A time of great speculation and interest is how a DeWitt County school leader described the arrival of a new governor to Illinois.

Superintendent of Blue Ridge Schools, Susan Wilson is impressed with the staff Governor JB Pritzker has surrounded himself with, leaving her hopeful he will make good decisions.

In terms of how she feels the new Governor will do with the financial mess, Illinois faces, Wilson, is hoping Pritzker will continue to support the recently implemented evidence-based funding model.

Five years ago, school leaders would have said school funding was the biggest challenge facing education in Illinois, however, many are now saying a shortage of educators is the biggest challenge in education at this time.

Wilson believes the new evidence-based funding model will gradually level out the inequities in funding per student.