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Congrats, you won, so spare us the tears

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Illinois

* There is no doubt that the folks at School District 300 in Carpentersville did a bang-up job in their effort against extending Sears’ tax package without modifications. They used protests, massive grassroots organization, visits to Springfield and a harsh media campaign to hammer their area legislators and pressure the General Assembly to bend to their will. For example…

Parents, students and staff staged two massive rallies, one in Springfield and another in a high school gym with TV cameras rolling. They circulated petitions, organized letter-writing and phone campaigns and went door-to-door in the Capitol, catching legislators on the way to the bathroom, if necessary.

At an October rally, attended by about 3,000 supporters, Bregy closed his remarks with a quote from the movie Independence Day. “We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight.”

The signs in front of all District 300 buildings last week read: “NOT GOING QUIETLY.”

Some legislators didn’t like it at all. Rep. David Harris (R-Arlington Heights) scolded the district in a committee hearing for its antics. But that didn’t stop the protests.

* Throughout it all, D300 portrayed itself as a financially struggling district in desperate need of cash. Here’s the latest such story from the Chicago News Cooperative…

As chief financial officer for one of Illinois’s largest school districts, Cheryl Crates watches the money.

Early this year, she was counting on $14 million more rolling in for Community Unit District 300, after the expiration of a tax break at Sears Holdings’ 800-acre headquarters in Hoffman Estates; it is the Sears corporate campus, which includes an on-site auto center, walking trails and even a hair salon for employees. When Crates met with Hoffman Estates officials in March, she learned the money might not be coming after all because the tax break might not expire.

“I cried,” Crates said. “The school district has cut for the last two years. We’ve had no wage increases, and we were planning on that revenue to bring down our class sizes. We have one algebra class with 47 students. It was devastating.” […]

“Nobody around here has cut as much as we have,” Crates said. “Our neighboring high school district spends $5,000 more per student than we can,” she added.

OK, first of all, according to the state, D300’s average high school class size is 23.1. That rose from 19.7 percent the previous year, but it’s way down from a high of 29.8 percent in 2004. Elementary class size is 22.7.

The closest school district to D300 is Elgin School District 46. It does not spend $5,000 more per student than D300, not even close. It actually spends less. The Elgin district spends $9,860 per pupil while D300 spends $10,514..

But even though it spends less, Elgin’s high school class size is actually smaller than D300’s, at 19, although its elementary class size is much larger at 25.1. And Elgin’s district has far more children in poverty than D300, at 52 percent vs. D300’s 39.2 percent. Elgin’s graduation rate is 88 percent, while D300’s is a bit higher at 88.9 percent.

* I guess the point is, congrats D300. You did well. But spare me the tears.

* Oh, and another thing. Sen. Michael Noland (D-Elgin) has been D300’s hero throughout all of this. Noland has gone so far as to publicly bash fellow legislators for not toeing the D300 line.

But here’s the rub. Sen. Noland voted against the tax hike last January. The revenues from that tax hike took enormous pressure off school funding. Noland was also one of two Democratic Senators who blocked a borrowing bill which would have helped pay off old bills, including more than $5 million owed to D300 as of September. Some education “hero.”

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 8:42 am

Comments

But Rich, who will think of the Children….

I think you would have to go to some really different districts to find a 5,000 per HS spending difference.

Comment by OneMan Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 9:08 am
–Some legislators didn’t like it at all. Rep. David Harris (R-Arlington Heights) scolded the district in a committee hearing for its antics.–

Would that be the Rep. Harris who cooked up the CME deal, talked up the CME deal, has a seat and trades at CME, but couldn’t vote on the CME deal because he has a “conflict.”

Conflict? Not so you’d notice.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 9:10 am
===Harris who cooked up the CME deal,===

The CME deal was concocted by Senate President Cullerton. It was only marginally changed, to phase it in over time, and Harris says he recused himself from that part of the tax negotiations.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 9:12 am
Well thank God we can now trust a lawmaker’s word that he took ethical action in closed-door discussions.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 9:19 am
===deal was concocted===

Or, “painstakingly pieced together,” as his spokesperson says.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 9:19 am
As good as the campaign was, it had plenty of room for improvement. For example, they brought at least two tour buses of parents from the district to protest and circulate petitions in Springfield on a non-session day. It seems like if you’re going to get parents to take off work and put their effort into this, you would want to do it on a day when more people would notice.

