* Tribune…

Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday trotted out his running mate Paul Vallas to hammer Republican challenger Bruce Rauner’s position that the state income tax rate should rolled back, saying doing so would result in huge cuts to education and spikes in local property tax rates.

Vallas, the former Chicago Public Schools CEO, contended that lowering the income tax rate would leave at least $1 billion less for school districts across the state – a situation Vallas said would be “absolutely devastating.” […]

Rauner argues the increase should be allowed to expire as scheduled, but so far has not detailed how he would make up for the revenue loss beyond saying there’s room to cut in the state budget.

Vallas said that stance is disingenuous, and accused Rauner of “deferring the tough questions until after the election.”

* Sun-Times…

“I know the impact that major cuts have on the education budget,” Vallas said at a downtown hotel, repeating his credentials as a school superintendant for 17 years. “And these type of draconian cuts which is what would occur if the rates were reduced under the Rauner plan, would have a devastating impact. There’s no way around it.

“Either you don’t understand the budget or in effect, you’re deferring the tough questions until after the election,” he said. […]

Vallas, who also ran school districts in Philadelphia, New Orleans and Bridgeport, Conn., said Rauner’s proposed income tax rollback to 3 percent would result in more than a billion dollars in cuts to education funding. Chicago Public Schools alone would lose some $233 million, according to the campaign’s analysis.

“No district will be able to absorb that impact without borrowing, which is bad, finding some way to raise property taxes, which is even worse, or going out and making draconian cuts to critical programs,” Vallas said.

* Video…

* As noted earlier, Rauner’s campaign sent “Quinnocchio” to the Vallas event. The campaign then responded to what Vallas had to say…

“Pat Quinn broke his promise, raised taxes and still cut education funding by $600 million,” Rauner campaign spokesman Mike Schrimpf said in an email. “Paul Vallas laid off 130 public school teachers and staff while pocketing over $310,000 in taxpayer money for himself. Misleading the voters has been a hallmark of Quinn’s for the last four years and with that kind of record, it’s no surprise the Quinnocchio ticket is now making things up about Bruce.