Rauner’s Campaign Promises Could Come True By Way Of School Funding Overhaul, But Gov. Won’t Commit

Two promises Governor Bruce Rauner made on the campaign trail could be kept through a plan that's been working its way through the General Assembly for over a year. The governor pledged to lower property taxes in Illinois and get more state money to schools, especially lower income districts.

That's tricky because schools in Illinois depend heavily on property taxes, and changing that would take coordination, plus more state revenue, resulting from spending cuts or tax hikes.

Rauner says he won't endorse a retooling of the state's education funding formula ... at least not yet.

"What I will say is I am personally committed to raising the support from the state for local school districts and funding out of general revenue so we can rely less on local property taxes and I want to especially get more state money into the lower income school districts where it's needed the most," he said at a stop in Decatur Friday morning.

The plan that's been pushed by Democratic state Senator Andy Manar would eventually incentivize lower property taxes ... if the state gives more money to poorer school districts, and less to wealthier. But the proposal has drawn ire from suburban Republicans, afraid their schools would lose too much to support the curriculums and activities they've gotten used to.