Schools could soon bear the brunt of Illinois’ fiscal woes. As expected, Governor Pat Quinn presented a budget yesterday that cuts $1.3 billion in state education funding. But as we all know budgets involve more than just dollar figures and line items. A case in point: the Governor is visiting two elementary schools today to talk about his “education priorities.”

For a sense of the politics behind this proposal and the political wrangling to come we turn to Kent Redfield, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield.