Gov. Bruce Rauner followed through on his threat Tuesday and used his amendatory veto power to rewrite a school funding bill, something Democratic lawmakers said will set back funding reform by decades and could jeopardize the school year in many districts.

 

Rauner made multiple changes to Senate Bill 1, including how it deals with Chicago teacher pensions. Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said other changes Rauner made could harm some of the most financially vulnerable school districts throughout the state.

 

At a Statehouse news conference to announce his changes, though, Rauner focused on his belief that SB 1 gives an unfair advantage to Chicago schools.

 

“Senate Bill 1 in its current form basically took a significant increase in school funding that I have advocated for, and diverted hundreds of millions of dollars of it away from classrooms around the state and diverted it to Chicago, unfairly hurting children across the state,” Rauner said. “This is a diversion of money from all of the schools around the state to one district.”

 

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