Educating children should be a bipartisan issue. Two weeks ago in the General Assembly, it finally was.

After years of working on this issue and months of intense negotiations, the General Assembly passed a landmark school funding reform law that fundamentally will transform the way Illinois funds its schools. This once-in-a-generation school funding legislation is the single most important bipartisan reform Illinois has seen in decades.

As downstate legislators of different political parties, we were proud to work together on behalf of the schools and children we represent in negotiating the final agreement. Illinois will go from having the worst school funding formula in the country to having one of the best. Students in school districts lacking local wealth will be prioritized regardless of ZIP code. That means underfunded downstate districts will get the help they need. Read more.

Here are a few of the editorials from Illinois newspapers:

From the Springfield Journal-Register:
New education funding formula will benefit Illinois’ children

Education funding reform has been a long time coming in Illinois, and the state is finally on the cusp of it arriving.

After plenty of political theater — including last-minute amendments, sitting on the bill, a far-overreaching amendatory veto by the governor, missing the first two payments to school districts for the new academic year, and three dramatic votes in the House before it garnered enough “yes” votes to pass — Illinois lawmakers have approved a new way to fund the state’s K-12 schools. Keep reading the editorial.

The bipartisan compromise on the education funding bill that passed in the House of Representatives ensures, for the first time in decades, that all children in Illinois will have access to education that is funded fairly and equitably.

 

Last night the House passed a historic compromise education funding plan that ensures all children in Illinois will have access to a high quality education. Read more about SB 1947.

Here is what some of our members are saying about it.

Rep. Christine Winger
“Today’s agreement is a historic step forward for education funding, one that will help our students have the opportunities they deserve to succeed while also ensuring all school districts are treated fairly.”

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin joined The Steve Cochran Show on WGN Radio this morning to explain the current state of the education funding plan and what needs to happen next to ensure schools open on time.

Listen here.

Schools may be at risk of not opening on time in the fall, affecting thousands of students, if the Senate does not immediately send a school funding bill to the Governor for his action. Illinois Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti is encouraging Illinoisans to get involved by signing her petition urging the Senate to send SB1 at once to the Governor. 

After a bill passes both the House and Senate it should be sent to the Governor to sign, or veto. However in this case, SB1 was held by the Senate in a parliamentary move to prevent the Governor from taking action. This move has the potential of creating chaos and crisis for our schools and Illinois families.

Tell the Senate to release the bill and prevent the unnecessary stress and pressure on our families by signing the petition.

It is easy to get lost in the big picture of frustrations over the state legislature's inability yet again to produce a budget.

But doing so obscures a lot of meaningful little pictures that also are a part of Springfield's mosaic of many failures.

One of those little issues that is actually a huge one is school funding reform.

The Illinois Senate moved on that monumental question this session, but with such a transparently cynical move to turn it into an unjustified windfall for Chicago that it is sure to be vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Chicago Democrats used the issue as a means to maneuver a bailout of the mismanaged Chicago Public Schools system that for years has wildly overspent while over-promising its powerful unions.

Unfortunately, many Democratic legislators from the suburbs shamefully went along. Read the editorial in the Daily Herald in its entirety. 

Governor Bruce Rauner’s Illinois School Funding Reform Commission today approved a framework that allows members of the General Assembly to create a new school funding formula.

“Illinois is another step closer to fixing our broken school funding system,” Governor Rauner said. “I applaud the Commission members for putting politics aside to advance a bipartisan framework that can serve as an immediate roadmap for legislation. The framework ensures all public school children in Illinois receive equitable funding, no matter where they live.  We look forward to working with members of the General Assembly to quickly resolve the outstanding issues identified in the report with the hope of enacting a bipartisan school funding reform package as soon as possible.”