* [I’ve been assured that this reason is legit.] I’m really hope this has nothing to do with the fact that Hodas was Sen. Sam McCann’s media consultant…
The Illinois Governor’s Prayer Breakfast, an annual Springfield event since 1963, is being postponed and likely will not be held this year.
Although the breakfast receives no state money, and the governor’s office is not involved in organizing it, the state’s ongoing budget stalemate is being blamed for the postponement.
“The current budget impasse made it very difficult to find speakers,” said Glenn Hodas, a member of the all-volunteer organization that puts on the breakfast in early May. […]
“Basically, we realize the governor and legislative members who usually make up the event are so busy with the session negotiations, that it was just not a good idea to have a prayer breakfast this year,” Hodas said.
* Let me know when you get some Republican sponsors [Sen. McCann ended up voting for the bill]…
* If you want to see a prime example of a Chicago politician who doesn’t understand that new jobs and development on the West Side are vitally important, click here.
* OK, except we hardly invest anything in transportation infrastructure any more…
Excellent point by Stephanie Strong from @ChiUrbanLeague - "We invest in things like buildings and transportation but not human capital"
In short, Puerto Rico’s problem is mainly one of lack of capacity to deal with its problem while Illinois’ situation is more a lack of will and discipline
He pointed to a 2015 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found no big crash risk associated with people driving with marijuana in their system but says more study is needed. said.
CHICAGO—As anger builds over Sen. President John Cullerton’s stalling of elected school board legislation for Chicago, CPS parents and community members will be stepping up the pressure Wednesday with a rally and press conference in front of the senator’s Lakeview office. The groups are pledging to continue to picket at his office until he moves the legislation in the senate.
The bill, HB 0557, sailed out of the Illinois House earlier this year by a vote of 110 - 4, but is now stuck in the Senate because Cullerton refuses to even assign it to a committee. At a meeting with parents last month, he pledged to advance the measure but has not kept that promise.
WHAT: Rally and picket for an elected school board
WHEN: 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 11
WHERE: Office of Senate President John Cullerton, 1726 W. Belmont
WHY: Cullerton is blocking HB 0557, the elected school board bill, even though he promised constituents he would allow the bill to proceed in the senate. Parents and community members demand that he keep his word.
VISUALS: Parents marching, chanting and carrying signs calling out Cullerton for not keeping his promise to move the elected Chicago school board bill.
As president of the Senate, Cullerton controls how and when legislation advances. Although he is the chief senate sponsor of the bill, he refuses to assign it to a committee, which would give the measure a good chance at passage by the full senate.
The elected school board bill passed out of the house on March 3. Even though the measure has widespread support among Chicagoans and Cullerton’s own constituents, he has blocked the bill in the Senate for the last two months.
A non-binding referendum last February passed by nearly 90 percent in the 35 wards where it appeared on the ballot, including Cullerton’s own 33rd ward. But the Senate President continues to side with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over his constituents and other Chicagoans who are demanding more democracy and accountability in Chicago Public Schools.
Groups plan to protest outside Cullerton’s office until he advances HB 0557. Groups involved in the protest are: Parents 4 Teachers, Illinois Raise Your Hand, Northside Action for Justice, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, the Kenwood Oakland Community Council, ONE Northside, and the Lugenia Burns Hope Center.
* The Question: Should Cullerton call the bill for a floor vote? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* It won’t be easy, both because of the subject matter and because it’s an amateur production, but whatever else you do today you must force yourself to watch this video…
* As we’ve discussed before, the Illinois Department of Human Services has clamped down on overtime by personal caregivers to avoid paying time and a half per federal rule…
Terri Harkin, vice president in charge of home health care for SEIU, said Rauner is using the policy as leverage to extract concessions in negotiations to replace the union’s contract with the state, which expired June 30. Human Services spokeswoman Marianne Manko chastised SEIU for trying to salvage a system that endorses what she said was “slave labor.”
A Jan. 1 federal rule decreed that home-care workers on the clock more than 40 hours a week be paid time-and-a-half for overtime. Rauner, managing a state with a multibillion-dollar deficit and no approved budget plan, ordered a limit to overtime. Human Services said additional workers would have to be brought into homes where the caretaker worked more than 40 hours.
