we are saying that children or families need more options, let’s say that—and I respect the voucher argument, but at the end of the day, parents, the community, have to be involved. Teachers who are serious about their subject matter have to take things also to another level. You can pump in thirty thousand per pupil, and you will not necessarily have a guaranteed outcome of a successful student, based on money alone. There are some districts-
Jeff Berkowitz: What does Reverend Meeks want? Do you differ with Reverend Meeks?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I can’t speak specifically on what he wants, but here’s what Ken Dunkin wants. Ken Dunkin wants the best and the brightest teachers to stay in the system of the Chicago Public Schools-
Jeff Berkowitz: And you want the worst to go somewhere else?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Absolutely. Or, get out of the system.
Jeff Berkowitz: How do you handle that? You want to give somebody the decision to say, I’ll pay you more, not because you’ve been here fourteen years longer, but because you’re doing a better job. And somebody else who’s been there twenty years but is doing a crummy job, I’m getting rid of you. You want that kind of operation, don’t you? Do you agree with me? Yes or no.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I agree that we should have teachers who want to teach, sincerely.
Jeff Berkowitz: And who can teach. Not just want to, can.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: That’s right. Absolutely.
Jeff Berkowitz: So, you agree with merit pay? Pay them for merit. If they’re doing well, pay them more. If they’re not-
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I agree. The system in the Chicago Public Schools is what, forty five thousand people? It’s a huge system. Huge system. There’s no way in the world that you’re going to have-
Jeff Berkowitz: Forty five thousand or so teachers, just alone. Maybe even more.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: There’s no guarantee that you’re going to have a great teacher in every classroom. So what I’m saying—money isn’t necessarily at the core of the real issue that we have.
Jeff Berkowitz: It helps. If you get paid more for doing well, and less for doing poorly, you’re going to have, at the end of the day, more good teachers.
Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: I agree that we should pay our teachers a substantial amount of money, because they do a tremendous job. Our kids-
Jeff Berkowitz: If they do well, but we shouldn’t just pay them [more], but, right now, the pay is set based on how many years they’ve been there, okay? And some of your state legislative friends have been there a long time, but they don’t deserve more pay than you, right? You might come in--and after four years, be doing a better job than after fourteen years. Well, we can’t quite change the system that way in the state Legislature, but we could change it on the teaching level.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Well, at the teaching level, again, the school is one and I’ll end with this point: The schools and the teaching component is one aspect. There are other-
Jeff Berkowitz: They have an involvement that’s important.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: There are some real issues in our communities today and it doesn’t become an issue necessarily if it’s just a poor community or just a middle class community. You have a huge surge of kids experiencing face to face, abject violence on the streets, in suburbs as well as, especially, in the City.
*******************************************************
Our thanks to Amy Allen, research assistant for Public Affairs, for preparing a draft of the above transcript.
***********************
This week’s Public Affairs features State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago), who was born and raised in Chicago’s Cabrini Green housing development. Dunkin has an undergraduate degree in political science from Morehouse College and a Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago (SSA). He is in his 6th year in the Statehouse and is one of a few House Democrats who, on important matters, tend to align with the Governor over Speaker Mike Madigan.
Topics discussed include the appeal of Barack Obama and Dunkin’s assessment of Obama is based in part on what Dunkin knows about Obama, going back to when they met for the first time in 1991 on the basketball court, with both being students at the University of Chicago; how is a person better off being unemployed at the minimum wage in Illinois--$7:50/hr—than being employed at, say, $4:50/hr.; McCain and Obama compared in terms of who works better across the aisle than the other; which factors are most important in terms of explaining current levels and sectors of unemployment; what can be done to improve K-12 education, especially in failing schools in the City of Chicago? More parental involvement? More competition among private and public schools? School vouchers? Merit pay? What did Barack Obama say in 2002 about school vouchers and charter schools?
Additional topics discussed include whether more guns will tend to result in less crime; would crime be lessened if criminals had to wonder if homeowners possessed a gun or not? Is there a problem of trust between the legislators and the Governor? Or is the problem that various legislators are seeking political advantage? Can the problem of trust be handled by having the Governor sign a memorandum of understanding? Will Blagojevich be impeached? Indicted? Should he be? Has Blagojevich taken money improperly from individual donors? Did he trade a government job for a campaign contribution from Ali Ata?
