According to Webster's dictionary, to demagogue means "to stir up the people by appeals to emotion, prejudice, etc. in order to win them over quickly and so gain power." The education of our children is too important to demagogue.

Attempting to elicit a feeling of guilt from decent people, touching upon a form of reverse racism, and with T.V. cameras, microphones, entourage, and reporters securely in his tow, Jesse Jackson swept into Waubonsie Valley High School and demagogued about education in Illinois on October 17, 2005.

Some people have asked me, "Why did the administrators allow Jesse Jackson to come and try to promote his agenda by using our children?" If you put yourself in those decision-maker's shoes, it's a bit easier to understand that they really had no choice. Superintendent Howie Crouse and his staff have admirable skills relating to people; however, they are simply no match as "politicians" for any man who has made a career of criticizing others while ignoring his own transgressions.

No, Jesse Jackson would have inflicted a demagogue's condemnation on all of us if he had been turned away. And, as a matter of standard policy, our schools are open to everyone. We have nothing to hide if the truth is told. A clear conscience is the softest pillow.

I don't mind if Jesse Jackson visits Waubonsie Valley High School. We are very proud of the sacrifice and love that we show our children, the outstanding faculty, dedicated administrators, and well-kept facilities.

I don't mind if we agree on the absolute importance of education for all children, no matter where they live. And, I don't even mind, if he concludes that our facilities and capabilities at Waubonsie exceed those at Chicago's Harper High School.

But, what I do object to is what I witnessed with my own eyes. He told a group of government students that they receive $15,000 per year for their education while children at Harper receive only $5,000. The truth according to the Illinois State Board of Educations' unbiased and accurate Interactive Illinois Report Card is that Waubonsee students receive $8,000 per year per child and, not only do Harper students not receive less, they receive 10% more at $8,800 per year.

And, if you compare total annual budgets divided by the number of children educated, Chicago Public School students receive nearly $12,000 per year (versus $9,500 at Waubonsie)... that's annually more than it cost me to go through the Harvard Business School years ago. Yet graduation rates are 54%, according to independent experts who issued their report six months ago.

They receive substantially more than our children, but Jesse suggests that your taxes should be raised and you should send more through Springfield state government to Chicago. From just a preliminary review of where Chicago spends its allocation, 40 cents of every dollar goes to "General Administration and Support". At Waubonsee, the equivalent amount is 30 cents. Ten cents, a dime on every education dollar, on their $5,000,000,000 (Billion) budget means that half a billion dollars per year could go to teachers and facilities if the money wasn't going to support a bloated and comfortable bureaucracy.

Because parents and citizens who serve on our school boards keep such a close eye on how our local resources are spent, our money goes to buildings and opportunity while theirs may be going to bureaucracy and waste. This is where Jesse Jackson ought to fix the glare of T.V. cameras and inflammatory rhetoric.

Additionally, if effort can be equated to tax rates, for every $1000 of property value, taxpayers of Aurora and Naperville try harder by paying higher rates than downtown Chicago, despite all the property wealth of one of the most powerful, beautiful, and richest cities in the world. And, where local property taxpayers in Indian Prairie District pay for three out of every four dollars we spend to educate our children, Chicago only pays two out of every four... with the rest coming from the income and sales taxes that we send to Springfield and now Washington.

If I were to re-choreograph Jesse Jackson's next education funding excursion, I would encourage him to visit headquarters in his own backyard at Chicago Public Schools and the message would include, as gently and respectfully as possible, several points:

- First, the responsibility to educate begins at home and begins early, even before birth in preparation. It is primarily parents' duty.

- The key is what we truly value in our families. My mom was single for most of the time she raised her four kids while she worked for nineteen years at the phone company answering 411 calls and there were no excuses for not behaving or working hard at school. As much as my children would prefer to be rock stars or professional athletes, they are told daily, - Get your homework done and honor your teachers.  That lesson doesn't vary whether a child is white, black, brown, red, yellow, or purple.

- Discussion about education improvement must begin with accurate facts and analysis, or we cheat children.

- We cannot support those who raid resources committed in law to the education of our children and the care of teachers, and claim that we are responsible.

- What sense does it make to deprive parents in Chicago's poorest neighborhoods a Pilot Program for School Choice-- a freedom to select the best school available to parents of the wealthy when public schools can compete for the $12,000 per child per year?

I agree with Jesse Jackson that "strong minds break strong chains" and that "knowledge is power and the great equalizer." Money does matter, but truth matters more. He should not repeat anywhere else the lie he told our children in government class at Waubonsie Valley High School.