The way Illinois determines funding for schools has not changed since 1997, when Illinois created its Education Funding Advisory Board, which recommends foundational level of funding for schools statewide. Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, plans to change that.
On Wednesday, Manar announced a revised education bill that modifies the way funds are distributed to individual school districts, after Gov. Bruce Rauner shot down his last attempt.
Despite Rauner’s proposal to simply put more money in the education pot, Manar said during Wednesday’s press conference that more money won’t change how funds are inequitably distributed to schools under the current formula.
“We have the least equitable formula in the country,” Manar said. “Five years ago, it wasn’t as inequitable, but five years from now it will be more inequitable without change.”
Manar’s bill involves changing the statewide formula to fit the individual needs of school districts, combining components of his earlier education bill into an empty shell bill already pending in the Senate.
During the first year, the change would cost the state an estimated $400 million, meaning school districts wouldn’t lose any money. Over a course of four years, the “hold harmless” provision would be phased out.
The proposed bill encompasses the areas that Rauner has called for immediate action, including reducing reliance on property taxes, holding school districts harmless of any changes, and putting more money into the education fund.
“We have things all over the school code that are intended to appease certain school districts as opposed to others. We have competing interests when it comes to education funding, and what gets left behind is the idea that we should be driving resources to districts with high rates of poverty and high need,” Manar said.
Manar says education is one area where bipartisan members can agree to move forward with a spending plan that’s balanced for the state.
“We have seen over the past years the effects of inequity, the effects of poverty in our classrooms, growing poverty in some parts of the state unchecked by state government” Manar said. “It will continue to drive that gap in both spending and achievement without change from policy makers in Springfield.”
High school students across Illinois joined Manar in the Statehouse, emphasizing the need for funding reform.
“My classmates and I want to have the same opportunities as everyone else,” said Derek Lahey, a senior at Taylorville High School. “A zip code should not determine his or her educational opportunity.”
“A state wide problem calls for a statewide solution,” Manar said. “We think Senate Bill 231 is the answer.”
Contact Brittany Hilderbrand at intern@illinoitimes.com.
This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2016.