I was also surprised Bradley didn’t try to blow their “financially struggling” argument out of the water. It must have been hard for a southern Illinois legislator to hear someone claim hardship when they spends so much more per student than the schools in his district.

Comment by Dirty Red Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 9:38 am
While they were effective, I do not think it is ever a good idea to teach schoolchildren that an effective way to lobby an issue in Springfield is to use tactics like name-calling and intimidation. I encountered a representative of a parent group who was threatening, and that’s not cool. The folks leading that movement had a responsibility to show the kids they brought to Springfield that you can communicate your issues effectively - with poise and respect for the process. Too bad they missed the mark.

Comment by Get a Grip Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 9:46 am
It should be noted that the District 300 people actually live, work and raise families in the neighborhood and have a bigger stake in the area than anybody else.

“Saving Sears,” (again), makes for heroic headlines and political press conferences, but whether or not it’s good public policy is certainly open for debate.

Sears sits on probably the best piece of underdeveloped prime Illinois real estate since the Glenview Naval Air Base and Ft. Sheridan went up for grabs.

Who’s to say that it couldn’t produce more jobs and economic activity if it were taken off the corporate welfare rolls?

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 9:56 am
Whomever can hypocritically whine the loudest?

Comment by sal-says Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 10:01 am
Wordslinger, and who’s to say that whatever developer who would take over the Sears property wouldn’t ask for and receive even greater tax breaks?
We could appeal this all the way to the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Moot Court. Meanwhile, back in the real world, 6,100 people work there now. Seems like a bit of a gamble to have them all leave on the hopes of a resurgent suburban real estate market.
Then again, it’d make a nice site for a casino.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 10:14 am
“The revenues from that tax hike took enormous pressure off school funding.”

It did? For who, the state or the school districts? Most of the reporting out of west suburban school districts is they’re setting aside extra money in anticipation of the deadbeat state again not paying on a timely basis, same as it ever was. In some cases this is millions of dollars.

Sen. Nolan voted NO to taking on debt to pay off debt should be commended. The state’s habit of borrowing reminds me of the alcoholic who just needs a good stiff drink once in a while to shore up his continuing resolve to quit drinking.

Comment by Mark Thoman Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 10:24 am
Michelle, my point was that there were clearly a lot of folks in the neighborhood who didn’t believe that another giveaway to Sears was in their community’s interest. They’re the ones footing the bill for that undeveloped piece of real estate.

Sears got their first handout when Big Jim was governor. When does it end with them? Even the banks and auto companies paid back their handouts.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 10:26 am
Thoman, try imagining school funding problems with $7 billion less in state revenues. Then, try imagining that you have a clue.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 10:26 am
“I think you would have to go to some really different districts to find a 5,000 per HS spending difference.”

Finding a $5000 difference is not hard. D300 spends $5583 per high school student according to the latest data from the ISBE. Add $5000 to that and you get $10563. There are seventeen (17) high schools in Illinois that spend more than that per student. The highest spending schools are in Niles Twp CHSD 219 where they spend an average of $12563 per student.

Lets take another comparison. The lowest spending high school, according to the most recent data, in Illinois is Farmington High School in CUSD 265. They spend $3798 per student. Add $5000 to get $8798 and you will find more than 50 high schools spending more per student.

As a side note, more high school students at Farmington High meet or exceed ISBE standards than the students at two of the three high schools in D300.

Comment by Left Out Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 10:27 am
As a proud graduate of Farmington High School I can only proclaim that, once again: “It’s a GREAT day to be a Farmer.”

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 10:37 am
===D300 spends $5583 per high school student ===

You forgot to factor in admin costs, which double that amount.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 10:56 am
I wish Dr. Crates has just said that it’s Hoffman Estates that spends $5000 more/HS student. They can, because THEIR school district isn’t losing tax $’s to the EDA, D300 is. They were able to get the State to take our taxes for their township at NO cost to them, travesty that the legislature would stand for that. What year are the State’s statistics for? There is only 2 classes out of 30 in our D300 elem. school that has 22 or less and they are Dual Language and couldn’t add students. Kindergarten is at 28 and it gets as high as 37 in the higher grades.

