A historic deal to fund public education in Illinois was not approval by state lawmakers.
CHICAGO (CBS) — The compromise to the school funding bill failed Monday evening.
CBS 2’s Derrick Blakley reports that the bill went down in flames and that the vote was not close, with 46 voting ‘Yes,’ 61 voting ‘No’ and 5 voting ‘Present.’
Because this is a special session, it took 71 votes to pass the bill.
The private schools tuition scholarship plan is said to have really sunk the proposal, as many Democrats and some Republicans objected to it.
The Illinois House reconvened before noon on Monday, and then quickly adjourned to party caucuses to wrestle with details of the school funding compromise.
Top Republicans were confident the 550-page bill would pass.
“I believe a fair way of spreading resources so that every student in the state of Illinois benefits, ” Sen. Bill Brady said.
However, progressive Democrats continuously pushed back against the $75 million plan to provide taxpayer subsidies for parents paying private school tuition.
Rep. Will Guzzardi said, “We’ re not supposed to take public dollars and divert them away for our neighborhood schools and into our private schools.”
In a statement, the Illinois Education Association said, “We urge lawmakers to reject this. Vouchers should not be the price of progress.”
But supporters, including religious schools of all types, said the plan would provide students with options.
“We want children to have choice, we want them to have the opportunity to have the best quality education and the most appropriate educational environment, ” said Shlomo Sorka, who’s with the Agudath Israel of Illinois.
And Democratic leaders urged their members to remember the big picture — an additional $350 million a year included in the bill, which would have been heavily directed toward the state’s poorest districts
“The quicker we get to adequate funding, the quicker we get to better outcomes with our young people, which is what everyone desires, ” Rep. Will Davis said.
This story is developing… Check back for updates.
