EducationFundingInequitiesinIllinois

Town Hall Mee+ng March 30, 2016

Teresa Ramos

Timeisnowto+ixIllinois’brokensystemforfundingschools

•  Are we doing enough as a state to make sure every student has access to the resources needed to be successful and supported?

•  Would we seGle on inves+ng only $6,000 in our own child, while

other districts invest $30,000 in their children?

•  If the answers are no, then we must ensure equity in school funding for every child in Illinois

•  The +me is now to fix this broken system

•  We shouldn’t ask another genera+on of children to wait for the great educa+on they deserve

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Illinoishassomeofthelargestincome-basedachievementgapsinthecountry

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Source: NAEP 2015.

Low-income students are less than half as likely to read at grade level at the end of 4th grade as their wealthier peers, and are less than half as likely to perform math at grade level in 8th grade.

Percent of students performing at grade level

20% 18%

55%47%

4th Grade Reading 8th Grade Math

Low-Income Not-Low-Income

Andhasamongtheworstrace-basedachievementgapsinthecountry

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Illinois race-based achievement gaps, NAEP, 2015.

Source: NAEP, 2015.. Advance Illinois Analysis.

Illinois is among the 10 worst states in its white-black achievement gaps in both 4th Grade Reading and 8th Grade Math

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28 percentage point gap

18 percentage point gap

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Researchshowslow-incomestudentshavegreaterneedsthatrequireadditionalresources

•  Low-income students have greater social, emo+onal, and physical needs than do other students

•  Addressing these needs requires addi+onal resources and services to ensure students’ success

•  But in Illinois, these students are actually funded less than other students because of our reliance on local property taxes

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Park Forest Spend: $13,418 Low-Income: 86%

Maywood Melrose Spend: $9,705 Low-Income: 100%

Chicago Spend: $13,433 Low-Income: 92%

Township 113: $20,821 (13%) Bannockburn 106: $20,921 (34%)

Naperville Spend: $13,194 Low-Income: 17%

ButwithinIllinois,ourhighest-povertyschoolsspendlessperstudentthanourlowest-povertyschools

Peoria Spend: $12,929

Low-Income: 90%

Infact,Illinoishasthemostinequitablefundingsysteminthecountry

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NOTE: Low-income students are defined as those quo qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch. Source: Funding Gaps, Educa+on Trust, 2015

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IL spends $0.81 on low-

income students

Ohio spends $1.22 on low-income

students

For each dollar spent on non-low-income students…

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Spending per Student in Illinois 2012

$10,842

$12,882

Schools with Most Students of Color

Schools with Fewest Students of Color

…Andprovides$2,000lessperstudentfordistrictswiththemoststudentsofcolor

Source: Educa+on Trust

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Illinoisisalsonearthebottomnationwideforitsshareofstatefunding

Illinoisisthe4thWorst

Source: United States Census Bureau. Public Educa8on Finances: 2013. June, 2015.

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We need to add more revenue

into an equitable formula

Weneedmoremoneyineducationbutaddingrevenuewithout+ixingtheformulaisn’tasolution

Ending prora+on is a band aid

Illinois’statefundingformuladoesnottargetenoughdollarsbasedonneed.

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ü ü Includedinformula Variableacrosscategory Notincludedinformulaû

% low income (DHS)

District property wealth (EAV)

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Mandated categoricals

Chicago block grants*

Funding source

General State Aid: Formula Grant

Other Funds

All other categoricals

% of state funding

40%

26%

7%

1%

26%

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û û

General State Aid: Poverty Grant

7% ü ü

û û

Source: Illinois State Board of Educa+on Budget, 2015.

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Weneedafundingformulathattargetsdollarswheretheyaremostneeded

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BetterFundingforBetterSchools

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Keyprinciplesshouldunderlieanewfundingformula

Illinois needs a comprehensive funding fix that:

1.  Gets resources to districts based on their students’ needs;

2.  Uses a single, straighoorward model (that ends special deals);

3.  Consistently takes into account school districts’ ability to support local schools with local funds when alloca+ng state dollars;

4.  Funds all districts in the same way, which includes pension parity for Chicago, the only school district in Illinois that does not receive state funding for pensions.

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Current system Integrated formula

GSA formula

Categorical

Supplemental grant

Chicago block

Source: ISBE 2014 Budget Book, ISBE FY13 State Disbursements

A weighted formula means Illinois could combine all GSA and most categoricals and allocate resources according to a single, transparent, integrated formula

Integrated formula

Categorical

Thisformulasimpli+ieshowstatedollarsaredistributed

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