********************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area and in Aurora on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here. You can read Berkowitz's daily reports from the presidential conventions for and at the Chicago Daily Observer [where you can read these reports first here]. *************************************************************
Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page will soon include this coming week's Chicago Metro suburban edition of Public Affairs with State Senator Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) and they currently include tonight's City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs with State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago), 8th CD Republican Nominee Steve Greenberg, our recent show with Senator Obama (D-IL), Gov. Sebelius (D-KS), DLC Chairman Harold Ford, Cong. Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago), Attorney General Madigan, WTTW's Carol Marin, Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan, Sun-Times Abdon Pallasch and much more, recent shows w/ 16th CD Democratic Nominee Robert Abboud, who is taking on 16 year, 16th CD Republican incumbent, Cong. Don Manzullo; Cook County Cmsr. and Republican State's Attorney Nominee Tony Peraica, Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan , 13th CD Demoratic Nominee Scott Harper,State Rep. Candidate Tim Stratton (R-Glencoe, 58th Dist.), Sen. Kwame Raoul(D-Chicago), Senator John Cullerton (D-Chicago)- ; State Rep. candidate Joan Solms (R-Aurora), Comm. Forrest Claypool (D-Chicago) on the Obama Presidential campaign and shows with many other pols.
****************************************
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I tell them to stay engaged and be involved in their kid’s life, in their schools-
Jeff Berkowitz: Do you say stay in that school, even if the school’s not performing, just keep doing it?
************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: No, no, no. We’ll come back to Barack. You know what Barack once said, in 2002? He would consider anything--this was before he was running for the US Senate, on this show, Public Affairs, June of 2002—Barack Obama said he would consider anything that would improve what he said were “admittedly”—this is Barack Obama—“intolerable conditions of the inner-city schools.” I said, “even school vouchers?” He said, “everything has to be on the table.” That was Barack Obama, 2002. Do you agree with Barack Obama in 2002?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I think every single idea, big or small, must be on the table.
*******************************************
The "Public Affairs," show with State Rep. Ken Dunkin airs throughout the City of Chicago tonight, , at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 (CANTV) and also tonight on cable in Aurora and surrounding areas at 7:30 pm on ACTV-10. The Aurora station, Aurora Community Television, Comcast Cable Ch. 10, reaches all of Aurora, Bristol, Big Rock and parts of Oswego, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.
*************************************************
You can also watch the show with State Rep. Dunkin, here on your computer.
****************************
Jeff Berkowitz:…if you have a lot of low-income folks in there, and they happen to be African-American, what are they looking to you, Ken Dunkin, to do? Would they like you to improve the quality of education for their kids?
State Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: Absolutely.
Jeff Berkowitz: Is that the main thing?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: The people in this country-
Jeff Berkowitz: Is that, perhaps, the most important thing?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: That’s at the apex, but-
Jeff Berkowitz: And what do you tell those two people? Say they’ve got an income of forty or fifty thousand dollars. [Their children are] going to a school that might be rated as a “failing school” in the Chicago Public Schools, and they would like a choice to go somewhere else. What do you say to those people?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I tell them to stay engaged and be involved in their kid’s life, in their schools-
Jeff Berkowitz: Do you say stay in that school, even if the school’s not performing, just keep doing it?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: At the schools, as well as you taking responsibility at home. Again, I have young children.
Jeff Berkowitz: There’s only so much you can do. You’re right, you have to take responsibility, but sometimes you want competition to improve that school.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Competition is good. I won’t be led into the school choice issue. Back to Barack Obama.
Jeff Berkowitz: No, no, no. We’ll come back to Barack. You know what Barack once said, in 2002? He would consider anything--this was before he was running for the US Senate, on this show, Public Affairs, June of 2002—Barack Obama said he would consider anything that would improve what he said were “admittedly”—this is Barack Obama—“intolerable conditions of the inner-city schools.” I said, “even school vouchers?” He said, “everything has to be on the table.” That was Barack Obama, 2002. Do you agree with Barack Obama in 2002?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I think every single idea, big or small, must be on the table.
Jeff Berkowitz: Including school vouchers?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: School vouchers, to funding, to quality teachers, to quality of the facility-
Jeff Berkowitz: You have to consider that.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Absolutely. Today, we have such a disparate situation-
Jeff Berkowitz: Do you know how much we spend in the Chicago Public Schools?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: You know, I’ve heard numbers from six thousand to fourteen thousand, of late.
Jeff Berkowitz: Fourteen thousand’s right. I just checked with the CPS budget director.
State Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: The number keeps changing.
Jeff Berkowitz: I just checked with the folks at the Chicago Public Schools. They tell me the budget this year, 2008, 5.7 billion dollars, counting the capital funds, counting operating funds, everything. Proposed budget for next year: 6.1 billion, that’s billion, with a “b.” About four hundred and ten thousand students. If you divide the four hundred and ten thousand into either of those numbers, you come up with about fourteen thousand dollars per kid, per year. If there’s anybody in the city of Chicago, in the Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan, anybody—if you want to dispute what your own bureaucracy has told me, come on the show, and we’d like to hear from you. But until I hear otherwise, Reverend Meeks, whoever’s watching this, somebody’s spending fourteen thousand dollars per kid, per year. That’s the average number in the Chicago Public Schools.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: That’s if you put the capital budget there, as well.
