East Central Reporter

Chris Miller thinks it’s time society looked itself in the mirror and had an epiphany.

“The problem with so much of our society is the moral decay we’re experiencing on the whole,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “We’ve systematically tried to remove God from the equation to the point we have no moral fiber left.  As a society, we’ve been in a downward spiral ever since.”

Miller points to the sexual abuse scandal now plaguing the Chicago Public School (CPS) system that was recently uncovered by a Chicago Tribune investigation.

Shirley Bell Democratic candidate for the 110th House District

In its “Betrayed” series, the newspaper uncovered 40 cases over the last decade where students have been sexually abused by other students on CPS grounds. In more than half of those instances, the victim was found to be a special needs student.

The Tribune also detailed almost as many instances where students were victimized by an adult predator, ranging from a teacher to a coach or other staffer.  

Miller, running for Illinois’ 110th District House seat against Democrat Shirley Bell, thinks it all points to a need for a drastic change in the way Springfield has come to operate.

“The problem is a lot of things now just get ignored or covered up,” he said. “As sad as it sounds, this kind of stuff didn’t just start happening and we’ve kicked the can down the road. We’ve never dealt with the issue and the system is notorious for that. Mainly, no one wants to deal with the tough problems. Nothing that’s good for society or culture means anything anymore.”

The solution to the CPS crisis doesn’t lie in either overregulation or throwing a large amount of money at the problem, approaches Miller said are typical of the way lawmakers in Springfield normally respond to crisis situations.

“You can have every law on the books, but until you deal with the core of the issue, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “With things this critical, we need to say what we mean and mean what we say.”

The 110th House District includes Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Edgar and Lawrence counties.