Rauner Signs Bill Funding Schools

The Republican signed a bill Wednesday that provides $269 million more to K-12 and early childhood education in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Rauner says "education is the most important thing we do as a community."

The governor proposed raising education funding by $344 million, though he also called for large cuts to social services and programs such as Medicaid.

Rauner has said he won't approve Democrats' full spending plan, which made smaller cuts to those programs but is more than $3 billion short of revenue.

But he says he signed the school-funding measure because schools shouldn't be held "hostage" as part of the budget dispute.

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