Driving on Route 132 west of Gurnee, I hit a pothole. I cursed and blamed Bruce Rauner.

I went to the Illinois Secretary of State's driver's license facility in Libertyville. It moved to Lake Zurich. I cursed and blamed Bruce Rauner.

The warm spell we've been in must be caused by climate change. I didn't curse. Who doesn't like spring in February? I just blamed Bruce Rauner.

To hear Democrats in the Land of Lincoln, everything that has gone wrong, is going wrong or will go wrong in Illinois is Bruce Rauner's fault.

The latest indication of that is the Chicago Board of Education suing Rauner over the state's school funding formula. Last week, Chicago schools filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court contending the funding formula and pension systems are biased in favor of wealthy school districts and against districts with predominantly minority students.

In that case, Waukegan, North Chicago, Round Lake, among other Lake County school districts, might want to piggyback on the Chicago action. And, blame the governor.

The Chicago Urban League filed a similar suit in 2008, long before Republican Rauner was elected. Democrat Rod Blagojevich was governor back then. At that time, the Urban League sued the Illinois State Board of Education alleging state aid cuts hurt disadvantaged school districts more than rich ones. The group claimed that is discriminatory.

Selle: The president's ideas are not your ideas Charles Selle

Come Monday, President Trump will have been in office for a month.

Ironically, the date coincides with Presidents Day, the day the government combined George Washington's birthday with that of Abraham Lincoln so federal employees could get time off.

Some of you, most Illinoisans, may not consider...

Come Monday, President Trump will have been in office for a month.

Ironically, the date coincides with Presidents Day, the day the government combined George Washington's birthday with that of Abraham Lincoln so federal employees could get time off.

Some of you, most Illinoisans, may not consider...

(Charles Selle)

The Chicago Tribune reported two days after the Chicago schools' filing that the state and the Urban League have come to agreement over the suit. The state board is scheduled to vote on the settlement this week. According to the Tribune, the agreement requires the state to set up new methods to distribute state aid in the event Illinois doesn't allocate enough money to cover its full share of pay for teachers, school maintenance, bus transportation and other school expenses.

The Illinois school funding formula has been the subject of various attempts at reform. The State Legislature, lead by Democrats, has had plenty of time to figure out how to make state school aid packages fairer.

Instead, they've spent their time and energy battling Rauner and, in the state Senate, working on a "grand bargain" budget bundle. I look to Target for grand bargains, not elected leaders. I can get bundles with Comcast or AT&T.

If everything was hunky-dory in Illinois, Pat Quinn would still be hunkered down in the Governor's Mansion. Rauner was elected to change Springfield. We've seen how that has worked as the governor and Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan, speaker of the House for life, remain at loggerheads, pitting reform versus status quo.

Selle: Wooing Cat's new world HQ Charles Selle

The headlines must have sent shock waves through Peoria: "Caterpillar moving HQ to Chicago area."

Officials of the heavy equipment manufacturer announced earlier this month the firm was canceling plans for a new global headquarters in the central Illinois city. Instead, it will move 300 executives...

The headlines must have sent shock waves through Peoria: "Caterpillar moving HQ to Chicago area."

Officials of the heavy equipment manufacturer announced earlier this month the firm was canceling plans for a new global headquarters in the central Illinois city. Instead, it will move 300 executives...

(Charles Selle)

In 2018, Rauner will lose after spending millions and millions of dollars to be re-elected, and a new millionaire governor, this one a Democrat, takes his place. Then, Illinois taxpayers get hit with yet another tax increase to bail out the Venezuela of the Midwest after years of profligate spending.

Or, millionaire Rauner wins re-election, and in the process, a Republican Legislature comes along on his coattails. An income tax hike still remains waiting for us down the hard road. The school funding formula might get some attention, finally.

Yet, for all the talk of lopsided funding for Illinois schools, students across the state have been learning something, and it is dismal.

The Associated Press said last month that 45 percent of Prairie State high school graduates — future Illinois taxpayers — enrolled in 2015 at out-of-state four-year colleges and universities, a figure up 29 percent from 2002.

That must be Bruce Rauner's fault, too.

Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.

sellenews@gmail.com.

Twitter: @sellenews

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