Educators huddle on state funding freeze
BY MIKE HELENTHAL
Commercial-News
DANVILLE — County education leaders are bracing for the worst in the face of Illinois’ staggering $13 billion budget deficit and a growing belief that state schools will be left high and dry when the bill comes due.
Vermilion County Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Metzen said school administrators here had been meeting regularly to discuss state funding difficulties and share ideas of how to further stretch local school resources...
State Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, said he fears the state will not be able to live up to a long list of obligations. He cited as proof the state’s dependence on federal stimulus money to prop up ongoing spending obligations and a recent, drastic reduction in Illinois’ bond rating.
“I don’t think the public has fully grasped the magnitude,” he said. “Our debts are in the billions of dollars. It’s the point where it’s critical.”
Meanwhile, state government is all but shut down as both parties put their sights on the November elections and the bills keep piling up.
Black warns if a solution that includes massive cuts to wasteful spending isn’t found soon, needed social services and education stand a good chance of facing equally massive cuts with the next state budget...
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