Illinois Fight With Chicago Schools Escalates Over Bond Sales
- Governor Rauner says state can halt school debt offerings
- Chicago district says it's exempt from such oversight
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Illinois’s quest to take over Chicago’s schools intensified as Governor Bruce Rauner said the state can block the district from borrowing in the municipal-bond market, a claim the nation’s third-largest school system rejects.
The Illinois State Board of Education is investigating the finances of the district, which is facing projected deficits of $1 billion a year through 2020, and the Republican governor is pushing for legislation to strip the city of its control. The system has routinely relied on bond sales to help cover operating costs and push debt payments further off into the future.