COMPTROLLER MENDOZA URGES LAWMAKERS TO ACT QUICKLY TO END RAUNER’S SCHOOL FUNDING CRISIS

Press Release from Comptroller Susan Mendoza

CHICAGO, IL – Here are the facts: SB1, the school funding bill negotiated with input from school superintendents and legislators from every corner of the state, treats all districts fairly and leaves no district with less funding than it has now.

The Better Government Association’s PolitiFact Illinois calls “FALSE” Governor Rauner’s mislabeling of the bill as a “Chicago bailout.” The fact-checkers found: “The bill’s Chicago pension component can’t be called a ‘bailout’ or even a perk because it only gives CPS what every other school district already has.”

We urge legislators of both parties to override this wrong-headed veto as they did with the budget. If they do not, the fact is our office will not have the legal authority to make the next scheduled General State Aid payment to schools on Aug. 10. Governor Rauner will, in fact, be the first governor in our state’s history to force Illinois schools to go without General State Aid payments – another trophy for his Hall of Shame.