Jeff Berkowitz: Why shouldn’t it be there? You can’t ignore it. It does something.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: It’s a separate item. So, if you take the capital out, you’ll be at about six thousand dollars.
Jeff Berkowitz: No, no, no. Hardly any less. You’ll be at about twelve thousand.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Those-
Jeff Berkowitz: You cannot argue with this unless you’re going to tell me you’ve talked with the Chicago Public Schools and they’ve told you differently. These are facts. As Senator Moynihan once said, “Sir, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.” So, folks, these are the facts. Counting all costs, fourteen thousand per kid, per year. I emphasize that because that’s a fair amount of dough. You take out the operating—the capital costs-
Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: Take out operating and capital.
Jeff Berkowitz: It knocks it down to about twelve.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: What about operating?
Jeff Berkowitz: No. You can’t take out operating. Stuff is either operating or capital. It’s one or the other.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I’m speaking of spending that is per-pupil, per-child, per school. Not operating, because you have operating engineers, you have truck drivers, you have cafeteria workers-
Jeff Berkowitz: It’s part of the school.
State Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: You have capital. I’m saying spending on books, computers, on substantive learning--
Jeff Berkowitz: But you have to provide classrooms.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Specifically for the child. You keep inflating this number here, but I’m saying-
Jeff Berkowitz: It’s the total amount. The point is, if fourteen thousand is being spent per kid, per year, and your parents, your constituents, want to say “give me that money, give me that voucher, I think I can do better, I think I can get more for my education on a private school,” parochial or otherwise, let them go. Let those people go. You go to Meeks and say, “What do you want, Mr. Meeks, Reverend Meeks, Senator Meeks? You want fourteen thousand per kid, per year, to spend at a school of your choice?” We’ve invited Reverend Meeks to be on the show. About a week and a half ago, his press person told me, a press person from the Salem Baptist Church, that she would be back to me in five minutes. It’s been about ten days.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: He’s a pretty popular individual.
Jeff Berkowitz: Well, still. Five minutes? The point is, Reverend Meeks, if you’re watching this, or if you’re the press person, you could be here with our guest, Ken Dunkin, you could be here separately. We’ll be fair to you. But, look. This is an important point here, because he wants to go down to New Trier and complain about the amount of money that’s being spent, and I don’t think Senator Meeks--knows fourteen thousand per kid, per year.
Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: Again, we have a fundamental disagreement on adding all those extras in there, operating, capital.
Jeff Berkowitz: But when people say they’re spending eighteen thousand in New Trier, they add it in, too. The point is, it ain’t so different between New Trier expenditures, and Chicago Public Schools. That’s the overriding point. We don’t want to take the whole show on that, but I think it’s an important point, Ken. I think your constituents want to know why they can’t have choice. You know, Barack Obama’s got choice. He and Michelle send their kids to the University of Chicago Lab School, a private school, okay? He’s got enough money to have choice. Paul Vallas had choice, and he sent his kids to the Christian academies, or something. So I want to know why your constituents shouldn’t have that same choice. They may have lower income, but we’re spending the money now. Why not give them that choice?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: But, here…the other part of that argument is, money alone will not, is not at the apex.
Jeff Berkowitz: I understand.
Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: If we are saying that children or families need more options, let’s say that—and I respect the voucher argument, but at the end of the day, parents, the community, have to be involved. Teachers who are serious about their subject matter have to take things also to another level. You can pump in thirty thousand per pupil, and you will not necessarily have a guaranteed outcome of a successful student, based on money alone. There are some districts-
Jeff Berkowitz: What does Reverend Meeks want? Do you differ with Reverend Meeks?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I can’t speak specifically on what he wants, but here’s what Ken Dunkin wants. Ken Dunkin wants the best and the brightest teachers to stay in the system of the Chicago Public Schools-
Jeff Berkowitz: And you want the worst to go somewhere else?
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Absolutely. Or, get out of the system.
Jeff Berkowitz: How do you handle that? You want to give somebody the decision to say, I’ll pay you more, not because you’ve been here fourteen years longer, but because you’re doing a better job. And somebody else who’s been there twenty years but is doing a crummy job, I’m getting rid of you. You want that kind of operation, don’t you? Do you agree with me? Yes or no.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I agree that we should have teachers who want to teach, sincerely.
