Chance the Rapper and Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner's meeting on Friday left the Grammy-winning rapper and Chicago native "flustered," the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The pair had a 30-minute conversation about funding for Chicago Public Schools.
Rauner and the rapper first connected after the Grammy Awards when Rauner tweeted congratulatory remarks for the night's Best New Artist winner while the rapper responded with a request for a meeting to discuss education in Illinois. After weather-related rescheduling, the pair finally met on Friday morning.
After the meeting, Chance was met by reporters, where he commented on how disappointed he was by Rauner's "vague answers" about funding for the schools. Last December, Rauner had vetoed a bill that would have allocated money to pay teacher and administrator pensions in the CPS system due to budget restraints and a desire for pension reform that would make the state less responsible for contributing to the pensions.
"I felt it went a little bit different than it should have," Chance said to the press. "I'm here because I just want people to do their jobs."
NBC reported that the rapper told the governor to "do your job" directly as he left. The rapper requested that national music publications give "a comprehensive history on how we ended up here." Chance's final note was that his message had been "take our kids off the table" without further explanation.
Representatives for Chance the Rapper and Gov. Rauner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"Chicago Public Schools and I did not lose today," Chance tweeted after the meeting. "Please don't let that become the narrative. Monday morning I'll have a plan."
After the emcee left, Rauner spoke with the press and offered a more optimistic take on their meeting, noting that he and Chance would talk more over the weekend and prepare a funding solution to present to the legislature on Tuesday. He commended the 23-year-old's "incredible voice" and influence on matters related to Chicago.
"That powerful voice can be a voice for change," the governor expounded. "If we stood together, Chance, I have some power. I have power in some ways; you have great power in other ways. If we stood together, worked together, I think we could get big things done."
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