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Illinois School Funding 101: A Water Cooler Q&A

Dusty Rhodes
/
NPR Illinois

As budget negotiations continue, one big piece of the puzzle is school funding. We check in with our Education Desk reporter to see which bills are on the table, what they would do, why some “news” outlets say districts would lose money, and whether there’s any chance a bill will pass.

 

 

 

Listen to the interview to find out:

  • How many school funding bills are currently working through the General Assembly

  • How they’re similar; how they differ

  • How some “news” outlets used state data to claim certain districts would lose money if funding reform becomes law

  • Which one bill has an official model available online

  • What signs suggest funding reform might happen

 
 

After a long career in newspapers (Dallas Observer, The Dallas Morning News, Anchorage Daily News, Illinois Times), Dusty returned to school to get a master's degree in multimedia journalism. She began work as Education Desk reporter at NPR Illinois in September 2014.