{"id":1008158,"date":"2026-08-18T07:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T07:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1008158\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T07:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T07:20:19","slug":"gov-jb-pritzker-endorsed-by-iea-skeptical-on-150m-cps-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1008158\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. JB Pritzker endorsed by IEA, skeptical on $150M CPS funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. JB Pritzker accepted the backing of Illinois\u2019 suburban teachers union Monday and then expressed skepticism about another union\u2019s push for more Chicago Public Schools funding <\/a>\u2014 arguing the state can\u2019t afford to help Chicago alone without sending money to schools statewide.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019d like, I can pull the pockets out of my trousers to show you that the state does not have dollars that are just laying around,\u201d the billionaire governor said when asked about the $150 million CPS funding push. \u201cAnd so, the question is, where can we find those dollars?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The push for CPS funding is exposing fault lines ahead of the General Assembly\u2019s fall veto session in November and December, setting up a potential fight over school funding when lawmakers return to Springfield.<\/p>\n

Pritzker, a Democrat seeking a third term<\/a> as governor, made the comments after accepting the endorsement of the Illinois Education Association, which describes itself as the state\u2019s largest union and represents educators primarily outside of Chicago.<\/p>\n

The IEA\u2019s endorsement came just weeks after the CPS board, under pressure from the Chicago Teachers Union, made a high-stakes gamble in passing its nearly $10 billion budget<\/a> with $150 million in additional state funding that isn\u2019t currently allocated. The move has raised red flags among observers who have pointed out the state\u2019s own budget for the fiscal year passed months ago.<\/p>\n

Any deal to send CPS additional funding \u2014 whether through reprioritizing existing revenue or a new revenue source \u2014 would also need to be balanced against additional funding for schools statewide, Pritzker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, it\u2019s near impossible to decide you\u2019re going to do that and not also provide resources for schools all across the state of Illinois. So that isn\u2019t just $150 million \u2026 Think about multiplying the number by three or four,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cI don\u2019t know where you find three or four times $150 million and not shortchange a lot of other important priorities within the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say all that while recognizing that we are not yet funding our schools properly in the state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

IEA President Karl Goeke, speaking after the endorsement announcement Monday afternoon, denied that his union\u2019s backing of the governor signaled any kind of political or priority divide with the Illinois Federation of Teachers or the CTU, both led by union power player Stacy Davis Gates, who has been sharply critical of Pritzker.<\/p>\n

Goeke described the IEA\u2019s endorsement as a separate process from IFT\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019re at odds or anything. We\u2019ve got a great working relationship. We\u2019re at this point; they\u2019re at a different point,\u201d he said, adding later: \u201cThat\u2019s not signaling a rift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goeke declined to comment on the push for $150 million specifically for Chicago schools, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know enough about that to be able to comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any immediate changes to the state\u2019s spending plan would require a three-fifths supermajority in both the Illinois House and Senate, and several lawmakers \u2014 including many Democrats \u2014 have already signaled skepticism about passing the supplemental budget CPS is requesting.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Daniel Didech, a Buffalo Grove Democrat, acknowledged he represents a district with some of the state\u2019s best-funded schools. But he said the Chicago Board of Education, in passing its \u201cunbalanced budget,\u201d was \u201cimprudently relying on the state of Illinois to change our entire budget process to fill the budget hole that they chose to create.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt creates a moral hazard, where now every local government, every school district in the state of Illinois, every not-for-profit that does something important, they\u2019re going to pass out-of-balanced budgets over the summer, and force the state of Illinois to upend our entire budget process to resolve a crisis that they created,\u201d Didech said.<\/p>\n

\"Gov.Gov. JB Pritzker, right, speaks to reporters at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn after his reelection campaign received the endorsement of the Illinois Education Association on Aug. 17, 2026. Pritzker’s running mate, Christian Mitchell, is at left. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Pritzker had already cast skepticism<\/a> on the CPS proposal the day after the school board\u2019s budget vote, saying: \u201cThere\u2019s no revenue currently for what they\u2019ve described.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CTU and its allies on the Chicago Board of Education describe the amended budget as a pressure tactic meant to force state lawmakers to act, arguing CPS is chronically underfunded by the state and that the revised amended 2026-27 spending plan would restore hundreds of positions lost to layoffs<\/a> and shield classrooms from cuts.<\/p>\n

Other CPS leaders, including CEO Macquline King, have issued sharp warnings<\/a> about the risky budget maneuver, which was made shortly after Illinois House Speaker Emanuel \u201cChris\u201d Welch<\/a> suggested he\u2019d work for additional funding, though it remained unclear where the money would come from. Welch made his comments as he has tried to shore up political support<\/a> to stay speaker following questions over how he handled sexual harassment allegations involving former state Rep. Harry Benton, and he\u2019s subsequently said he supports additional funding for schools outside Chicago as well.<\/a><\/p>\n

Pritzker, in his first comments on the budget move, pointedly and repeatedly kept pressure on Welch, describing the additional state money as \u201crevenue that\u2019s expected that the speaker is planning to have a plan for, but we don\u2019t know exactly how.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, the governor reiterated that he had \u201cnot heard what the plan will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added he had not sought CTU\u2019s endorsement and hadn\u2019t been part of an endorsement process with the union.<\/p>\n

Pritzker\u2019s opponent in the November general election is Darren Bailey, a Republican who founded a \u201cChrist-centered\u201d private school.<\/a><\/p>\n

The full Chicago Board of Education has voiced support for lobbying Springfield for additional state money. CPS is funded at just 70% of what it is owed<\/a> under the state\u2019s own evidence-based funding formula, which is designed to steer revenue toward the neediest districts in Illinois.<\/p>\n

But while there\u2019s broad agreement the district needs more funding, there\u2019s far less consensus on how to get it. Some suburban Democrats say any conversation about additional funding should apply statewide, particularly if it\u2019s tied to the state\u2019s evidence-based funding formula.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do represent very low-income school districts. So I\u2019m also extremely interested in seeing how we can obtain more money for my school districts, specifically,\u201d said state Rep. Rita Mayfield, a Democrat from the Waukegan area. \u201cKnowing that there will be a conversation in (the fall veto session), I will definitely have numbers for my specific school districts that will be necessary to bring my school districts up to adequacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Bob Morgan, a Democrat from Deerfield, agreed it would make sense for the funding efforts to be focused statewide and not just Chicago, saying, \u201cI can\u2019t recall a time in the last eight years where (the) veto session effort was so limited geographically.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Will Davis, a Democrat from Homewood who heads the House Appropriations Committee for K-12 public education, was among those who said the conversation needs to shift to funding all schools eligible for evidence-based funding, not just Chicago\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chicago\u2019s new school board members \u201cshould also understand that trying to do something of that magnitude only for them in veto session just doesn\u2019t happen,\u201d Davis said. \u201cI appreciate their (willingness) to serve as an elected member of the school board, but (there are) just some educational pieces that they need to learn, so they understand how these government things flow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. JB Pritzker accepted the backing of Illinois\u2019 suburban teachers union Monday and then expressed skepticism about another…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1008159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,139400,11237,299793,180218,5386,1818,403558,91270,169571],"class_list":["post-1008158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-chicago","tag-ctu","tag-endorsement","tag-gov-jb-pritzker","tag-iea","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-illinois-education-association","tag-school-funding","tag-stacy-davis-gates"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117115306510049398","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1008158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1008159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1008158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1008158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1008158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}