Chance the Rapper. Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Chance the Rapper figures the media likes him enough cover his every move, so he’s getting them to focus on a governmental crisis while they’re at it. This morning, Chance sat down for a roughly 40-minute meeting with Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to discuss the state of funding for Chicago public schools, specifically a deal the conservative Rauner vetoed that would close a $215 million hole in school budgets. He emerged disappointed by “vague answers.” “I’m here ’cause I just want people to do their jobs,” he said after the meeting. “And I did speak with the governor. I asked him about funding CPS with that $215 million that was discussed in May of last year and was vetoed in December over, you know, political arguments.” He also encouraged reporters from national and international publications that “post about me walking down the street and shit” to “give a comprehensive history on how we ended up here.”

Chance has been a vocal supporter of Chicago’s schools throughout his career, especially as schools in Chicago’s poorer, mainly nonwhite areas have suffered through rounds of budget cuts. He told reporters as he left the meeting that his message to Rauner was “take our kids off the table,” and tweeted afterward that “Chicago Public Schools and I did not lose today. Please don’t let that become the narrative. Monday morning I’ll have a plan.” Rauner and Chance exchanged numbers and both said they would continue to discuss the issues in the coming days, but as Spin points out, Rauner is a staunch conservative who doesn’t seem all too flexible in his views. The Chicago Reader put it this way to Chance: “If you can convince Rauner to fork over the $215 million, you deserve a Nobel Peace Prize to go with your Grammys.”

