District 204 Discusses Financial Impact of Senate Bill 16

Submitted by Indian Prairie School District 204

Last July, the Illinois Senate Education Funding Advisory Committee was tasked with recommending ways to improve public education funding in Illinois, which has remained unchanged since 1997.

If enacted into law, SB16 will make sweeping changes in how the state funds education and those changes will have a negative impact on District 204.

The state’s current system has multiple funding sources, each with separate rules and regulations. The committee recommended that 96 percent of state education dollars be combined under one funding formula, with the exception of funds for early childhood education, capital projects and special education. The recommendation of creating one funding formula is aimed at providing greater equity among districts throughout the state.

SB16 does not increase the level of education funding, but changes the way in which limited state funding is distributed to school districts. Generally, school districts with higher assessed property values will receive much less state funding. Other districts will receive much more in state funding. As written, SB16 provides a special cost benefit to Chicago Public Schools. Under SB16, the state will now assume teacher pension costs for Chicago Public Schools, which represents a substantial cost savings for the district.

SB16 also does not address the issue of the state not being able to meet its current obligations to fund education. For the past three years, the state has underfunded all school districts by 11 percent.

How will SB16 impact District 204?

The financial impact on our school district is significant. The district’s budget will be reduced by $10.1 million over four years. This is a loss of 41 percent in state revenue. A $10.1 million revenue reduction would equal a loss of approximately 135 teachers. District 204 will have the third largest reduction in state funding among the 862 school districts in Illinois. The district is at the top of the list of DuPage County reductions.

If passed into law, District 204 would once again be placed in a position of reviewing programs and class sizes in order to stay within its budget. Over the past several years, a reduction in funding already forced the district to cut $40 million from its budget. Finding areas outside of the classroom to cut an additional $10.1 million would be difficult.

At $10,636, District 204 already has the lowest operating expenses per pupil for unit districts in DuPage County. The district also operates below the state average of $11,842. Simply put, there aren’t many remaining areas outside of the classroom to cut.

What can you do?

SB16 has already passed the Senate. You can see how your Senator voted here.

It is expected that SB16 will be discussed and possibly voted on by the House this fall. This is where we need your help. We are asking parents to contact your Illinois Representative and ask them to vote no on SB16.

District 204 is served by the following Representatives:

State Representative Darlene Senger (sengerstaterep@gmail.com, 630-420-3008)

State Representative Stephanie Kifowit (stephanie.kifowit@att.net, 630-585-1308)

State Representative Mike Fortner (mike.fortner@sbcglobal.net, 630-293-9344)

State Representative Natalie Manley (repmanley@gmail.com, 815-725-2741)

State Representative Tom Cross, (815-254-0000)

Additional resources on SB16

Legislative Education Network of DuPage County’s presentation to District 204’s Board of Education on Sept. 8, 2014 is below. You can also watch the Video.

A list of DuPage County school districts and the financial impact of SB16 is below.

Sept. 8, 2014 Board of Education Presentation (pdf)

Impact of SB16 on DuPage School Districts (pdf)