In response to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto to the widely supported school funding reform measure, State Senator Mattie Hunter (D- Chicago) released the following statement:

“Sadly, the governor continues to use our children as pawns to advance his political agenda. Governing the state of Illinois is not like playing a game of chess. The governor touts saving the children of this state by putting families first but does the complete opposite with his inexplicable inaction on much needed reforms.

By refusing to work in good faith and compromise, the governor and his allies in the General Assembly have spent more time pitting communities against one another. It has taken us 20 years to get to this point on school funding reform and we can only solve this issue together in a bipartisan fashion.

This is not about a win for Chicago, nor is it about a loss for Southern Illinois. This is about providing adequate dollars for all schools and future generations. The longer it takes to realize this the longer our students will suffer under a broken system.

So, let’s not fight about this, instead, let’s make fundamental changes. Wholeheartedly, I would like to believe the governor has our children and schools in his best interest. Unfortunately, today’s veto proves otherwise. We need to save our schools and our students.”