CTBA experts are available to provide insight, analysis, and data to the press on a wide range of public policy issues. In addition, CTBA disseminates new research and timely updates on policy developments to the media.
What We Do
- Policy analysis and advocacy
- Empirical research
- Advice and technical assistance
- Strategic leadership in coalitions
- Legislative testimony
- Public education
Last Monday, at a town hall meeting convened in Champaign by State Representative Carol Ammons, CTBA Executive Director Ralph Martire told those gathered that Illinois' tax policy, designed for a 1900's economy, simply doesn't work anymore.
Illinois can solve its multibillion-dollar
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CHAMPAIGN - If you haven't heard the phrase "budget cuts" recently, then you don't live in Illinois. "We have a structural deficit that will not be fixed by cutting out essential services," said State Representative Carol Ammons. "We can not fix it by cutting D.H.S. services, senior services,
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Indiana’s school voucher program is neither as bad as its critics claim nor as important as its supporters believe — especially in northeast Indiana. The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, based in Chicago, released a report that takes a highly skeptical look at vouchers for students
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As the 2015 legislative session is about to end, this is the last and most crucial chance for the public to demand that our legislators do not continue on the wrongful path of diminishing and diverting state tax dollars away from the schools that serve our most disadvantaged students of poverty
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In what's been dubbed the "Good Friday Massacre," Rauner's administration proposed trimming an additional $26 million from the current budget, in part by cutting services for individuals with autism and burial funds for the indigent.
One has to ask "Why
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Gov. Bruce Rauner has proposed cutting the amount of state income tax shared with local governments by half. That's about a $600,000 reduction for Northlake. Since the state and city run on different budget years — the state's fiscal year starts July 1 and the city of Northlake's on January 1 —
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Students using vouchers to attend private schools have no academic edge over their public school peers, according to a report released Thursday by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.
“There’s a substantial amount of evidence about what does and doesn’t work to enhance student achievement,” said Ralph Martire, the executive director of CTBA, a Chicago-based think tank. “Indiana’s approach runs contrary to what those best practices indicate you should do.”
Indiana’s school choice legislation is the most comprehensive in the nation, Martire said. It includes a voucher program, tax deductions and tax credits for parents who send their children to private schools, according to the report.
The report is a meta-analysis that looks at the results from studies of voucher programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Washington, D.C., as well as federal research on the effectiveness of charter and private schools. None of the studies that the authors analyzed found any evidence that students who received vouchers outperformed students who went to public schools, the report said.
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New research is adding fuel to one of the most heated debates on Indiana’s modern education scene. A new study released Thursday suggests no measurable difference between students using school vouchers and their peers studying in public schools.
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INDIANAPOLIS - A new study calls Indiana's school voucher program into question.
The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability report says there's no reason to subsidize Indiana School vouchers with public tax dollars. The group, which identifies itself as "a bipartisan, nonprofit research, and advocacy think tank," looked at school voucher programs in other states that have been operating for decades. The results found students using vouchers to attend private schools do no better than those in public schools.
The study also concluded that "at-risk students" who live in poverty, are learning English, or have special needs and attend public schools out-perform those who attend charter or religious private schools.
"The bottom line is even staunch supporters of vouchers have come to the realization that vouchers in and of themselves do not help students achieve to higher levels academically," said Ralph M. Martire with the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.
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INDIANAPOLIS -- A new study released at the Statehouse Thursday claims school vouchers aren't beneficial to Indiana taxpayers and students. More than 30,000 Indiana students are enrolled in the School Choice voucher program that makes it possible for thousands of kids to attend private and charter schools.
"The study originated because Illinois has a one school-choice option which is an individual tax credit. As in other states, Illinois legislators received requests to consider expanding the use of school vouchers. Because Indiana is adjacent to a state with a large voucher program, Indiana is among several voucher programs studied by an independent firm," Becker said.
According to the report released by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, the study found "no compelling reason to subsidize Indiana school vouchers with public taxpayer dollars."