Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner wants to increase state funding of public schools. He visited a high school in Springfield today. He told students Illinois lags far behind every other state in education spending and that Illinois depends too much on local property tax revenue.
"That's wrong. That denies a real equal chance at the American dream for low-income families because their parents can't afford the property taxes to pay for the best schools in America."
But when he gave his budget address last week, Rauner criticized a proposal that seeks to prop up poor districts by taking money from wealthier ones. Supporters of that change to the state's education funding formula say the governor's plan doesn't do enough to help low income kids.
The governor also says he needs special power to make cuts to the budget before the state can fund higher education.