“In unilaterally implementing the new cap and throwing the system of care in disarray, the Rauner administration has violated the law,” Harkin said in a statement. “But this is not just illegal policy — it hurts people with disabilities.”
Manko said the policy doesn’t ban or cap overtime, but rather it requires workers to justify the hours they report on the job. She said other state agencies and private-sector employers follow such policies.
* OK, back to the video. I’m told that Jordon’s mom Theresa has been his sole personal assistant up until recently and provided about 75 hours a week of service.
Jordon apparently has multiple disabilities, including an inability to absorb vitamin D, osteoporosis, an inability to swallow and a severe seizure disorder. He needs to be watched 24/7 and seizes multiple times a day. The complexity of his disabilities has made it extremely difficult to secure additional attendants, and his mom can’t leave him with his father because he has a history of heart attacks, so it wouldn’t be safe.
Theresa, I’m told, applied for an overtime exception for her son, but was denied and she had to cut back to 40 hours per week. But she also had to find a part-time job to make up for the lost income.
She managed to find someone to work with Jordon while she is at her new job, but that will end in 3 months and she is said to be very concerned that she won’t find another caregiver.
* A close family member of mine is going through a similar situation with her grandma, who just had a serious stroke. They had such a difficult experience finding a qualified, caring personal attendant for her now late grandpa that her mom will be quitting her job to provide the care this time around.
We need to help these people. And the state needs to realize that they may be causing more harm by trying to save a few bucks on overtime.
…Adding… From a friend of Theresa’s…
Before April 2008, Theresa worked at North American Lighting for nearly fifteen years. Jordon was able to walk and was a different person. Before December 2007 Jordon rarely had a seizure. In December of 2007, he was nearly dead on the table at Salem Township hospital post a non stopping grand mal seizure. He was sent to ICU at Barnes. He was put into a coma to stop the seizing. They lost half of Jordon’s abilities that day. After Jordon’s hospitalization in December 2007 Theresa found it too difficult to continue working, plus handle his medical appointments, plus be up at night. Jordon’s service plan has him at 300 hours of service per 31 day month, or about 67 hrs of Home Services Program support per week. He has another personal attendant who only works two to three days per week at 5-6 hours on those days. This person works approximately 15 hours a week, with Theresa handling the other 52. Even with the other personal attendant, Theresa is still leery of leaving but must at times. Theresa’s husband also has a history of multiple heart attacks. With the DHS overtime policy as it is, if Theresa’s husband were to pass (or leave for that matter) Theresa would only have the 40 hours a week of work, which is unsustainable financially for her to keep Jordon at home.
Also, Theresa says the 3 month job did not pan out and the attendant she found to cover those hours quit before starting.
Confronted with the bloodiest weekend in Chicago since being named police superintendent six weeks ago, Eddie Johnson on Monday called the gun violence “completely unacceptable” and said the dozens of shootings highlight “the uphill battle” confronting police.
More than 50 people were shot, eight fatally, between Friday afternoon and early Monday, the city’s most violent weekend since the end of September, according to a Tribune analysis. […]
He focused his remarks on how much of the bloodshed is being driven by about 1,300 individuals on the Police Department’s “strategic subject list” — those believed to be most prone to violence as a victim or offender.
About 78 percent of the homicide victims and about 84 percent of the nonfatal shooting victims this weekend were on the list, he said.
“That means essentially we know who they are,” he told reporters at 50th Street and South Karlov Avenue, where a Chicago police officer fatally shot a bank robbery suspect on Monday. “Oftentimes, they have gang affiliations, and many have had previous arrests and convictions.”
Not sure what they can do about those 1,300 people except try to keep some tabs on them, but it’s not like you can assign a cop to every person on the list. Perhaps the feds can help since they have experience with their terror watch lists.
Veterinarians in central Illinois say canine influenza has sickened dozens of dogs in the Bloomington and Normal area over the past few days.
The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports that veterinarians are urging dog owners to keep their animals away from other dogs and take their dogs to the veterinarian if they show symptoms.
