One fix to this year's budget comes in the form of an across-the-board cut of 2.25%.
Schools already say they don’t get enough state funding, and the latest cut won't help. Because of that, the deal includes $97 million the governor and State Board of Education can use to help schools that are desperately in need.
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie says a school would have to have serious financial problems to qualify for the assistance.
"We've had lots of schools that have had to cut back on all manner of important, but not essential, educational activities. So I think what we're looking at here are very serious problems that could result in the stoppage of education across the board."
Currie says the state would set up a process to determine which schools are eligible. Many Illinois school districts operate with deficits.