Andy Manar of Bunker Hill, with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s call to fully fund elementary and secondary schools next year under the existing formula, which almost everyone acknowledges does a poor job of getting state funding to the districts that need it most.
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The Senate passed the bill 39-15, with two members voting present – enough to override any potential Rauner veto.
Craig urged Rauner to support Manar’s proposal, so less-affluent districts like his don’t continue to suffer.
The measure sponsored by Democratic leaders House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton would appropriate an additional $227 million to colleges and universities to fully fund tuition grants under the Monetary Award Program. However, his plan uses the current formula and despite the increase in funding, some districts like Chicago Public Schools and East St. Louis SD 189 would lose funding next fiscal year.
Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belleville, and Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, voted against it. We have been fighting for this funding for too long. “This is a statewide funding issue that we need to resolve”, he said. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, says the new formula more fairly distributes the state’s share of education funding by taking into account each district’s property tax wealth, the percentage and concentration of low-income students, as well as special education and bilingual needs.
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Backers say they looked at similar laws in states like OR when crafting the IL proposal.
