Rauner signs off on school funding, but will it break the budget stalemate?

Excerpt from a Reboot Illinois guest view:

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday signed into a law a bill that will let state money flow to schools so they can open their doors on time.

The measure, House Bill 3763, authorizes spending for general state aid, early childhood education, bilingual education and the teachers retirement system.

It also increases kindergarten through 12th-grade educational spending by $244 million and early childhood education funding by $25 million.

The increases are less than the increases of $312 million and $32 million than the governor sought, but Rauner said it was time to act.

“I would have done more for our schoolchildren, but I am taking action today to ensure our teachers are paid and our schools are open and funded,” the governor said in news release.

The decision was widely hailed as good news, but likely not the end of a larger budget and philosophical standoff in Springfield.

David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said he thinks the governor’s signature on the bill is a sign that the Springfield gridlock is at least easing...

To read the rest of this article and more on where Rauner and Democratic legislative leaders stand in the budget negotiations, click here.