Gov. Pat Quinn stressed in his budget speech that education would be mostly exempt from budget cuts. But the governor's proposed budget falls short in giving the minimum amount of money to Illinois students each year, as set by the state.

Each Illinois student is supposed to get $6,119 from the state -- the "foundation level" to provide students a quality education. But the budget proposal sets aside $5,993 per student. Overall, Illinois is short $230 million in per pupil spending.

As the Tribune notes, the funding shortfall hurts poor school districts where local property taxes cannot make up for lost state cash. Stay tuned to see if the General Assembly replenishes this money.