Last week, the 93rd Representative District for the Illinois General Assembly saw a Democrat formally announce for the race.John Curtis, a Western Illinois University Instructor and owner of a community based farm in rural Macomb is the lone Democrat primed to face incumbent Representative Norine Hammond in the General Election.
As an educator, Curtis’ campaign is shining a spotlight on the inequity in school district funding across the state.
He tells WGIL that the way school district funding is tied to property taxes creates an imbalance.
“There are school districts in the 93rd District that spend around $4,000 per student where in the Chicago suburbs you have schools that are paying in the 20’s per student. So you have this real rich versus poor system,” says Curtis.
Curtis also has an agriculture background, serving as the president of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance a non-profit that advocates for “environmentally sustainable” and “economically viable” food systems.
He says there’s no need for Illinois to limit itself to just corn and soybeans.
“We’ve got all kinds of opportunities to grow agriculture at different scales,” says Curtis. “Like my CSA for example.”
Curtis also hopes to focus on reforming campaign finance in the state during the 2016 race.
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