SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Despite a standstill over the Illinois budget, a group of bipartisan lawmakers has been meeting more often in recent weeks to devise a plan to overhaul state funding for public schools.
Although Illinois’ top leaders aren’t meeting to discuss the state budget, members of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s education funding reform commission told the Springfield Bureau of Lee Enterprises newspapers (https://bit.ly/2i10Qe5 ) they’re optimistic that the group will be able to come up with at least outlines of a new school funding formula.
“We’ve made meaningful progress on an incredibly difficult issue,” said Republican state Sen. Jason Barickman.
Rauner set a Feb. 1 deadline for the group to complete its work when he announced its formation in July.
Barickman said that if reform is going to happen, the group, and ultimately the Legislature, must come to a consensus on complex issues, such as property taxes and achieving parity among school districts.
The point person for Senate Democrats on school funding issues, Sen. Andy Manar, said he believes the group will be able to at least complete “a set of specific recommendations that could be the framework of legislation.” He’s optimistic the commission can produce a bill before Feb. 1.
No recommendations have been put on paper yet, but the governor and lawmakers on both sides say they acknowledge that Illinois is among the worst states in the nation when it comes to providing equitable funding for students in its poorest schools districts.
A recent report from Advance Illinois, an education advocacy group, noted that Illinois currently spends 81 cents educating students from low-income families for every dollar it spends educating students from wealthier ones.
Long-term proposals aimed at fixing the problem have not been approved because, if passed, the proposals would either take money away from wealthier districts or vastly increase state spending on public education.
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Information from: Southern Illinoisan, https://www.southernillinoisan.com
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