A huge talking point is starting to crumble
Monday, May 15, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ted Slowik followed Gov. Rauner around Homewood-Flossmoor High School for an hour on Friday afternoon and finally got to ask him a question…
“One question, governor,” I said. Rauner turned and looked at me for a moment.
Then an aide interjected and said Rauner wasn’t taking questions.
“Please,” I said, “just one question as we’re walking.” We were on a sidewalk outside the North Building and it was a good 100 feet or so to the parking lot.
The governor turned away, but I went ahead and asked about something Rauner told students moments earlier about increasing education funding by $700 million.
The governor’s Twitter account also claimed, in a Tweet published at 11 a.m. Friday, “We’ve increased state support for K-12 education by $700 million, setting new records for funding levels.”
I thought the claims were disingenuous, seeing as how the state owes more than $1 billion to public schools as part of the massive backlog in unpaid bills due to the budget impasse. […]
“How can you claim credit for increasing education funding by $700 million when the state owes more than a billion dollars to schools?” I asked Rauner.
The governor continued walking as I followed behind.
“No response?” I said to the back of the governor’s head.
He never did get a response.
Governor, you need a budget.
- Arsenal - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:27 pm:
Couple of elected Dems have also been tweeting about this.
- RNUG - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:34 pm:
Good for Slowik asking the question.
Need to beat this point home every day.
- 47th Ward - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:37 pm:
===How can you claim credit for increasing education funding by $700 million when the state owes more than a billion dollars to schools?===
Simple: The Governor is lying.
- Mama - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:39 pm:
==“How can you claim credit for increasing education funding by $700 million when the state owes more than a billion dollars to schools?” I asked Rauner”==
That is an excellent question. The Dems should post that question in all of the major newspapers & social media. Ask the public to seek an answer from Rauner.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:39 pm:
I’ll defer to someone who world know, from the Rauner perspective…
Gov. Edgar?
===”He (Rauner) comes from a different background than I do. But I just think it’s very important for a governor, you’ve got to have a good budget and you need it in place,” Edgar told reporters. “You can try to compromise on some issues — and I think there are certain things (Democrats in the Legislature) might give him — but some of the things he’s asking for, they’re not going to give him. They’re just not going to give him.”===
Rich is right.
Governor, you need a budget.
After 2 plus years, governors can’t work around not having one.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:42 pm:
The role of the chief executive is to manage resources and programs. He should be advocating for what he needs to do his job.
- slow down - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:42 pm:
If you don’t answer the question, it’s like the question was never asked in the first place.
I’d like to believe the talking point is starting to crumble but I’ve seen Rauner repeat disingenuous talking points repeatedly for 3 years with little or no fall out.
- winners and losers - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:46 pm:
[EXCERPTS FROM OP-ED] If this sounds idiotic, it is, but that’s what you’re left with when elected leaders have soundly rejected every reasonable school funding reform plan.
…by changing the school funding formula the districts with the largest minority populations and poorest children will someday find themselves adequately financed
because, well, a miracle could occur.
———————————
Standing in front of a room of public school administrators, Michael Jacoby explained the latest organized push in Springfield to change the state’s system of funding education.
Jacoby, executive director of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials, is touting a plan to change the way school money is distributed by the state government.
Since Illinois is a financial mess, there isn’t enough money to adequately fund every child’s education.
Public schools have been underfunded for 30 years and skyrocketing property taxes have been used to keep schools open.
So education activists and some legislators have decided that since numerous efforts to adequately fund public education have failed (killed by governors, Democratic Party leaders, Republican legislators, and even wealthy school districts), the best alternative is to redistribute the cash.
The plan is to send any meager increase in future funding to the neediest school districts first, while holding the wealthiest school districts harmless. Those wealthier districts will also get some new money (to keep them happy), just far less than what they would have received under the existing school funding formula.
During the meeting, Fran LaBella, assistant superintendent of business affairs for Flossmoor School District 161, told Jacoby she feared a perfect storm of sorts this year.
The state could freeze property taxes (which provide 65 percent of all education funds), could also force local school districts to pick up the state’s portion of teacher pensions (the pension systems are $110 billion in debt), and the state would not increase its contribution to the education budget at all.
If all that happens and lawmakers also decide to change the school funding formula, LaBella noted, schools would be in big trouble.
Sometimes just maintaining the rotten status quo seems like a pretty good deal.
The state currently owes local school districts more than $1 billion in promised funding.
Chicago Sun-Times, Phil Kadner op-ed, May 12, 2017
- Ok - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:47 pm:
These are the type of questions that journalist and reporters should be asking. If not asking then they should be exposing his lie.
- Rabid - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 1:55 pm:
Walking and talking involve two skill sets. When your approval is under water I’m sure he thinks his pants won’t catch fire
- DeseDemDose - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 2:21 pm:
Kass and the Chicago Tribune editorial board promote the Governors daily sham. Wish they had any reporters left with some testicular virility that could pin him down and expose his chicanery.
- ChrisB - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 2:21 pm:
Heh, I went to HF. I wonder if they busted any kids smoking on the Path while they were walking.
- Anon221 - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 2:36 pm:
And as reporters press Rauner, get it on video and post it with your story. Show the public Rauner’s silence.
- blue dog dem - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 2:38 pm:
He should be cutting K-12 spending, and base his campaign on that.
- JS Mill - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 3:22 pm:
=He should be cutting K-12 spending, and base his campaign on that.=
Well, he basically is by shorting MCAT’s.
I wish he was even remotely a man of his word, he said he would take the criticism, but he isn’t. (I guess he never said WHERE he would take it).
But, if cutting K-12 polled well (that is all that he seems to care about) I think he would.
So, to your point, it must not be a popular concept even though he cut about $1 billion out this year.
I would like to see him run on that, that might solve one of our problems in Illinois.
- cover - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 3:23 pm:
= He should be cutting K-12 spending, and base his campaign on that. =
He ran in 2014 on a pledge to increase education funding while letting the income tax roll back as scheduled. If he were to do what you suggest, he would essentially be admitting that Candidate Rauner was wrong.
- VanillaMan - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 3:33 pm:
It’s possible that he’s tired of his own lies-
LOL!
Did I just write that?
Keep filming Governor Chatterbox walking away from reality!
- wordslinger - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 4:14 pm:
–“How can you claim credit for increasing education funding by $700 million when the state owes more than a billion dollars to schools?” I asked Rauner.–
Lying?
This Slowik doesn’t know from journalism.
Citizens don’t care that the governor is lying about shorting K-12 a cool billion.
They’re mesmerized by that riveting personality conflict between those two charismatic dynamos, Bruce and Mike. That’s news.
- wordslinger - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 4:18 pm:
–Couple of elected Dems have also been tweeting about this.–
Whoa, let’s not go nuts with the overkill on spreading information through the media.
Word is that the Illinois Democratic Party carrier pigeons have almost recovered from their bouts with the lumbago and are itching to spread the message, far and wide.
- The Dude Abides - Monday, May 15, 17 @ 6:22 pm:
The Governor doesn’t like to take questions but when he does decide to answer them he doesn’t really address the question that was asked. His campaign is based on lies and he can’t honestly answer questions on his record, for obvious reasons.
- sal-says - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 7:54 am:
== Governor, you need a budget. ==
Governor, IL needs a budget. Desperately. Before you complete your total destruction of IL.
Fixed it. Your welcome, non-gov Raunner.