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Governor Rauner proposed two spending plans this week. The first fully funds school districts for fiscal year 2017. It provides more money in total and no less money for any school district in the state. It employs the same antiquated formulas and incorporates none of the reforms introduced by Democratic Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, or Republican Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington. It preserves the status quo, precisely the opposite of what the governor claims to espouse in his turnaround agenda.

But it provides money and does so now, and it will not only get schools open in August, but keep them open and funded for the entire school year. We concur with 59th District Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, and his assessment of the situation: “I want to see every school opened one way or another. If that (Rauner’s proposal) is all we can get right now, then we just have to do it," Forby said.

We agree. And since the memo from Tim Nuding, Director of the Governor’s Office of Management & Budget, specifically refers to continued discussion of elementary and secondary school funding reforms for use in 2018, preserving the status quo formula for another year is — by our state’s standards — not bad at all.