Dr. Kirsten Pieper of the Animal Emergency Clinic of McLean County says the most important thing pet owners can do is keep their dogs at home until the outbreak is under control.
The newspaper reports that the first case in the area was confirmed two weeks ago and since then the number of cases has risen.
* Gov. Rauner was asked yesterday about his demand for term limits as part of his Turnaround Agenda. He noted that it was too late at the moment to get the issue on the ballot for this fall, but he had another suggestion…
“But you know what? We could vote now in the General Assembly or next week or next month and get it on the ballot in 2018. Let’s do that. How about we vote as part of our grand compromise and grand reforms and get term limits on the ballot in 2018?”
Look, the governor has been pretty good about watching his mouth lately, but it’s kinda dangerous to set expectations this high. I mean, what did the Tribune say about Trump when they bashed him the other day? Oh, yeah, he “promises big changes, most of which appear either implausible or too vague to take seriously.”
“Governor Rauner, who I think has sterling fiscal conservative credentials, has now in two sessions as governor not laid out a balanced budget that doesn’t rely on additional revenue,” [Democratic state Sen. Daniel Biss] said.
“And the reason for that is even someone who is deeply interested, as he is, in decreasing expenditures and finding low-tax ways of balancing budgets has looked very closely at this and simply not found a mechanism to balance the state’s books that doesn’t have some additional revenue coming in.”
Exactly right.
And, by the way, it’s something the members of the Tribune editorial board have yet to comprehend. Their great fiscal hawk hero has been blatantly telegraphing the need for more state revenues since Day One.
To: House Democratic Caucus Members
From: Michael J. Madigan
Date: May 9, 2016
Re: Governor Rauner’s Actions: Fiscal Year 2016 Budget
The state is beginning its 11th month without a complete budget for the 2016 Fiscal Year. Following the May 2015 spending proposals passed by legislative Democrats, House Democrats have debated numerous measures to provide needed funding for critical state services, including breast cancer screenings, in-home medical care for the elderly, meals for homebound seniors, and higher education, as well as funding for victims of child abuse and sexual assault – only to see our efforts blocked by legislative Republicans and Governor Rauner.
While House Democrats’ priority has been to pass a comprehensive, full-fiscal year budget using a balanced approach that includes spending cuts but does not decimate needed services, Governor Rauner’s priority has been his personal agenda that attacks the wages and standard of living of the middle class. His insistence on passing his personal agenda has been the single roadblock to finding a true bipartisan solution to the budget deficit and implementing a Fiscal Year 2016 budget.
However, since March 26, 2015, Governor Rauner has approved six budget proposals that did not include any part of his personal agenda. This reaffirms my previous statements that when the governor sets aside his personal agenda that hurts middle-class families, we can make progress on the state’s most important issue. Like you, I am committed to passing comprehensive budgets for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017. I also hope the governor will look at his recent budgetary actions and see that we can come together to find reasonable solutions when he sets aside his personal agenda that has nothing to do with the state budget.
Governor Rauner has signed 6 appropriations bills passed by the General Assembly:
*** UPDATE *** From a a senior administration official…
We’ve seen recent success when rank and file legislators stand up to the speaker and demand compromise. We saw it recently on the higher education bridge funding bill, which passed over the speaker’s objections. By now, rank and file legislators have seen the governor’s willingness to compromise and do a budget — the only thing they’re waiting to see is whether the speaker will support meaningful reforms that create jobs and lower property taxes.
Anyone worried that Ken Griffin might run out of cash for the November election can rest assured.
The CEO of Chicago-based investment firm Citadel took home an estimated $1.7 billion last year, making him tied for the highest-paid hedge fund manager in 2015, the New York Times notes, reporting on the annual ranking by Alpha magazine.
Coincidentally, demonstrators shut down Citadel’s Loop headquarters yesterday, demanding higher taxes on the rich, Fox Business News reports. The ranking saves them from finding another billionaire to protest for another year, which can be so inconvenient.
