School Consolidation Bill Will Not Leave Committee

Correction: House Bill 1886 did not propose the elimination of 500 school districts. That recommendation was part of the plan proposed by Gov. Pat Qunn. Patch regrets the error.

A bill proposing the elimination of 500 of the state's 868 school districts will not be going any further than committee.

House Bill 1886 was pulled by Rep. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island) Wednesday afternoon amid an avalanche of opposition to the proposed legislation.

“Evidently (Rita) knew the bill was not supported,” said Brenda Merrell, legislative secretary to Counties and Townships Committee member Rep. Richard Morthland (R-Springfiield).

According to legislative staff, Morthland and other members of the committee opposed the bill, including Rep. Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville), Rep. Rita Mayfield (D-Waukegan), Rep. Dan Reitz (D-Sparta) and Committee Chair Rep. Patrick J. Verschoore (D-Rock Island).

Attempts to reach Reps. Al Riley (D-Hazel Crest) and Randy Ramey Jr. (R-West Chicago), who also sit on the Counties and Townships committee, were not returned.

HB 1886 was scheduled for a reading Thursday in the Counties and Townships committee.

The bill, which Rita filed Feb. 16, called for the elimination of “all school districts in this state in existence on June 30, 2012 (other than the Chicago school district).” Under the proposal, each county would have had either one or two school districts governed by a county school board.

The bill was introduced the same day Gov. Pat Quinn delivered his budget address and suggested that $100 million in administrative costs could be saved if at least 500 school districts were eliminated.

Several messages left for Rita were unreturned.