Illinois Impasse Sparks Fears of the Unthinkable: No School

By SARA BURNETT, ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARRISBURG, Ill. — Apr 25, 2016, 2:08 PM ET

The economic hard times that have hit this Illinois coal town are particularly visible inside its 113-year-old high school, where cracks in the walls and holes in the ceiling go unfixed and paint is peeling off the purple lockers lining the hallways.

But lately a greater worry is weighing on Superintendent Mike Gauch: that he'll have to close the doors. He's among scores of school officials who face this prospect as Illinois lawmakers' epic fight over a state budget threatens to spill into summer and jeopardize the education of several hundred thousand students.

Unthinkable even a few months ago, the possibility of the impasse extending to a second year and shutting down school systems has grown stronger in recent weeks. If it happens, it would be the most traumatic consequence of a fight between the state's Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, and Democrats who run the Legislature, and mark a new low for political dysfunction in the nation's fifth-largest state.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

While money has stopped flowing for most social service programs, schools continued to get their state funding this year.

But that support is in doubt for the new fiscal year that begins in July, and no one knows exactly how long Illinois' school districts can last without state funds to supplement local property tax revenue and cash reserves. Some districts may be able to borrow money. But about 130 — or 15 percent of the total statewide — had less than 90 days in cash reserves as of last summer, according to financial documents filed with the state. The numbers for most districts are bleaker today, superintendents say.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]