Comment by D300 Parent Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 11:19 am
I agree that D300 spends lots of money on things other than instruction. In fact for D300 ony 43.2% of spending is for instruction while the other is for things like tort, transportation, building maintance, etc. These ‘overhead’ expenses more than double the cost to the taxpayer but in my opinion provide the students with little educational value. It also seems unfair to me to compare total spending at D300 to other Illinois high schools where they have instructional expenses, as a percentage, half as much (yes some high schools in Illinois spend only 20% of their money on instruction and the rest on other things).

Hoffman Estates High School in HSD 211 spends $9263 per student. This school has fewer students meeting or exceeding ISBE standards than at Harry Jacobs High School in D 300.

All of the number quoted are for the 2010-2011 school year and ISBE testing cycle. They achievment values are based on the spring 2011 tests of 11th grade students.

Comment by Left Out Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 12:14 pm
There needs to be a SERIOUS overhaul of whatever news source is listing our average class size at 22. Sure, maybe an “average” when you include the special ed classes of 3 students which, at this point, have become an unfunded mandate. My daughter’s D300 Second grade class has 35 students in it. I was there yesterday running their classroom holiday party and I passed out treats and craft supplies to each and every one of them. D211 spends almost 5K more per student than D300. I’ve seen their class sizes first hand while teaching in their classrooms. You know D211, right? The school district that Hoffman Estates’ residents attend? The same Hoffman Estates that EARNS revenue by “administrating” the EDA, while D300 loses out. Why did Hoffman Estates not have to take on any of the tax burden? Whose palms did McLeod grease? Can you blame me for assuming anything else? D300 has cut our budget by 14 million in the last two years. We have raised our own taxes to cover the shortfall that is courtesy of this jacked up state that can’t can’t pay the millions it owes D300. We did it because we had to. I don’t whine about my taxes. It is pathetic for you to tell us to “spare you the tears” when we never asked for anyone to feel sorry for us in the first place. We saw an injustice and myself and many others got our butts down to Springfield on our own dimes to fix it. Some parents were angered to the point of being rude. Many were fearful that another tax increase to support D300 would cause them to lose their homes and they made statements that reflected poorly on our cause. These people acted independently on a cause that affects them. The fact remains, our D300 administration was never less than polite, truthful, and respectful. The tongue lashing by Harris and Bradley was unearned by Michael Bregy. Our superintendent is an education expert, not a politician, but he did the best HE could. Too bad we can’t say the same for our legislators. Just because there are other districts who are in as bad a shape as we are, or worse, does not somehow make the shape we are in “okay”! We don’t want your tears. We have plenty of our own. Things suck everywhere, but no one will ever accuse us of not doing something about it. All we want is to do our part in fixing an incredibly broken system of government. You haven’t seen the last of us because our work is not done.

Comment by AGoebbert Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 12:24 pm
===There needs to be a SERIOUS overhaul of whatever news source is listing our average class size at 22.===

Check your state report card. Links are provided for everything. Click them.

Also, the avg does not include special ed classes.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 12:27 pm
The reality is that in making public waves and initially defining the problem, D300 and their lobbyist definitely helped their cause. Many legislators got it and were ready to do the best they could for D300. The subsequent arrogant, misinforming, and ego-driven actions of Bregy and his cohorts in Springfield almost blew the deal for D300. If Rep. Bradley hadn’t finally shut Bregy up at committee, the votes supporting D300 might have been lost.

Comment by walkinfool Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 2:12 pm
According to D300 Annual Report 2009-2010, page 8, Student to Teacher ratios are Elementary 19.8:1, Secondary 21.1:1.

What happened to the demand to audit the EDA?

Comment by bigdaddygeo Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 2:23 pm
Bregy “is an education expert, not a politician”, about as much as Joe Walsh. LOL

Comment by walkinfool Friday, Dec 16, 11 @ 2:28 pm