Thetop Senate Democrat in Springfield says poor school districts aren’t getting their fair share of state money.
And he says lawmakers shouldn’t approve an education budget until that’s fixed.
Senate President John Cullerton says Illinois shouldn’t send more money to school districts…
Without addressing what he calls the most inequitable system of school finance in the country.
He says rich districts get rewarded with more state money and poor districts don’t get their fair share.
"Our broken school funding formula is the defining crisis of our time. Fixing it is the turnaround our state truly needs. We cannot continue to dither while some districts are funded at double and triple the state average while others have to convert maintenance closets into art rooms and cut world language and technology."
Illinois doesn’t have a budget - in part because Governor Bruce Rauner hasn’t supported one since Democrats didn’t pass any of his policy ideas.
Cullerton says he wants to take a similar stand on school funding.
The Chicago Democrat says it's a bad idea to get out from under the wing of court-ordered spending.
Governor Rauner recently said he wants the state to not have to report to federal court for some basic government services. He says the courts force unnecessary spending, and he doesn't want that dictated by judges.
But, Cullerton says he doesn't support rescinding those agreements.
"He's the executive branch, he could go back into court, but he'd have to convince a judge ... There's probably a lot of good reasons for those consent decrees, right? That's why there was an agreement. And so I don't see why we need to do that."
Even though there is no state budget, Illinois is spending 90 percent of what it used to. That's largely because of the consent decrees agreed to by Governor Rauner and previous administrations, and because of court orders where judges have ruled Illinois must continue payments. They cover everything from foster care services to health care to state employee payroll.
