SE Illinois News

Referring to the Democrat-controlled General Assembly as a machine, Gov. Bruce Rauner told reporters at a new high school's ribbon-cutting that voters this election cycle have a fundamental choice between what they have now and would they could have later.

"I think we're all mature enough to know that politics is rough and tumble," Rauner said at New Mt. Vernon Township High School last week.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner listens to his student escorts during a tour of the new Mt. Vernon Township High School.

"This is rough in Illinois. That's its own process, it just plays out," he said. "Hopefully the people of Illinois will stand up. The people of Illinois have a choice this year, a very important choice. Fundamentally. Are we going to support the status quo, the direction we've been going, or are we going to support reform? This is a very fundamental choice."

The choice is open to Democrat and Republicans voters, Rauner said. "Are we going to stay on the road we've been on with the status quo run by a political machine that's really about power and not about the people? Or are we going to get reform, term limits, fair maps, more jobs, lower property taxes, better schools. You know, the status quo machine that's controlling the legislature cut school funding four times in the last then year, before I got there. We've been badly run, the system's broken."

The state needs reformers, Rauner said.

"That's what this fall election's about," he said. "And, in the end, I believe if the people make their voices known, that reform is what we need, we need to change direction and get more jobs, we need lower property taxes, we need better schools, we need term limits to help change the culture. We're going to get good things done after the election."

Yet Rauner said he would not be active in the campaigns of GOP candidates in Southern Illinois local elections.

"I'm not really very involved," he said. "My focus really is on the government and good policy and administration."

Rauner made those comments to reporters shortly after touring the new high school. "Go Rams, Go Rams," the governor said several times during his tour, pumping his fist in the air. Students, parents and others in attendance responded with hoots and cheers.

Rauner said he was impressed by what he saw in the new facility. "This is the way education should be done," he told the orange-shirted students escorting him during a tour before his comments. Rauner's tour included the gymnasium, science areas, and automotive and tech areas.

"Isn't this facility awesome," Rauner said. "I'm so jealous. I wish I'd gone to a school that looked like this. This is one of the finest high schools anywhere in America. It's what we need to do in every community, in every neighborhood. Have the best schools, best teachers, best support for our schools anywhere."

Rauner had been a strong proponent of the $74-million, two-year project to complete Mt. Vernon Township High School, according to information provided by school officials. Funding included $48 million from the state. The new school will accommodate more than 1,800 students and includes a 45,000-square-foot career center. Classes will begin at the new facility this week.

  

Schools need more funding than they're getting, the governor stressed.

"Schools should get more," Rauner said. "I'm going to fight for more school funding every year going forward. We overly rely on local property taxes in Illinois. We put too much pressure on our hard-working families and our local home owners and our small businesses."

Rauner had very critical comments for the current state of education funding in Illinois. "We're the worst state in America for funding schools," he said. "We're number 50 out of 50. That's one of the reasons I ran for governor, to change that, to make sure the state does its job, to put the resources with our teachers in the classroom."

Rauner added that those changes shouldn't be expected soon and took another swipe at the Democrat-controlled General Assembly. "I want to get it done tomorrow," he said. "I've been working on it a while. It's hard. Getting the legislature to change anything is, uh, a challenge, to use a nice word for it. But we're going to stay strong on it."