THE LOOP — The chief of Chicago Public Schools ripped Gov. Bruce Rauner for inaction in his budget address delivered Wednesday, calling it "extremely disappointing."
Charging that the governor was making no changes in a discriminatory system that has left Illinois last in the nation in education funding, CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool said, "He defended the indefensible."
Claypool accused the governor of what he called a "reversal of scripture, because what he was saying is the first will remain first and the last will remain last."
Claypool repeated his call for the state to pay 20 percent of its education funding to CPS, because the district has a fifth of all state students, calling it "third-grade math."
He pointed out the governor made no new allowances for low-income or minority students, while CPS demographics are 86 percent low-income and 85 percent minority.
"The governor continues to double down on defending the status quo," Claypool charged.
"What he said today is, 'I'm gonna fully fund a system that is last in the country in education spending,'" Claypool added. "We have to address that fundamental issue."
In his speech, Rauner said: "Not only did Chicago Public Schools ask for the current arrangement, they are benefiting from a special deal. CPS receives an extra $600 million more every year than school districts with similar student demographics. Any school funding reform proposal that involves taking money from one school district and giving it to another, is doomed to fail."
According to Claypool, the district and Mayor Rahm Emanuel continue to lobby the General Assembly for changes in education funding in a way that gets around the governor's intransigence.
"I see a lot of people coming together across the state to fight for what's right for our kids," he said. "First we're pursuing a legislative strategy," but he did not rule out a court fight to end the state budget impasse.
"We need the state to do its duty and treat kids equally," Claypool said.
In his speech, Rauner also noted: "Raising taxes without addressing the costs of government, and improving the business climate of our state, merely drives families and jobs out of Illinois. In the years after the last tax hike in 2011, Illinois lost $3.7 billion of taxable income. After the last tax increase, Illinois’ credit rating was downgraded to the lowest in the nation. Our pension liability went UP $28 billion. School funding was cut. The finances in the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools deteriorated. And now we lag the nation in job creation."
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