By PJ Baron

BLOOMINGTON – Following the state’s failure to meet the budget deadline in time, public schools across the state are facing the threat of closing during the school year, if they open at all.

State Representative Tom Bennett (R-Pontiac) explained that collaboration is the main factor that will be able to overcome the budget impasse.

“We need to get people together to walk through these things, and of course we have to have a distribution of government. You’ve got the Senate, the House, the Governor, all these need to come together to agree so we can move forward. But we’ve got to stop talking past each other or at each other. We’ve got to find ways to sit down and really work through this together,” said Bennett.

However, Bennett also recognized the possibility of schools not opening in the fall. He suggested pressuring legislators on the subject of schools to incite change quickly.

“It’s gone from whispers to louder voices,” said Bennett, “[Students] need to be in school. And I think that would be a very major pressure point to perhaps get this done.”

Bennett said that rebuilding the trust between the government and the citizens will be a major factor in digging Illinois out of the hole.

PJ Baron can be reached at [email protected].