SPRINGFIELD (AP) — The state’s new superintendent of schools believes the formula for distributing state aid to schools is flawed. But Tony Smith tells the Associated Press in an interview that finding the right solution could take several years.
Smith takes up his post on May 1st. He was Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s sole recommendation to the Illinois State Board of Education before it chose him this week.
But the former superintendent of Oakland, California, schools says he has his own views on charters, funding equity and teacher unions.
On the funding question, he challenges the notion that distributing money equally is fair, especially at a time when “there’s such inequity.”
On charters, Smith says they should be part of the public school mix, but he’s also closed charters that haven’t performed well.