My apologies to the N-G.  I don't subscribe to it and only peruse the headlines posted here.  I obviously was wrong,......again.

But referring to the subject matter, I agree with your synopsis, but only as far as it goes.  IMHO, it's not just Quinn who's the scoundrel, but the state legislature as well, and especially the Chicago area legislators.  It's no secret that Chicago is infamous for being one of the most corrupt cities in the country.  It's also a fact that four Illinois governors (so far) have ended up in prison because of their corruption.  Chicago political leaders are the sole reason why Illinois has bucked the fact-based trend by all other states to allow it's citizens 2nd Amendment rights.

In this particular instance the problem of unfunded government-employed teacher's pensions, which are the state's responsibility, is being addressed by threatening to make them a school district liability instead, as well as higher education entities from community colleges through universities.  In this move to eliminate 10% of the state's debt, real estate taxes will go up, some schools wil close, more schools will consolidate, and many teachers will be permanently laid off, resulting in larger classroom sizes.  Ironically, the Commercial-News just featured a couple of stories in it's Sunday edition about how more and more students are needing 'alternative education' because, to quote one local teacher, 'some kids don't learn as well in a regular class, they need more one-on-one time with educators.'  Under Quinn's plan, the 'alternative education' will soon be the norm, since class sizes will increase and there will be even more students 'who don't function well,' there just won't be any teachers available to give them the personal attention that they need.

In closing I'd like to point out the similarity of Quinn's plan to that of Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker's that caused such a furor.  Both governors were addressing their state budget woes in basically the same manner.  Although the media were quick to show the nation the 'alleged' public backlash against Walker's plan and how Illinois teachers were even calling in sick so that they could attend the protests in Wisconsin, the vast majority of those protestors and those who protested against Walker's 'attack on the working man' were government-employed union members.  I contend that the 'root cause' of both governors' intentions are government-employee unions themselves.  When teachers choose to strike for better wages and/or benefits, they should no longer be considered 'professionals who only want to do their job of teaching children,' but rather 'one side of an us vs. them' mentality having nothing at all to do about 'the children.'  

Here in Danville a very large segment, if not the majority, of our population are government employees belonging to unions.  Whether they are employed by the city, county, school district, VA, postal workers, etc., they have to be paid.  Unlike private companies or corporations, government entities do not have the option of closing it's doors as a result of union demands.  'Us vs. them'...they are our employees but ultimately have the power to bankrupt us.