* From the AP…

A state commission studying education spending says Illinois school districts can save hundreds of millions of dollars without being forced to consolidate.

The Classrooms First Commission claims districts could save up to $1 billion simply by studying each other’s budgets to find new ideas for cutting costs.

The study will be released today. I suppose one might say that if schools could save a billion dollars without consolidation, couldn’t they also save even more if several consolidated? Well, maybe not…

The commission found that mass consolidation would cost state taxpayers nearly $4 billion up front under current law. A more cost-effective approach would be to eliminate or modify state regulations that discourage districts from voluntarily consolidating. At least 40 districts were in the process of or considering such realignments in the past year, according to the report.

* From NBC5…

In 2011, the GA spent a total of 96 days in session. (And 22 were “perfunctory days,” during which little business was done.) Legislators also receive $132 a day stipend just for showing up in Springfield. That means our senators and representatives were paid $838.63 a week extra for doing their jobs. I’ve never had a part-time job that paid $838 a week.

Can somebody please help me with that math? Plus, nobody gets stipends for perfunctory days.

Also, the headline says it’s $838 a day.

* From the Tribune’s Medicaid story…

While Republicans look at the situation as a chance to finally rein in runaway costs, Democrats are looking to offset the need for some cuts through a cigarette tax hike. Lawmakers say the idea was first floated last week by Julie Hamos, Quinn’s director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers Medicaid.

It’s estimated the $1-a-pack increase would generate about $700 million for health care when federal matching dollars are added in, said Sen. Heather Steans, of Chicago, who is leading Medicaid negotiations for the Senate Democrats. The extra money would reduce the amount that needs to be cut to around $2 billion.

Steans acknowledged that raising taxes on cigarettes would be a difficult sell during an election year in which every House and Senate seat is on the November ballot. But she said the extra money might appeal to some lawmakers as an alternative to slashing reimbursement rates for doctors and hospitals that provide services, with many already waiting up to six months to be paid by the state.

“More money means more spending,” said [Republican Sen. Dale Righter, of Mattoon], the Medicaid point person for Senate Republicans. “They’re going to use the new money to lessen the pressure to make cuts in the program and make the program more efficient.”

Righter said a higher tax on cigarettes will exacerbate a trend in which fewer cigarettes are being sold, a problem that would hurt Illinois in the long run because money to help pay Medicaid costs would come from a declining revenue source.

You could say that the Dems want to use the tax hike money to avoid making cuts, but you could also say the Dems want to use the cig tax hike cash to avoid doing real damage to the system as a whole. But an election year tax hike won’t be easy to do, to say the least.

* A mock strike vote and a real strike vote are entirely different animals, but this is quite fascinating…

Teachers at more than 200 Chicago schools overwhelmingly favor a plan to walk off the job in protest, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said Monday.

Lewis said a number of schools have taken “mock strike votes,” and the majority favor work stoppage.

Keep in mind that it now takes a 75 percent majority (of members, not just of those voting) to approve a Chicago school strike…

NBC Chicago has received the results from the following high schools, with the percentages indicating teachers in favor of a work stoppage:

Von Steuben: 94 percent
Steinmetz: 96 percent
Sullivan: 95 percent
Senn: 95 percent
Uplift: 89 percent
Mather: 96 percent
Northside Learning Center: 80 percent
Kelvyn Park: 86 percent
Chicago Academy: 85 percent
Northside College Prep: 96 percent
Lane: 93 percent
Juarez: 96 percent
Kelly: 94 percent
Curie: 86 percent

Yikes.

…Adding… From Crain’s…

With efforts to reach a compromise on the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals at an apparent standstill, five downstate hospitals recently withdrew their administrative applications from the Illinois Department of Revenue, leaving 20 requests still pending.

The remaining applications included tax-exempt status requests for Children’s Memorial Hospital’s new Streeterville tower, NorthShore University HealthSystem’s Skokie campus, and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare’s new hospital in Elmhurst, according to a list provided by the Revenue Department.

Gov. Pat Quinn on March 1 directed the Revenue Department to resume issuing decisions on tax-exempt applications after efforts to reach a compromise stalled. Now the battle has shifted to the General Assembly, where the Illinois Hospital Association is conducting a lobbying campaign to expand what counts as charity to prevent hospitals from having to pay property taxes.

Among those medical centers withdrawing applications is Trinity Regional Health System, which was pursuing tax-exempt status for its hospital in Moline, about 165 miles west of Chicago, along the Mississippi River.