GIVING CPS THE NO SIGN
‘ Absolutely not,’ Rauner says about approving school funding bill; Dems wait for ‘ cooler heads to prevail’
Gov. Bruce Rauner said Thursday that he would not sign an education funding reform bill that passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly Wednesday night just before the regular legislative session ended.
But Senate Democrats say they’re waiting for “cooler heads to prevail” and filed a procedural hold on the bill — preventing a 30- day clock from starting on having to deliver the bill to his desk.
The bill would add close to $ 300 million in additional state funding for the Chicago Public Schools, and potentially more in subsequent years. And it would, for the first time in the history of the state ranked last nationally in funding schools, send any new education money first to districts most in need.
“In its current form, absolutely not,” Rauner told the Chicago Sun- Times when asked if he would sign it. “The amendment on there really amounts to an unfair- to- Illinois- taxpayers bailout of CPS.”
John Patterson, spokesman for Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, said the bill’s hold is meant to give the governor time “to recognize that we’re delivering a win to his desk.”
“It’s been 20- plus years in the making and a lot of people on both sides of the aisle have dedicated themselves to this cause over those two decades,” Patterson said. “We’re trying to avoid conflict and rash actions. We would urge the governor to take the win.”
Based on discussions with a bipartisan educational funding panel commissioned by Rauner, the legislation divided the state’s school districts into four tiers, based on their needs for low- income, special education and English- learning students; it placed CPS squarely into Tier 1, which is for the neediest districts that are set to get more money per student than those in the other tiers.
No school district would lose any funding under the legislation, which instead assigns new money to be distributed according to need. An amendment added Tuesday evening by Rep. Will Davis, D- East Hazel Crest, is where Rauner placed the blame.
He said bills drafted by state Sen. Andy Manar, D- Bunker Hill, and Sen. Jason Barickman, R- Bloomington, should be used as a “base for a deal.”
“We were going down that road but then the majority in the House kind of hijacked the process, added a big addendum, a big amendment onto Manar’s bill with massive more financing for Chicago Public Schools. That’s not fair for the statewide taxpayers. So we’ve got to get that out,” Rauner said.
Before Rauner made his feelings known, Mayor Rahm Emanuel had praised the bill.
“I want to thank the members of the state Legislature for coming together to pass meaningful legislation that will strengthen education funding for every district in the state, and better support students and families throughout Illinois,” Emanuel said.
Emanuel’s administration has maintained that the long- sought changes to the school funding formu- la would generate nearly $ 300 million in additional funding for the Chicago Public Schools in the first year and even more in subsequent years.
That’s nearly 40 percent more than the $ 215 million in state pension help built into the CPS budget and vetoed by Rauner because it was not tied to state pension reforms.
With that money and $ 389 million in short- term borrowing secured by late block grants owed by the state, CPS expects to have enough money to make a state- mandated, $ 720 million payment to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund due on June 30.
But City Hall also is bracing for a “political stunt” before the borrowing — with what’s expected to be an exorbitant interest rate — is finalized.
“We fully expect the governor to pull a political stunt and try to undermine the CPS financing,” said a top mayoral aide, who asked to remain anonymous.
The legislation would have benefited poor districts throughout the state, said Ginger Ostro, head of Advance Illinois, an education policy group that has long championed funding reform and supported this recent effort.
Illinois currently spends just $. 81 per dollar on poor kids for every dollar it spends on kids who aren’t low income, she said. And it allocates what money it spends on a per- pupil basis so each district, regardless of ability to pay, gets the same amount for each special ed or low- income student.
“And that’s why we think it’s a historic triumph for students,” she said. “That the General Assembly has come together and passed this legislation is profoundly significant. We do encourage the governor to sign it.’’
“IN ITS CURRENT FORM, ABSOLUTELY NOT. THE AMENDMENT ON THERE REALLY AMOUNTS TO AN UNFAIR-TO- ILLINOIS-TAXPAYERS BAILOUT OF CPS.’’ GOV. BRUCE RAUNER, on an education funding reform bill passed by the Legislature