Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) is demanding equality in state funding for public schools, but he doesn't see it in the form of Senate Bill 1 as it currently stands.
Righter wants the General Assembly -- which has approved SB1 -- to send it to Gov. Bruce Rauner so that he can issue an amendatory veto in the part of the measure that he and Righter see as favoring Chicago Public Schools (CPS).
“We need fairness for all students, not just students in Chicago,” Righter said in a statement. “Under Gov. Rauner’s changes to Senate Bill 1, students in my Senate District and across the state would finally be treated equitably. Schools would receive about twice the new funding under Gov. Rauner’s amended version of Senate Bill 1.”
Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon)
SB1 includes evidence-based tier funding, pension assistance and block grant funding for CPS, according to information from Illinois.gov. Rauner wants to take the block grant funding for Chicago schools and redistribute it to schools throughout the state.
“Democrats need to stop playing games, release the legislation so Gov. Rauner can act on it, and so we can get back to Springfield as soon as possible to work on this highly critical issue,” Righter said in his statement. “Despite having a state budget in place, schools are still not receiving their funding because the actual appropriation part is tied to enacting a new education funding reform plan. So to sit and hold up the process by not releasing the legislation, causing stress and uncertainty, is just wrong. We need to work together now.”
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