Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders are setting up a bipartisan commission to tackle reforming the state’s school funding formula.
The commission is to meet monthly and come up with its recommendations by February 1. The plan then will be considered during the legislature’s spring session.
Groups of lawmakers have been trying to change the state’s notoriously inequitable system for at least the past 10 years. The difference this time, Rauner said, is that the situation has become critical.
The governor said he favors the so-called “evidence-based model” that sends out money based on factors considered keys to academic success.
"That’s my bias," Rauner said. "I’m a data-oriented person -- what’s working, what’s not working, what information do we have about how the schools are performing, what’s their class sizes…"
The commission also will consider input from advocacy groups like Chicago’s Civic Club and the school management alliance.
Illinois State Rep. Bob Pritchard (R-Hinckley) says that, when it comes to funding its public schools, Illinois has a dubious distinction among the states.
“Illinois is dead last in terms of the share of education funding that the state puts into our elementary, secondary schools, and the gap between the rich and the poor resourced districts is the largest,” he says.
Pritchard says reform is urgently needed, because the present formula results in big disparities in what schools can do for their students.
“As we move forward, we’ve got to come up with a system that gives everyone an equal chance. Right now we have a lot of haves and have nots.”
Pritchard says achieving reform is necessary if Illinois is to give all its citizens the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The so-called bipartisan commission will include 10 members appointed by Democrats and 15 members appointed by Republicans. Rauner, a Republican, and the four legislative leaders – two Republicans and two Democrats - each will name five members to the commission.
Rauner named Illinois Secretary of Education Beth Purvis to chair the commission and Illinois State Board of Education Chairman Rev. James Meeks as liaison between the Commission and ISBE.
His other appointments to the commission are:
- Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti
- James Dimas, Secretary of the Department of Human Services
- Jennifer Hammer, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy
- Jodi Scott, Regional Superintendent of Schools for Henderson, Knox, Mercer, and Warren Counties
Pritchard, Republican Spokesman for the House Education Funding Task Force, was named to the Commission by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.
Othermembers named so far include Republican State Sen. Jason Barickman and Democratic House Leader Barbara Flynn Currie.
- WNIJ's Guy Stephens, Chase Cavanaugh and Victor Yehling and Illinois Public Radio's Dusty Rhodes contributed to this story