SPRINGFIELD – Illinois schools already reeling from years of budget cuts could see even bigger class sizes, more layoffs, and less money to provide meals to low-income students under a budget Gov. Pat Quinn proposed Wednesday.

Quinn’s spending plan calls for more than $400 million in cuts to elementary, secondary and higher education. That would bring the total cut to K-12 education to more than $1 billion since 2008. Education officials say about two-thirds of districts already are in deficit spending and about 6,400 teachers and aides have lost their jobs.

“What we’re seeing now is frustration,” said Ben Schwarm, deputy executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards. “It’s not the first time [school districts] have had to make cuts; the fat is long gone. Every cut right now is painful.”