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Tom Weber and Jo Erickson

David Perry: 'Why I won't raise my son in Illinois'

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David Perry takes a bold step next week.

He's leaving a well-paid, tenured job at a university in Illinois to move his wife and his 9-year-old son with Down syndrome to Minneapolis, where he believes that his son will receive better care and social services

Illinois has billions of dollars in unpaid bills and only recently passed a budget after a years-long political stalemate. For Perry, that climate leaves disability services so unpredictable that caring for his son had become untenable.

In a column for Pacific Standard Magazine, he wrote:

"When it comes to life with disabilities, state administrations matter. Sure, federal laws ensure basic civil rights, federal programs mandate (sometimes, but not always, with funds attached) all kinds of services, but states and their third-party partners (think non-profits) tend to administer everything. When a state collapses, it takes the disability services down with it. As Politico recently wrote: Illinois is a failed state."

Perry joined MPR host Tom Weber to discuss his move and what he sees as differences between the states.