* Tina Sfondeles…

A school funding bill that revamps the funding formula — and one dubbed a Chicago Public Schools “bailout” by several Republicans — narrowly passed the Illinois Senate on Tuesday.

State Sen. Andy Manar’s bill passed 31-21, and now heads to the Illinois House, where members are working on their own plan. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has formed a House task force to do its own review of school funding.

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Tuesday that the task force will “take the best elements of the Manar plan and try to incorporate them.”

On the Illinois Senate floor, Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill, called his bill “the most profound anti-poverty measure” lawmakers could take and a “down payment to getting this right.”

Let’s hope the House is serious about coming up with an alternative plan and doesn’t just punt.

* Finke…

Figures provided by the Senate Democrats show the Chicago school system would get an extra $175 million from the formula changes. Barickman and other Republicans maintain that the figure is much higher because of other, separate grants to Chicago schools contained in the bill.

At the same time, many districts in Republican areas of the Chicago suburbs stand to lose state assistance.

“This is a huge redistribution of wealth primarily from suburbanites and many downstaters to Chicago,” said Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine.

Manar said the reason Chicago gets more money is the same as why Taylorville in his Senate district gets more.

“It is underfunded plain and simple, just like other downstate districts, just like suburban districts like Elgin,” Manar said.

* Monique Garcia and Celeste Bott…

“What we do know today is that the system the governor has proposed is $55 million that earns a whole bunch of school districts less money,” Manar said. “That’s what we have to measure this bill against, a system that spends more with outcomes that aren’t as good.”

Rauner has accused Democrats of embracing the school funding formula issue as a way to prevent schools from opening on time amid the continuing budget stalemate that’s left Illinois without a complete budget for the last 11 months. Rauner vetoed most of the spending plan Democrats sent him, save for the portion that ensured schools opened in the fall — even though Republican lawmakers voted against the measure at his direction.

That has frustrated Democrats, who see Rauner taking credit for funding schools even though it was Democrats who sent him the bill. On Tuesday, Manar balked at the suggestion that he would hold up dollars for schools in exchange for his proposal, saying, “I don’t presume I have the authority to.”

“I don’t think anybody wants to see that,” Manar said. “That would inject more uncertainty into the system. That would amplify the challenges that the poorest districts face today.”

* Senate President John Cullerton…

“Today marks a significant step forward in creating a new classroom funding formula that recognizes the real needs of students across Illinois.

For too many children in too many communities, their paths to excellence are blocked by the existing school finance system that shortchanges their schools and fails to provide needed resources. It’s an injustice we’ve tolerated too long. Our students, parents, teachers and taxpayers are tired of the bickering, tired of the impasse. They’re looking for leaders with the courage to step beyond the status quo and do what’s right.

Today, the Illinois Senate did just that. The classroom funding plan the Senate approved begins to recognize the local needs of schools and students. It addresses the economic and social hurdles they face by investing resources in those schools and those children.

I would recommend the House get behind this proposal, and Governor Rauner should show leadership and make this legislation a priority if he is truly interested in turning Illinois around.”

* The Sun-Times editorial board is upset with the governor over his opposition to the bill…

Yes, Manar’s bill picks winners and losers, which the governor, his fellow Republicans and some Democrats dislike. But the state’s current school funding formula also picks winners and losers — the current losers being our state’s poorest kids. Why double down on that?

Moreover, under Manar’s plan there need be no losers. His bill calls for making this shift in funding over a number of years, ideally to give the governor and Legislature time to increase overall funding so that no district has to take a hit.

Our fear is that this bill is going nowhere, doomed by the legislative calendar — the current session is scheduled to adjourn May 31 — and raw politics.

Rauner prefers a simple standalone bill that would fully fund the existing school aid formula, giving all districts at least a bit more money, safely upsetting no political allies. Once the governor has made sure, then, that the schools will open on time in the fall, he will feel freer to play hardball on the rest of the state budget.

* But if you really want to hear some anger, click here and listen to Sen. Manar’s Q&A with reporters yesterday after the vote. Whew.