Illinois’ top Democrat said Monday that the party can’t rest on its laurels if Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination for president. […]
“Now that the Republicans have nominated Trump, or appear ready to, don’t rest on your laurels,” Madigan told the group in downtown Springfield. “This will be a very contested election, from president on down, and particularly the Illinois election.” […]
“At the end of the day, Democrats will be together,” Madigan said. “This is about the future of the country, and Democrats understand it’s about the future of the country; that’s what will bring them together.” […]
“It’s no surprise that Speaker Madigan is urging party unity,” Illinois Republican Party spokesman Aaron DeGroot said. “Madigan wants the conversation to be about anything other than his disastrous 30-year record of tax hikes, cronyism, and corruption.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has become so concerned that he won’t even talk about the presidential race any more — or so much as utter Trump’s name.
Rauner waved off a question about Trump at a Tuesday news conference at Lyons Township High School, declining to expand on comments last week when he confirmed he won’t be going to Cleveland. […]
“I’ve said everything I’m going to say about the presidential race,” Rauner repeated over and over last week in response to questions about Trump. […]
Even some of those who plan to attend the conventions, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, say they aren’t ready to endorse Trump.
House Republican House Leader Jim Durkin says his focus is on trying to get lawmakers out of Springfield by the end of the month with a budget. But he admits he is thinking about how presidential politics might play into the legislative contests.
“The air is different,” he said. “There is a lot of volatility out there and I’m not going to predict how things are going to end up in November and how they are going to work in the suburbs or in the north part of the state or the southern part of the state but this is going to be a more unique election than the one that I was involved with Senator McCain and then-Senator Obama so I was very involved in that.”
In fact Durkin led John McCain’s campaign in Illinois in 2008. Barack Obama won big here.
* Related…
* Illinois GOP platform committee opens door for suggestions: Sources familiar with this year’s platform committee discussions suggest that while the pro-life plank is always touchy, the biggest controversy appears to be more on the IL GOP’s family plank. Whether the 2012 definition of marriage remains the same could be the most divisive issue with which the committee deals in 2016.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Over 50 million Americans participate in fantasy sports contests, including more than two million men and women from Illinois, which makes our state the third largest player in the nation. In addition, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association is headquartered in Chicago, along with local and regional fantasy sports entities based here in Illinois.
Fantasy sports are contests of skill in which participants select a team of real world athletes and accumulate points based on how their players perform in an actual game. Participants study athletes’ statistics and other information to assemble a team that will score the most possible points.
Whether it’s a football league with their friends and family or a daily/weekly contest against players across the nation, Illinoisans do so because it is a form of entertainment that gives them a deeper appreciation for the sports that they love.
Vote YES on House Bill 4323 (Zalewski/Raoul) to ensure that these two million (and growing) Illinois residents can continue to play the games they love in a safe and fair environment.
The governor and House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said rank-and-file legislators, meeting behind closed doors, are finding common ground on how to make Illinois’ workers’ compensation insurance program less expensive for businesses — a key Republican priority.
They said there’s also been movement on property tax relief and changing the way state and local governments buy items, which Rauner has said could save millions annually. Durkin, of Western Springs, said there could be a report “very soon” on possible workers’ compensation legislation.
At a west suburban event to highlight the need for school funding reform, Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin on Monday also cited progress in the working groups when it comes to workers compensation reform, and he said the group would issue a report “very soon.” He also said there was progress with procurement reform and property tax relief.
Rauner also walked back his position on a CPS bankruptcy, saying, “I certainly don’t advocate bankruptcy.
“That’s a hard process and it’s a dangerous process,” Rauner said. “That said, I believe bankruptcy should be an option if it’s absolutely necessary.”
That’s a change in tone from earlier this year, when Rauner was aggressively pushing the bankruptcy option.
“When I look at the numbers, I don’t see an option. I either see bankruptcy or massive, massive property tax hikes on the people of Chicago,” Rauner said in late February.
State Sen. Andy Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill who is part of another group looking at issues such as school funding and workers’ compensation, acknowledged “general progress” and positive discussions in recent weeks, but said there’s been a lack of clarity about what Rauner wants.
“If we had a better idea of what his position was, we could attempt to try and find a compromise,” he said Monday after the City Club event. “The test of progress is going to be this: Is the governor going to drop his ‘turnaround agenda’ in order to allow the legislature to have an honest debate about a budget?”
