CPS Leadership, Parents, Students To Rally For More Funding In Springfield
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Hundreds of supporters of the Chicago Public Schools were heading to Springfield on Thursday to demand more funding for the district.
CPS said 2,500 students, teachers, and parents were expected to take part in the day of action in Springfield.
The rally less than a day after the Illinois House approved Speaker Michael Madigan's budget plan, which would add $700 million for public schools statewide, including $287 million in additional funding for CPS.
However, Gov. Bruce Rauner has criticized Madigan's spending plan, saying it is $7 billion out of balance, and he has said he will veto it if it passes the Senate.
Illinois Republicans have angrily shouted at Democrats as the budget plan was called for a vote, upset that debate was cut short. Republicans called the Democrats' plan "the phoniest of all phony budgets," and claimed balancing the budget would require the highest income tax rate in the state's history.
"It's a terrible day for Illinois democracy. It was a terrible day for citizens of Illinois, who are demanding transparency, demanding good government. This was just the opposite," House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said.
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If the governor follows through on a full veto of the budget, he risks public schools across the state not being able to open on time.
CPS chief executive officer Forrest Claypool was helping lead the Springfield rally, along with the heads of other school districts in Illinois. Many school superintendents from across the state have said the state's current formula for funding schools shortchanges schools with the neediest students.
"The parents care deeply about their children, and their children right now are at risk, because of that dysfunction, because of that discriminatory funding system," Claypool said Wednesday.
Even parent groups that have often criticized CPS have joined the call for more state funding, though they have also said more needs to be done at the local level to improve schools.
Lawmakers have until May 31 to approve a budget with a simple majority vote. After that, it takes a three-fifths supermajority for any legislation to take effect immediately, meaning a budget deal becomes that much more complicated.
Claypool has warned of across-the-board cuts of up to 30 percent if lawmakers don't come up with additional funding for CPS before the start of next school year.
