Nearly all school districts represented by State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) will lose thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars in tier funding under legislation passed by Democrat majorities in the state legislature Jan. 31. Gov. Bruce Rauner had issued an amendatory veto of Senate Bill 444. After the Senate voted to override the Governor’s Amendatory Veto, the House quickly followed suit, making SB 444 law, taking a projected $45.5 million from downstate schools and sending it to Chicago Public Schools. Rose voted against the original measure Nov. 9 and voted against the override vote Jan. 31.
“Once again, Chicago lawmakers prove why no one should work with them or listen to them because we are not even two months into the landmark new school funding reform law, and they come around demanding more money for their schools,” Rose said. “I don’t represent Chicago Public Schools. I represent Central Illinois. This bill is taking money away from our school kids. I vote ‘no.’ Local citizens need to remember this vote.”
While nearly all schools in Rose’s district lose tier funding under SB 444, Chicago Public Schools would receive an increase of $45.5 million, as the downstate school’s losses are transferred to Chicago.
Senate Bill 444 made technical changes to the evidence-based school funding law (Senate Bill 1947) that dealt with out how Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) is calculated in the formula.