Ear Hustle

Illinois Budget Cuts Could Layoff Over 13,000 Teachers

budget cuts

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Associated Press)

Illinois education officials say districts could be forced to lay off thousands of teachers and borrow money to stay afloat if proposed budget cuts take effect next year.

The State Board of Education and other agencies are testifying before lawmakers Friday about the impact of a 20 percent cut.

Democratic Senate President John Cullerton says Illinois will have a $3 billion budget gap next year. That includes a $1.5 billion decrease in revenues if a temporary income tax increase expires as scheduled.

State Superintendent Chris Koch says the cuts would mean 13,400 teachers would be laid off.

Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy says Democrats are presenting the “doom and gloom” scenarios to justify extending the tax increase.

Gov. Pat Quinn is scheduled to present his proposed 2015 budget Wednesday.

Source: MyFoxChicago

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most Popular

To Top