There has been another high-level departure from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration. This time it’s his top education adviser, Beth Purvis, who will step down Friday.

A closer look at what drove State Senator Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) to push for education funding reform, a push that finally yielded results this summer.

Monday at high noon — That's the deadline Gov. Bruce Rauner has given Democrats to send the school funding bill to his desk. The new state budget requires this revamped funding formula, but Rauner plans to veto certain parts of the plan.

Commentary: Could a reborn Mushroom Caucus be the key to breaking the political impasse that has Illinois’ financial health at death’s doorstep? The self-deprecatory moniker was coined a generation ago by a group of legislative backbenchers who complained they were kept in the dark by their leaders and fed horse (manure).

The fate of school funding reform in Illinois hinges on downstate sentiment about Chicago Public Schools, and legislators' grasp of a complex, new formula.