Illinois holds back $15 million in funding to charter group

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has frozen the final $15 million of a $98 million school-construction grant that the state legislature promised to the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO), the biggest charter-school operator in Illinois. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that it is the the second time this year that Quinn has suspended state funding to the organization. The action came a day it was disclosed that the federal Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the UNO for possible securities violations. UNO has 16 charter schools in Chicago with more than 7,600 students.