* Finke on school funding reform…

Republicans have called Senate Bill 1, which was crafted by Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, a bailout for the Chicago school system. They are behind Senate Bill 1124 which they said will provide more money to the neediest school districts while also not giving the Chicago schools benefits that other districts do not receive.

Manar and other Democrats have denied that Chicago gets special treatment under SB1 and that the bill will guarantee that any new money allocated to K-12 education will be directed to the neediest school districts. No school district will get less money under SB1 than it does now.

During a committee of the whole meeting Saturday in the House, a number of school superintendents testified in favor of SB1, including Don Cox, superintendent of the Staunton School District. Cox said he believes SB1 is the most equitable way to achieve adequate school funding.

“We do not suffer from a spending problem in our district,” Cox said. “We suffer from a revenue problem.”

* The Senate Democrats sent out these bullet points about the Republican funding reform proposal…

· It would result in the loss of federal funding for special education and free/reduced lunch programs in school districts statewide.
· It represents a redistribution of dollars from poor school districts to wealthy school districts.
· It creates winning and losing school districts.
· There is no Republican-sponsored revenue bill to pay for school funding.
· There are no known proponents for Senate Bill 1124, which is sponsored by Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington).
· The Republicans’ full court press for Senate Bill 1124 began three weeks after May 31, the final day of the legislative session.
· Barickman and Rauner education secretary Beth Purvis directly contradicted each other about details of the proposal while answering questions throughout this afternoon’s hearing.

* And, among other things, the GOP sent out this…

And this…

All Illinois school districts would benefit from a more equitable distribution of state education dollars under a compromise proposal introduced by State Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) to fix the state’s broken school aid formula and end the budget stalemate, according to data released by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

“This is a true compromise that embraces the priorities of lawmakers from both parties and both legislative chambers, and reflects the recommendations of the Governor’s bipartisan, bicameral Illinois School Funding Reform Commission,” Sen. Barickman said.

“Our legislation focuses on agreed-to principles and best practices to create real equity by treating all districts and students fairly under one system, regardless of zip code,” Barickman continued. “Now the data from ISBE clearly demonstrates that this is the most equitable plan for all students.”

The ISBE data show how schools would fare under Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 1124 as part of a compromise package of budget and reform measures that Sen. Barickman says would be signed by the Governor.