DEMOCRATS TO PROPOSE NEW SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA
State Senate prez says Chicago schools could get additional $ 300M
A new school funding formula could land in the Illinois Senate as soon as Tuesday, and while it would shift money from the wealthier districts to the poorer ones, unlike in several ill- fated earlier proposals, the cuts would be phased in over four years, Senate President John Cullerton said Monday.
Sen. Andy Manar ( DBunker Hill), who has championed earlier iterations of school funding legislation, plans to introduce the new bill to rewrite the state’s inherently complex formula, Cullerton told the Sun- Times Editorial Board. Poorer districts would end up with a greater share of state aid, while wealthier districts could eventually see their shares cut.
Cullerton called it an improvement on earlier funding bills that left too many downstate and suburban districts with less money.
The cash- strapped Chicago schools could come out with an additional $ 300 million — about $ 200 million for pension costs plus an additional $ 100 million in state aid, Cullerton said. That’s even if special block grants to Chicago Public Schools go away, he said. Right now, CPS is projected to lose about $ 78 million next year.
Cullerton had few details about the actual formula. He said the Illinois State Board of Education would have to run numbers for each school district to see whether they would gain or lose state money allocated for poor children. None would lose money the first year, but that would cost the state an extra $ 400 million, Cullerton said. Further losses would phase out over three more years.
Manar did not return calls and messages seeking comment. He is expected to release details at a press conference at 1 p. m. Tuesday.
Gov. Bruce Rauner, deadlocked with Democratic leaders on the state’s budget, said he wouldn’t sup- port any education funding formula in which any districts lost money. He has proposed an extra $ 55 million to fully fund schools to the state’s $ 6,119 minimum per student. His office declined to comment Monday.
On Monday, Senate Leader Christine Radogno ( R- Lemont) told reporters she didn’t think it was acceptable to hold up the state’s K- 12 funding any longer as CPS seeks help from Springfield to fill a massive budget gap.
“What the governor has proposed is, and what we did last year, wisely in my opinion, is fund education,” she said. “And the governor is suggesting fully funding — for the first time in seven years — the foundation level,” instead of pro- rating it.
“We are all interested in re- engaging in the process of looking at the school formula in a much broader way,” she said.
Cullerton denied the Democratic proposal was a Chicago bailout.
“Whatever formula we have, it will be the same formula for the whole state and will help downstate tremendously,” he said.
He believed it could draw support from the Chicago Teachers Union and CPS, which have not yet agreed on how the complicated formula might be rewritten. The two sides are mired in ongoing contract talks. The CTU just finished a one- day strike protesting a lack of adequate state funding and could launch a traditional contract strike in mid-May.
But CTU legislative coordinator Stacy Davis Gates wasn’t ready to commit any union support without seeing details of the proposed changes, including their effect on CPS. The union has been calling for new progressive sources of revenue for schools.
“I do know that we have a vision for the types of schools that students in Chicago deserve, with librarians and libraries, art, music, physical education, recess,” she said. “We’re anxiously awaiting the release of the bill and to see how it fits in overall with this vision of Chicago.”
CPS CEO Forrest Claypool has been banging a drum about joining hands with the CTU to pressure Springfield to help poor children in Chicago and elsewhere in the state. CPS was forced to borrow $ 725 million this spring at exorbitant interest rates to keep schools operating and asked principals to slow spending this spring as the district squirrels away cash to pay more than $ 600 million in June toward teacher pensions.
In an emailed statement, CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner wrote: “As we have been advocating for more than a year, everyone — Springfield, teachers and Chicago taxpayers — must be part of the solution to CPS’ budget crisis, and all solutions lead through Springfield. We’re encouraged to hear that there might be serious consideration of funding reform, and we look forward to carefully reviewing the details.”
“WE’RE ANXIOUSLY AWAITING THE RELEASE OF THE BILL AND TO SEE HOW IT FITS IN OVERALL WITH THIS VISION OF CHICAGO.”
STACY DAVIS GATES, CTU legislative coordinator