Prairie State Wire

Jim Dodge thinks the Chicago Public School (CPS) system epitomizes everything that’s’ wrong with the Illinois government after the Chicago Tribune found approximately 40 students have been sexually abused over the last ten years.

"The system is failing the people that need it most and those are our kids,” Dodge told the Prairie State Wire.

The investigative series also found that nearly 40 pupils have fallen victim to similar abuse at the hands of a teacher, coach or other adult staffers over that same period.

Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs

“It’s a shame that things have gotten to this level,” said Dodge, who is running as a Republican for state treasurer against incumbent Mike Frerichs in November’s general election. “It’s a huge violation of trust. You get these cultures of complacency, of corruption coming out of Springfield far too often. It’s why people are so disgusted with government and distrustful of it. Think about it, without the Tribune’s investigation we still wouldn’t know about this.”  

The inefficiency and dysfunction associated with House Speaker Mike Madigan have many taxpayers at the end of their rope and looking for a way out, Dodge said.

“I think people all across the state are frustrated with it,” he said. “Everybody knows who’s been in charge for the last several decades and that’s the Democrats, whose leadership has been a total disaster.”

The best examples of that have been the subpar way CPS has been allowed to operate, despite having one of the biggest budgets of any entity around, Dodge said.

“Rather they have a child in CPS or not, you talk to any taxpayer and they all say they don’t feel like they’re getting a great return on their investment right now,” he said. "For all this money we put into CPS, it’s not showing up in the way we’re educating our kids.”