Kansas, as it turns out, isn't alone.
While schools in Kansas maybe be closed in the fall because the state legislature will not provide enough funding to keep them open, schools in Chicago may close because the state legislature hasn't passed a budget at all, for cryin' out loud.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool told the Chicago Tribune that the district does not have the money to open the schools and can't borrow funding because of low credit ratings.
The warning comes from CPS one day after lawmakers failed to pass a budget once again, leaving Illinois with no funding for K-12 schools.
Governor Bruce Rauner has refused to work with lawmakers on a plan that will save the Chicago public schools system from devastating spending cuts, calling a plan favored by Democrats a "bailout" of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system. Rauner's plan calls for increasing funding statewide but reducing funding for Chicago, meaning funds would effectively be redistributed from the city to Rauner's base of support out in the boonies.
CPS is facing the possibility of a cut amounting to nearly 30 percent for every single classroom if Governor Rauner has his way, so by calling the Democrat's plan a "bailout" he's basically saying it's a bailout of school children.
That may be something we want to bail out, is it not?