One fix to this year's budget comes in the form of an across-the-board cut of 2.25 percent. It would affect Illinois schools, which already say they don’t get enough state funding.
To soften the blow, the deal includes $97 million the governor and State Board of Education can use to help schools that are desperately in need. House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie says a school would have to have serious financial problems to qualify for the assistance.
"We've had lots of schools that have had to cut back on all manner of important, but not essential, educational activities," she said. "I think what we're looking at here are very serious problems that could result in the stoppage of education across the board."
Currie says the state would set up a process to determine which schools are eligible. Many Illinois school districts already operate with deficits.
This is part of the legislature's fix for the fiscal year 2015 budget hole, which includes the state's child care program and salaries for court reporters and prison guards.