As anybody knows who has ever tried to deal with Speaker Madigan, getting the guy to show his cards is the most difficult part. Rauner is taking basically the same route.
Despite the Illinois State Board of Education last week revealing CPS isn’t in bad enough shape for a state takeover, Rauner said on Monday that bankruptcy should still be an option.
“Chicago should have that option for itself in the school system, and I believe all school districts across the state should have that as an option,” Rauner said.
A bipartisan group of state legislators tasked with sorting out the state’s stalled budget could have some answers by the end of the week, a Republican legislator said Monday.
State Rep. Patti Bellock, R-Hinsdale, the deputy minority leader of the House and actively involved in budget talks, said the working group formed by the governor, with legislators from both parties, including those in charge of appropriations committees, are now meeting daily for several hours at a time. […]
At a west suburban event to highlight the need for school funding reform, Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin on Monday also cited progress in the working groups when it comes to workers compensation reform, and he said the group would issue a report “very soon.” He also said there was progress with procurement reform and property tax relief.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, whose school funding bill still awaits a vote, offered his own “bold prediction” to the City Club crowd.
“The question was what does an eventual budget look like? I think it’s going to look substantially similar to the budget that was passed last year that the governor vetoed,” he said.
So what’s the most likely legislative budget scenario? Similar to last year: Lawmakers are required to put forward a budget and it’s likely be a Democratic plan (surprise!). Rauner will have the option to veto it in its entirety as he did in 2015 (with the exception of K-12) or use reduction veto power to fund certain services that suffered over the last year like higher ed, social services, rape crisis centers, senior services, etc. It’s unclear how Chicago schools would fare in such a scenario, however. That’s something Senate Pres. John Cullerton sought to address in his formula change push. […]
THE QUOTE: A veteran Democratic operative talking about the Rauner era in Springfield: “In the Civil War we had a budget. In the first War World we had a budget. In the Great Depression we had a budget. In the second World War we had a budget. 18 months ago we had a budget. We don’t have a budget now. What’s the only difference?”
The difference, Rauner would probably say, is that state budgets have been unbalanced for decades and he wants his reforms before he’ll do another one.
A bipartisan forum of state lawmakers at the City Club of Chicago on Monday produced a fair amount of optimism, though tempered by the panel’s two Democratic members.
State Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston, referred to himself as “Little Dark Raincloud” in pointing out the “very dramatic clash” of philosophical differences between Republican Gov. Rauner and Democrats who hold legislative supermajorities.
Biss also warned that if and when a budget agreement is ever reached after the state’s lengthy impasse, lawmakers shouldn’t “act as if it never happened” and that the “depth of the long-term damage” to social service providers should “guide our behavior.”
Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) Director Candice Jones today issued the following statement:
“On February 12, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) announced the closure of the Illinois Youth Center at Kewanee as part of the State’s strategy to further shift towards a model of rehabilitating youth that aligns with national best practices, strengthens youth outcomes and improves community safety.
“Since that time, the Department has followed the process outlined in State law to move forward with the closure of IYC-Kewanee. We have met with employees, legislators, community leaders and youth advocates to provide context, answer questions and plan for the future.
“Last week’s advisory vote by the Members of the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability is disheartening. It is hard to justify keeping a facility open when the Department has excess capacity, outcomes for youth are poor, and the State’s resources are sparse.
“We must focus on a meaningful dialogue about how to change Illinois’ juvenile justice system to improve public safety through better youth outcomes.
“While we are disappointed in the advisory recommendation from the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, we recognized the potential for a vote against closure and the need to outline next steps if the Commission made such a vote. The Department will move forward with closure of IYC-Kewanee in recognition of national best practices based around high-intensity individualized services for high-risk youth in its facilities. We will continue to work with IYC-Kewanee employees to secure placement in IDJJ or other State agencies’ vacant positions.
“By closing this large, maximum-security facility, IDJJ will be able to transition to developing smaller, regional treatment-focused facilities that are proven to be more effective in rehabilitating youth. That’s good for taxpayers, youth, families, and our communities.”
Those cable TV ads that VoteVets Action Fund is running in two contested Downstate legislative districts are part of a larger multistate push to protect local prevailing wage laws, the group said.
