Report: District U-46 Is A ‘Bright Spot of Future Investment’

The non-profit lender and public policy group IFF named School District U-46 a `Bright Spot for Future Investment,’ in a report released last week.

The Report, Raising Quality, Promoting Equity: An Analysis of Location, Performance, and Investment in Illinois Public Schools, maps the substantial need for high-performing public schools across the state and provides essential data on both the adequacy and equity of school funding levels, as well as on the effectiveness of district spending on student achievement, according to school officials.

Its findings strongly reinforce the state’s recent adoption of an evidence-based funding formula to ensure that all schools have sufficient funds to provide a quality education and recommend a more holistic approach to school improvement.

The report, based on 2013-14 data, highlights the state’s second-largest district saying “SD U-46, which was nearly keeping pace with the state academically despite a funding gap and a high-need student body, had high return on investment, according to a School District U-46 e-newsletter.

It also had one of the lowest ratios between overhead and instructional spending in the state: for every dollar spent in the classroom, SD U-46 spent only thirty-one cents on overhead, according to a School District U-46 e-newsletter.

Overall, K-12 operational expenditure in this high-poverty, low-wealth school district had a high impact on reading and math outcomes. It seems likely to put additional funds to good use, but the district appeared to be tapping out its local resources in 2013-14 and would need additional state support in order to provide students, teachers, and school leaders with more resources.”

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