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Pantagraph EditorialWednesday, September 19, 2007 9:01 AM CDT
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School districts continue to be caught in the crossfire
By the Pantagraph Editorial Board
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School districts are among many entities receiving state funding who have been caught in the middle of the battle of the budget among Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Mike Madigan.

It’s too bad the superintendents and teachers dealing with this fiasco can’t force the state’s leaders to sit in on a few classes about sharing, playing nice with others and not being a bully.

Apparently, that standard elementary school material must be mastered before moving on to mathematics and the elements of the Illinois Constitution.

We’re not sure any schools use the old standby of forcing students to stand in the corner when they misbehave, but we can think of a few state officials who deserve such treatment, with a “dunce” cap thrown in for good measure.

Blagojevich sent letters last week to each school district telling them exactly how much money was on hold because budget implementation legislation hasn’t been approved by the House.

Among area school districts with the most money “on hold” are Normal-based Unit 5, $4.7 million; Pontiac’s elementary school district, $524,000; and Tri-Valley, $425,000.

The governor opened the letter by stating, “On August 23, 2007, I approved a K-12 budget …” — as if the House and Senate had nothing to do with it.

The governor made it clear in his letter that, in his opinion, the blame for delayed payments rests with House Speaker Mike Madigan. He called on the superintendents to “Please let Speaker Madigan know that you need this bill to pass so that you can get the funds you need for your school district.”

Keeping superintendents informed is a good idea, but it should be done without the blame game and without trying to recruit school officials as soldiers in the budget war.

There is plenty of blame to go around, considering this budget should have been approved months ago.

Further calling into question the motives for the letter is the fact that reporters were given the letter before the school districts. While such openness in commendable, it’s openness that serves the governor’s interests as much as the public’s interest.

We suspect many superintendents share the sentiments of Unit 5’s Gary Niehaus, who said, “I think the dogfight between the governor and the speaker is something I don’t need to be pushed into.”

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