Cable TV records showed the group buying $185,000 in ads, part of pushing a study showing veterans who return home to construction-related work benefit “substantially” from prevailing wage policies.
Prevailing wage laws require governments to pay prevailing union wages on public works construction projects. Republican Gov. Rauner wants to give local governments the option to forgo prevailing wage requirements as part of his pro-business, union-weakening agenda.
The study, whose authors include Frank Manzo, policy director of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, and Robert Bruno of the University of Illinois, concludes that there are “significant costs to repealing state prevailing wage laws for veterans.”
VoteVets is running $127,470 in ads in the central Illinois House district where Republican state [Sen.] Sue Rezin of Morris is being challenged by Ottawa Democrat Christine Benson. It also has bought $57,660 in ads in the Kankakee state Senate district where Democratic [Rep.] Kate Cloonen is being challenged by Republican Lindsay Parkhurst.
* Press release…
A first-of-its-kind, peer reviewed study released today finds that prevailing wage greatly improves economic outcomes for veterans and that growing attacks on prevailing wage at the state level will disproportionally hurt the hundreds of thousands post-9/11 veterans who are returning to the workforce.
Exploring of the economic impact of state prevailing wage laws on veterans in the construction industry, the study was commissioned by VoteVets, the largest progressive group of veterans in America, and conducted by Frank Manzo IV of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, University of Illinois-Urbana Professor Robert Bruno, and Colorado State University-Pueblo Economist, Dr. Kevin Duncan.
“The data clearly shows that veterans work in the skilled construction trades at significantly higher rates than non-veterans,” said Manzo. “The difference is even more pronounced in states with average or strong prevailing wage policies–so any changes in these laws will have an outsized impact on those who have served in the military.”
In the state budget impasse, Gov. Bruce Rauner was campaigning for reform Monday in the suburbs.
Still no deal and Rauner is now claiming the Democrats are holding the state school budget hostage.
“They’re screaming and saying it’s got to change this year and it can’t go further and they’ve threatened to hold up school funding and school opening in the fall for a new school funding formula,” Rauner said. “That’s wrong. Our schools should not be held hostage. We’ve got to put more money in the schools while we continue to work on a bi-partisan basis to come up with a school funding formula change.”
He’s not just claiming it now, he’s been saying it for months, ever since Senate President John Cullerton tipped his hand in January that two can play the hostage game.
“Since day one, I have been committed to building a world-class education system in Illinois that ensures every child goes to a high-quality school and can go on to a high-paying career. Fully funding our schools is a step closer to making that a reality.”
Apparently, they can finish high school and get a “high-paying career” without state funding for higher education, the House Democrats note…
Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, criticized Rauner for pushing for K-12 funding while the state still hasn’t fully funded colleges and universities for the current year.
“I don’t know when it became in vogue to separate,” Brown said. “It strikes me if you’re going to improve the prosperity of the state, I think the whole education network needs to be up, running, funded.”
* And the HDems continue to walk back Cullerton’s threat to hold the K-12 approp up until the funding process is reformed…
Not in Madigan’s playbook: But a high-level Democrat close to House Speaker Mike Madigan tells Illinois Playbook the speaker has no desire or intention of delaying school openings in the fall. The discussion over a funding formula overhaul timed for this session has largely played out in the Illinois Senate. The source says Madigan believes the strategy of attempting to leverage school openings in order to pass a full state budget is a losing gambit, saying it could be viewed as placing the interest of children on equal footing with even the most mundane of spending.
“We can’t let school funding be held hostage for the political games that are going on in our state legislature,” Rauner said. “We can’t allow Rockford schools, which are much better run, to be held hostage to the problems in Chicago.”
Steve Brown, a spokesman for Madigan, called Rauner’s claims “irrational” and that there is no basis for what the governor is saying. Brown attributed the hard stance to Cullerton, but said the Senate president made the statement in broad terms — that the entire state school funding system needs to be overhauled.
“We are concerned about how critical the Governor is of the Chicago Public Schools,” said Brown in a phone interview. “But we are going to work with him to help all students and better fund all schools.”
