Can one find cheap and decent housing in a decent neighborhood-good public school-in chicago and suburbs?

Chicago schools are a mess, as are the public schools in most of the affordable suburbs. Illinois is 49th as far as states in the amount of state funding for education. You either live in a more expensive area to get good public schools where property taxes are high, live in a reasonable area and send your kids to the crappy public schools, or live in a reasonable area and pay for your kids to go to private school.