If legislature doesn’t grow a spine, we’re California next year.
Thirty percent cut in early childhood education funding. And you ain’t seen nothing yet. Next year the $2 billion in federal stimulus money will be gone. If the legislature doesn’t grow a spine and pass HB174, creating new revenues, Illinois will make California look like a Garden of Eden, in the words of Woody Guthrie.
State education officials Tuesday slashed millions of dollars from dozens of initiatives — ranging from preschool to after-school to gifted programs — and warned of a “catastrophic” year ahead, when $2 billion in federal stimulus dollars will dry up.
Acting in emergency session, State Board of Education members faced with shrunken state revenues approved a $7.26 billion budget for this coming school year, down $146 million, or 2 percent, from fiscal year 2009.
