MAP Grant Solutions That Work
09 25, 2009 
2 Comments
Everyone knows that every Illinois Student supports funding for MAP Grants. Starting a support group, wearing a button, making a video, and signing a petition isn’t going to get anyone’s attention. They KNOW how you feel about this. They’re not idiots. All it is going to do is make the organizers of such activities look “cool” and like they “care” about us, the students. They don’t. All they care about is getting attention for themselves and looking like heroes.
So if you REALLY want to get the MAP Grant funding restored, you have to understand why it was cut in the first place…
(1) Illinois can’t raise enough money through taxes to support its budget. Period. There aren’t any politicians out there who just decided it would be fun to make students lives harder.
(2) This is partly due to the fact that we are in an “economic crisis” so tax revenue is low and partly due to the fact that we are spending just a crap load of money.
(3) The Governor doesn’t want to cut any programs from the budget – he wants to raise taxes.
(4) Cutting funding from education is (a) logically the exact opposite thing to do in a financial crisis (increasing education increases income which increases tax revenue, duh), and (b) the fastest way to piss everyone off and get them to start paying attention.
(5) The Governor is going to make the case that as much as he wants to restore the MAP Grant, he can’t unless we raise taxes.
(6) Shazam! The Governor gets exactly what he wants, AND he gets to look like a hero to everyone despite the fact that he raised taxes which generally pisses people off. Perfect setup for reelection.
It baffles me that the founders of the group, UIC students who support the MAP Grant! don’t realize all this. Why? Because they are doing the EXACT SAME THING! They’re using this emotionally charged political issue to make themselves look like a bunch of heroes.
If you want the MAP Grant restored, don’t voice your support for it – everyone and their dog wants the MAP Grant restored, and every politician knows that. Voice your support for one of the following:
(Option 1) Cutting $200,000,000 worth of specific state-funded programs from the IL state budget.
-=OR=-
(Option 2) Raising taxes.
I’m not going to tell you which one you should pick. Just please don’t waste your time screaming into the “We love MAP Grants” echo chamber.
To find out who your State Congressional and Senate Representatives are:
(1) Go to the Illinois State Board of Elections Website.
(2) Select the “By Address” TAB and enter your address information.
(3) Viola! You will get a list of every governmental representative that you need to worry about writing. If you click on their names, you’ll get their contact information. The ones you want are State Senator and State Representative.
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CLARIFICATION OF MY POSITION: The MAP Grants were cut in order to build the political will to do *something else.* They are being used as a means to an end. It is wrong, but that is what this is really about.
To fix this problem, we have to address the real issue: Where is the $200 million the Map Grants require going to come from in the Illinois State budget?
Politicians are going to either cut another part of the budget, or they’re going to raise taxes. If you want them to restore the MAP Grant, you have to tell them HOW you want them to restore it. “Supporting” it is not enough, and isn’t going to raise any eyebrows. Signing a petition to support the MAP Grant is like saying, “I support air!” – of course students support free money for college! Sign a petition that says, “Restore the MAP Grant by doing X, Y, Z!” and then you’ll be onto something!
If you simply say “Restore The MAP Grant” without any directive on how to do so, then you are in essence giving them permission to do whatever it is they want to do. That is playing into their hands. Don’t let politicians manipulate you. Don’t let this political ploy allow them to have the license necessary do what you might otherwise not want them to do.
Here’s some more light reading for you… The MAP Grants aren’t the real issue. By merely supporting the MAP Grant and not taking a side in the REAL debate, you’re basically saying, “Here, I don’t want to participate in the democratic process. You make all the decisions for me.”
Sure, SUPPORT the MAP Grant, but you have to pick a side in this fight, or you’re playing into their hands by just screaming “Save the MAP Grant” like they all want you to!
http://www.illinoispolicy.org/news/article.asp?ArticleSource=1455