Lamp Editors
SPRINGFIELD – Bruce Rauner recently gave a speech concerning the state of the budget. He asked lawmakers and politicians to work together [add stuff here]. It seems that on the top of his list of priorities, education funding seems to be at the top. This is good, but there is little to show for it as of this year. Already, colleges are laying off employees, and forcing some of them to take days off work without pay. This does not sound like the kind of environment suitable for learning, or the kind of treatment educators in Illinois deserve.
Eastern Illinois University has been the source of attention in past days for announcing 177 positions that would be terminated by March 12. This is a result of poor budgeting in the past years, and the lack of agreement between lawmakers in Illinois. Rauner has said that he wishes to allot more money for education, but those promises will not be met unless a budget is agreed upon.
It is the opinion of The Lamp staff that Rauner needs to give money to education funds in order to prevent universities from having to shut down, or lay off more employees.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education, since 2009, various programs have been reduced in order to keep Illinois afloat. Other programs were completely eliminated. For example, $133 million was cut in transportation for schools, which was a reduction of 39.4 percent. The free lunch program suffered from a 45 percent reduction, which ended up being $12 million. The Reading Improvement Block Grant was completely eliminated in order to save $76.1 million. The textbook loan program was also slashed, saving the state $74.8 million.
Saving money is something Illinois needs to be doing, but that money should not come from education programs. Schools and universities need grant money in order to run efficiently and encourage more students to attend. If these institutions cannot provide adequate scholarships, students will look elsewhere, even outside the state. Enrollment rates in Illinois colleges can improve if Rauner decides to fix the current state of the education budget.
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