Jeff Berkowitz: And who can teach. Not just want to, can.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: That’s right. Absolutely.
Jeff Berkowitz: So, you agree with merit pay? Pay them for merit. If they’re doing well, pay them more. If they’re not-
Rep. Ken Dunkin: I agree. The system in the Chicago Public Schools is what, forty five thousand people? It’s a huge system. Huge system. There’s no way in the world that you’re going to have-
Jeff Berkowitz: Forty five thousand or so teachers, just alone. Maybe even more.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: There’s no guarantee that you’re going to have a great teacher in every classroom. So what I’m saying—money isn’t necessarily at the core of the real issue that we have.
Jeff Berkowitz: It helps. If you get paid more for doing well, and less for doing poorly, you’re going to have, at the end of the day, more good teachers.
Rep. Ken Dunkin [D-Chicago]: I agree that we should pay our teachers a substantial amount of money, because they do a tremendous job. Our kids-
Jeff Berkowitz: If they do well, but we shouldn’t just pay them [more], but, right now, the pay is set based on how many years they’ve been there, okay? And some of your state legislative friends have been there a long time, but they don’t deserve more pay than you, right? You might come in--and after four years, be doing a better job than after fourteen years. Well, we can’t quite change the system that way in the state Legislature, but we could change it on the teaching level.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: Well, at the teaching level, again, the school is one and I’ll end with this point: The schools and the teaching component is one aspect. There are other-
Jeff Berkowitz: They have an involvement that’s important.
Rep. Ken Dunkin: There are some real issues in our communities today and it doesn’t become an issue necessarily if it’s just a poor community or just a middle class community. You have a huge surge of kids experiencing face to face, abject violence on the streets, in suburbs as well as, especially, in the City.
*******************************************************
Our thanks to Amy Allen, research assistant for Public Affairs, for preparing a draft of the above transcript.
***********************
This week’s Public Affairs features State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago), who was born and raised in Chicago’s Cabrini Green housing development. Dunkin has an undergraduate degree in political science from Morehouse College and a Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago (SSA). He is in his 6th year in the Statehouse and is one of a few House Democrats who, on important matters, tend to align with the Governor over Speaker Mike Madigan.
Topics discussed include the appeal of Barack Obama and Dunkin’s assessment of Obama is based in part on what Dunkin knows about Obama, going back to when they met for the first time in 1991 on the basketball court, with both being students at the University of Chicago; how is a person better off being unemployed at the minimum wage in Illinois--$7:50/hr—than being employed at, say, $4:50/hr.; McCain and Obama compared in terms of who works better across the aisle than the other; which factors are most important in terms of explaining current levels and sectors of unemployment; what can be done to improve K-12 education, especially in failing schools in the City of Chicago? More parental involvement? More competition among private and public schools? School vouchers? Merit pay? What did Barack Obama say in 2002 about school vouchers and charter schools?
Additional topics discussed include whether more guns will tend to result in less crime; would crime be lessened if criminals had to wonder if homeowners possessed a gun or not? Is there a problem of trust between the legislators and the Governor? Or is the problem that various legislators are seeking political advantage? Can the problem of trust be handled by having the Governor sign a memorandum of understanding? Will Blagojevich be impeached? Indicted? Should he be? Has Blagojevich taken money improperly from individual donors? Did he trade a government job for a campaign contribution from Ali Ata?
********************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area and in Aurora on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here. You can read Berkowitz's daily reports from the presidential conventions for and at the Chicago Daily Observer [where you can read these reports first here]. *************************************************************
Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page will soon include this coming week's Chicago Metro suburban edition of Public Affairs with State Senator Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) and they currently include tonight's City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs with State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago), 8th CD Republican Nominee Steve Greenberg, our recent show with Senator Obama (D-IL), Gov. Sebelius (D-KS), DLC Chairman Harold Ford, Cong. Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago), Attorney General Madigan, WTTW's Carol Marin, Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan, Sun-Times Abdon Pallasch and much more, recent shows w/ 16th CD Democratic Nominee Robert Abboud, who is taking on 16 year, 16th CD Republican incumbent, Cong. Don Manzullo; Cook County Cmsr. and Republican State's Attorney Nominee Tony Peraica, Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan , 13th CD Demoratic Nominee Scott Harper,State Rep. Candidate Tim Stratton (R-Glencoe, 58th Dist.), Sen. Kwame Raoul(D-Chicago), Senator John Cullerton (D-Chicago)- ; State Rep. candidate Joan Solms (R-Aurora), Comm. Forrest Claypool (D-Chicago) on the Obama Presidential campaign and shows with many other pols.
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