The Illinois State Board of Education last week warned school districts that the aid they receive from the state, already at about 89 percent of the amount they’re supposed to get based on a per-pupil formula, may drop to 85 percent of the formula next year, but it’s early in the budget process and things could change, the Bloomington Pantagraph reports.
Illinois State Board of Education spokesman Matt Vanover said the agency wanted to send a message to school boards who are making plans for next year’s budget: “As you put together your projections, please be very conservative,” the paper quoted him as saying.
Any serious discussion of the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2014, is still a few months off, to be sure, but budgets are approved by school boards in most of Illinois’s districts long before lawmakers in Springfield release the actual state budget.
School funding in Illinois is somewhat dependent on property taxes, by which I mean a school district in an affluent area with high property taxes may not need any money from the state. Doing the math, the state and school districts have agreed to spend $6,119 per pupil in an ideal world. Of course, a recession is not an ideal world, and the tax revenue just isn’t there at the state level to maintain the formula funding level. So, the state decreased it to 95, then to 89 percent. The number itself isn’t written into law, but it’s a goal.
Now, if the school receives enough from local property taxes to cover that amount—or, more likely, more than that amount—the state doesn’t provide any aid based on the formula. However, in poorer districts, local property taxes may not meet the need determined by the per-pupil formula, in which case the state would make up the difference, as much as it can.
Two years ago, the state made up about 95 percent of the difference for school districts, but it started funding the per-pupil aid at the 89-percent level last year. If it goes to 85 percent in 2014-15, some districts may be forced to cut teacher jobs or educational programs. Districts with high property tax revenues won’t be affected, but in districts that have a great many students or low property tax revenues, a decrease of 4 percent may be significant and cause jobs or programs to be cut.
There’s talk in Illinois, by state Sen Andy Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill, about revamping the way Illinois funds schools.
“Illinois ranks last in the nation for state contributions to K-12 education funding, providing only 32.5 percent of all funds spent on public education,” he said. “We’re tired of seeing the damage caused by this system play out in drastic budget cuts in school districts across this state. Not only does this go against the plain language of our state constitution, but more importantly, it does a disservice to our children. Our constitution and our conscience demand we do better, which is why I created this committee: to find a fairer, more equitable way to fund public schools.”
The Senate Advisory Committee on Education Funding, created by Mr Manar’s bill, SR0431, is expected to conduct a few more hearings and present recommendations for improving the method of school funding and increasing equity across the state to the full General Assembly by Feb 1.
Of all the changes that might occur between now and the actual budget discussions, my money is on this education funding advisory committee in terms of having any chance to avoid further cuts.