The Illinois State Board of Education is supposed to spend more government dollars on the neediest schools, according to a new funding plan. Today, lawmakers pushed back against the agency’s proposed price tag.

Rantoul Township High School District 193 is among ten of them in the state taking part in a pilot program using competency-based learning. The idea is to advance students based on their mastery of skills and knowledge in a particular subject — instead of how much time they spend on the subject in the classroom.