Illinois Public Media News

Saying he's "frustrated" downstate public school district "get left behind," a Champaign County school district superintendent says the governor's SB1 veto was the right decision.

Just after finishing a two year political standoff over a state budget, Illinois lawmakers are heading toward another impasse, this time over education funding. 

Denouncing it a “bailout” of Chicago Public Schools, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday partially vetoed a bill to overhaul the state’s school funding formula, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown over education funding that could cut off state money to schools across Illinois.

An Asian Carp was caught recently in a place where it shouldn’t be – beyond an electric barrier meant to keep the species out of Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes. Researchers at Southern Illinois University are trying to figure out just how it got there. 

On this encore edition of The 21st: Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, says he has a solution for integration in schools that focuses on social and economic indicators. Plus, we learn how police dispatchers are being trained to respond to mental health crises.  

Governor Rauner issued an amendatory veto to Senate Bill One, leaving public school funding in limbo.

The future of state funding for Illinois schools is still up in the air Monday afternoon. The fight over Senate Bill 1 — legislation that would overhaul the way Illinois supports k-12 schools — has such high stakes and such slim vote margins that it has turned into a parliamentary chess game. Now, the next move belongs to Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Daisy Contreras talked to leaders at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and The Civic Federation to learn about their insights on the state's first spending plan in more than two years.