Schools across the state have improved better financial ratings, according to a report released yesterday by the Illinois State Board of Education.
But a closer look at the data reveals that almost 60 percent of districts have resorted to borrowing to make ends meet.
Governor Bruce Rauner proposed giving districts their full measure of state aid, just over six-thousand per student, but state superintendent Tony Smith says the funding formula needs to change.
"I mean so this idea of systemic structural reform for our school finance, it has to happen. I mean it must happen. And there are plenty of districts that say even at 6119 for next year, I may not open because they've borrowed, they've exhausted their borrowing capacity, I have to pay everything back, folks are way leveraged,” Smith said.
Smith says many districts have been forced to make cuts that are taking away students' educational opportunities.
