With school funding reform now being law in Illinois, schools across the state will start reaping the benefits of new money in the near future. State Senator Andy Manar got to tour the new STEM lab at Taylorville Junior High School Thursday night, and he says he hopes the new monies schools will receive can bring more opportunities like STEM labs to smaller Illinois districts.

Manar says the biggest benefit school districts are seeing right now from school funding reform is the ability to plan, and not have to look at cutbacks because of the state.

Manar says the STEM lab at Taylorville Junior High is going to give students a huge number of opportunities in life, and he hopes all districts downstate can provide these kinds of educational opportunities.

Manar says these kind of opportunities may not exist in all downstate Illinois state districts ye. But with the lowest funded districts now at the front of the line for new state education dollars, he hopes opportunities like STEM labs will become more common across downstate Illinois.