Lawmakers: School cash a victim of politics
SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich "repeatedly misled" school districts across the state about the status of long-awaited construction dollars and used those districts as political pawns, several lawmakers said Tuesday.
"Misleading the school districts hurts all of the students," West Chicago Republican state Rep. Michael Fortner said.
State Rep. Lisa Dugan, a Bradley Democrat, was more blunt, calling the latest actions by the governor "bureaucratic bull."
At issue is nearly $150 million in state building aid to two dozen school districts scattered across Illinois. The schools have been awaiting the state's share of funding since 2001, if not longer.
The money was belatedly added to the state's last budget, but Blagojevich waited until nearly the last minute to sign that plan and then informed the schools that it was too late to process the paperwork for their projects.
In some cases, the money is to refund local taxpayers who ended up having to cover the state's share of local projects. In others, the local districts couldn't afford to do the projects on their own and they've languished for years even though local voters approved raising taxes on the promise of the state matching the money.
Alexandra Nicholson, superintendent at West Northfield District 31, said the school's air conditioning compressors are about to give out and on most days, the air conditioning doesn't work. Plus, the district needs more classroom space and had to take out a loan to cover roof repairs. The Northbrook-based district is in line to get nearly $1.8 million from the state.
Nicholson isn't alone. Other suburban districts on the waiting list include Winfield Elementary District 34, Joliet District 86, Carol Stream Elementary District 93 and Big Hollow School District 38.
A spokeswoman for Blagojevich said the list of schools needing state assistance is far longer than these initial two dozen and lawmakers need to approve a comprehensive construction plan.
"Lawmakers need to pass the capital bill the governor advocated that would provide $1.5 billion for school construction alone," said spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch.
At Tuesday's Capitol news conference, officials from downstate districts with aging buildings told of sewer lines collapsing and boilers breaking, forcing cancellations at schools they fully intended to abandon in favor of new ones -- if the state money ever comes.
Over the years, Blagojevich or his education aides have toured these schools and staged news conferences at them to try to rally lawmakers to support billions of dollars worth of construction spending proposals.
The latest turnabout enraged school officials and many lawmakers.
State Rep. John Bradley, a Marion Democrat, said for years the schools had their paperwork, only to be told there was no money for their projects. Now, he said, there's money but the paperwork is being blamed.
"It shows the ugliness of politics," Bradley said.
Still waiting …
Here's where area schools fall in rank among the 24 districts that have been awaiting state construction help since 2001.
Rank School district State funding amount
5 Winfield Elementary Dist. 34 $2.3 million
8 Joliet Dist. 86 $26.8 million
9 Carol Stream Elementary Dist. 93 $1.6 million
10 Hinckley Big Rock Dist. 429 $1.9 million
11 West Northfield Dist. 31 $1.8 million
14 Villa Park Elementary Dist. 45 $980,000
15 Westchester Dist. 92½ $26,000
16 Big Hollow Dist. 38 $251,800
19 Northbrook Elementary Dist. 27 $1.5 million
23 Westmont Community Unit Dist. 201 $1.2 million
24 Chicago Public Schools $29.7 million