Chance the Rapper meets with Illinois governor about Chicago school system

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Chance the Rapper met with Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner on Friday, and the rapper left feeling “a little bit flustered.”

Chance said that he was disappointed that he got “a lot of vague answers” during the meeting at the James R. Thompson Center in which the two men discussed funding for Chicago Public Schools, though the governor characterized the meeting as a “good exchange of views” and suggested that if he and Chance could use their respective spheres of influence, there was a good possibility that they could “get big things done.”

“That powerful voice can be a voice for change,” the governor said. “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.”

— Chance the Rapper makes Grammy history at just 23 — 

“If he has a staff member or a trusted person who advises him on education issues, I’d love to talk to them too,” Rauner said before adding, “I think we agreed that we’re going to talk further in the coming days, and we talked about working together.”

For his part, Chance said that he was just glad “the kids are on the table” with respect to the discussion of the school district’s budget crisis. “I’m here ’cause I just want people to do their jobs,” he added.

Still, he seemed optimistic about how the meeting as a whole went down, despite his expressed frustrations.

“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.”