Illinois Schools Celebrate Funding

Summary: It's a rare occurrence when both of the state's teachers' unions and the governor come to an agreement on funding. That's exactly what Illinois Schools experienced in March of this year when Governor Rod R. Blagojevich received the endorsements of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association. The praise was given for the Helping Kids Learn plan, which provides $10 billion to Illinois Schools over the next four years. Illinois Schools were give...

It's a rare occurrence when both of the state's teachers' unions and the governor come to an agreement on funding. That's exactly what Illinois Schools experienced in March of this year when Governor Rod R. Blagojevich received the endorsements of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association. The praise was given for the Helping Kids Learn plan, which provides $10 billion to Illinois Schools over the next four years. Illinois Schools were given further reasons to celebrate when the State Board of Education announced an increase of over $700 per pupil in minimum state and local funding. This will increase those foundation funding amounts to $6,058 per pupil annually. These investments will increase fiscal year 2008 monies by $1.5 billion. This amount is unprecedented in Illinois Schools. The plan is three times larger than any increase in the history of Illinois Schools. Why so much and why now? Gov. Blagojevich says that the Illinois Schools