As districts across the state face the possibility of a delayed start to the school year this fall, Gov. Bruce Rauner and Chicago Public Schools are squaring off over what to do with a potential fix for the state’s broken education funding formula.
Education Funding
In a letter sent Friday to principals, CPS officials admit the budget distribution process is taking place “later than anyone can remember.” They put blame for the setback on Gov. Bruce Rauner.
After 736 days, Illinois finally has a budget. But it’s not all good news: At the moment, funding is locked up for all of the state’s public schools. Will schools open on time?
The governor and the state of Illinois claim an amended discrimination lawsuit filed by Chicago Public Schools suffers from the same flaws that got its previous suit tossed from court earlier this year.
Following successful Illinois House and Senate votes on a Democrat-backed education funding reform bill, Republicans are taking a shot at fixing the nation’s least equitable education funding formula.
The CTU president said interest payments on the latest CPS borrowing could instead be used to pay for three college counselors, three pre-K teachers or six special education assistants.
Tuesday marked the final day of classes for CPS students, and despite lingering questions about district finances and the state budget, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is promising school will resume on time this fall.
The Democrat-backed bill would increase state funding to every public school district in the state. But it still faces an uncertain future as critics chide what they see as preferential treatment for Chicago Public Schools.
Chicago Public Schools is once again turning to its lenders, this time to keep doors open until the end of the school year on June 20.
Gov. Bruce Rauner says property taxes generated from the sale of the James R. Thompson Center could top $45 million per year, and Republican-backed legislation introduced Friday would send every one of those dollars to Chicago Public Schools.
Overall state and local government support for higher education across the country fell by $130 per student in 2016, the first time that figure failed to grow in four years. And one group is pointing the finger squarely at Illinois.
It’s still the unanswered question even though the Mayor Emanuel says schools will remain open until the end of the school year.
A Cook County Judge has dealt a financial setback to Chicago Public Schools – stating that the school district’s complaint is “not the vehicle to address [the state’s] inequity” in education funding.
Chicago Public Schools will stay open until June 22, the end of the regular school year, instead of closing early on June 1. “You will be in school until the end of the school year. We will be here working to find the resources,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The ringleaders of Illinois’ partisan impasse – Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan – met Thursday morning for the first time since before Christmas.
“This could be a critical week for the future of our schools,” CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said Wednesday at a Chicago Board of Education meeting. “Ending school early would be a tragedy for Chicago students.”
