1. How are Illinois schools funded?
Metro Community Project
March 2015

2. School Spending
per student, per year
New Trier
Township H.S.
$21,372
CPS
high schools
$13,791

3. Illinois State Constitution
• A fundamental goal of the People of the State is
the educational development of all persons to the
limits of their capacities.
• The State shall provide for an efficient system of
high quality public educational institutions and
services.
• The State has the primary responsibility for
financing the system of public education.

7. Courses /
Academic Programs /
Extracurriculars
What do the differences in school funding mean?

13. Strong Teaching /
Leadership /
Support Staff /
Services
What do the differences in school funding mean?

14. What do the differences in school funding mean?
School facilities:
Physical environment /
Type and design
of facilities

15. What do the differences in school funding mean?
Technology /
Instructional materials

16. Where does the money come from?

17. So how do we end up with these
extreme differences in school funding?
Property Taxes

20. Winnetka
● Higher property values
● More $ raised through
school property taxes.
Logan Square
● Lower property values
● Less $ raised through
school property taxes.

21. Lower-income areas often have
higher school property tax rates,
but less school funding.
New Trier
H.S. District
1.67%
school
tax rate
/ $100
Chicago
Public Schools
2.58%
school
tax rate
/ $100

22. Illinois Ranks Near the Bottom
(47th place) in STATE Contribution
to K-12 Public Education Funding

23. • Illinois sets a “foundation level” for
school funding.
• The state guarantees that a school’s
funds will not fall below this level…
Guess how much it is?

24. $6,119
Remember that New Trier spends
over $21,000 per student per year

25. What could fix disparities in school funding?
Some ideas…
• Raise the state’s foundation level for
school funding
• Make school funding less reliant on
property taxes
• Implement a progressive state income tax
• Implement a “needs-based” funding
system

26. Who could fix disparities in school funding?

27. Who could fix disparities in school funding?
The State Legislature

28. Illinois State Constitution
• A fundamental goal of the People of the State is
the educational development of all persons to the
limits of their capacities.
• The State shall provide for an efficient system of
high quality public educational institutions and
services.
• The State has the primary responsibility for
financing the system of public education.

30. SB001: School Funding Reform Act 2015
Extra weights for educating students
with greater needs:
More money per student:
• English learners 20% more
• Low-income students 25%-75% more
• Students with disabilities 100% more
• Transportation 6-10% more

31. SB001: School Funding Reform Act 2015
Adjusts for a local community’s
ability to pay extra for their schools
• Communities that can afford extra
resources receive less state funding
• Communities that can’t afford extra
resources receive more state funding

32. SB001: School Funding Reform Act 2015
Requires reporting
of school-level budgets
• Currently only district budgets are included
• Under the new bill, we would be able to
know how much each each school within a
district gets

33. SB001: School Funding Reform Act 2015
The weights for poverty
are not high enough
• Offers more money for low-income
students but…not enough to overcome
obstacles and raise student achievement
• For high-poverty communities, the funding
should be 159% more

34. SB001: School Funding Reform Act 2015
No additional state money for education
• Illinois ranks 47 out of 50 in the portion of
education funded by the state
• Estimated $5 billion short in adequate
education funding
• SB1 does nothing to address this shortfall

35. What we can do
to influence the debate
• Create a “student-based” funding bill
based on actual student needs
• Design and advocate for an Illinois
“Student Bill of Rights”