The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is reportedly mulling whether to settle a civil-rights lawsuit filed eight years ago by the Chicago Urban League. The suit essentially claims that Illinois’ education-funding system violates minority students’ rights because a disproportionate number of those kids reside in areas with the lowest property wealth and also attend schools with majority-minority enrollment. They’re basically getting shafted by the state, so they sued.

Republicans have been saying behind the scenes that they have put four Democratic state Senators “on the bubble”: Tom Cullerton in DuPage County, Melinda Bush in Lake County, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant in Will County, and Gary Forby in southern Illinois.

Whenever you see a statement from the Democratic Party of Illinois, you can be supremely confident that House Speaker Michael Madigan – the party’s longtime chair – approves of the sentiment.

And the same goes for the Illinois Republican Party and Governor Bruce Rauner, who accounts for 95 percent of the party’s total fundraising since January 1. No way will that party deliberately say anything that is contrary to the governor’s wishes.

You might think that months of bipartisan cooperation on numerous criminal-justice-reform bills would make that particular topic off-limits for campaigns this year.

You’d be wrong.