Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for August 15, 2007 CONSTRUCTING A LOOPHOLE?

Is something rotten in Springfield...or Chicago...or wherever Mr. Governor may be today? This story/issue promises to be a springboard for the continuing battle between the Governor and the General Assembly.

From the WSIL TV Channel 3 website...

Area Schools Lose Out on Funding

By: Shawn Smetana

PERRY COUNTY -- It was back on June 14th that state lawmakers passed a supplemental spending plan containing 150 million dollars for school construction projects. Many districts in southern Illinois have been waiting years for the money. Governor Blagojevich finally signed that bill Monday night. But now, his office claims a technicality will block schools from getting the funds.

The Governor's office says it's too late for schools to get the money because grant agreements were not signed before the end of the fiscal year. But Du Quoin Superintendent Gary Kelly says the district did their part and this is all a political game with his students caught in the middle,"it's upsetting, you try and put a positive spin on things but this is wrong."

The Du Quoin school district needs state funding to fix up their high school. After the Illinois house and Senate passed the supplemental spending bill in June, Superintendent Gary Kelly thought it was a done deal. But, now it appears that money is not coming. "we don't think we need to be used like this, our kids don't need to be used in this situation," Kelly said.

The Governor's office says school districts did not provide paperwork for the grants in time that includes all 24 districts that were on the list. Kelly says Du Quoin did their homework, "everything we have received from the board of education and the capital project committee we have turned in."

State Representative Mike Bost says the schools are simply caught in a political game. He says the Governor is blocking school funding in order to push a capital spending bill. "The school construction projects are not his number one priority even though voters in those communities, it is their priority," Bost said.

Du Quoin has been waiting five years for state funds. The community passed a sales tax increase to pay their part of the deal which is three and a half million dollars. The state is expected to pay about ten million. The money would renovate the west side of the school and pay for demolition and construction of the other side. Bost says funding for this project is long overdue, "that's what they reported five and half years ago that it was done and it was, but because of the politics this Governor plays we have been put on the back burner."