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CPS begs to differ on “Rauner’s bridge to nowhere”

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Illinois

* The CPS spokesperson saw my earlier post on Gov. Rauner and Chicago school funding and sent this…

Rich:

Attached is a chart showing how every district in Illinois fares under the various proposals. You’ll see that CPS is not at the top of the list - in fact, we’re #52. And the only reason we rank so high is because we receive so much less than our fair share of funding under the existing system.

Governor Rauner’s bridge to nowhere leaves these districts high and dry, while both the House and Senate passed bills giving the students in greatest need an additional $700 million in funding.

And to your point about CPS needing to be part of the solution, CPS has significant skin in the game – in just the past few months alone. In January, CPS laid off or closed more than 400 administrative positions. CPS made unprecedented mid-year cuts to schools that will save the district $85 million this year and $125 million next year. All employees have been furloughed this school year, saving the district another $30 million. And those are just off the top of my head.

Emily

As mentioned above, the attachment (click here) shows that CPS ranks 52nd out of 922 school districts with the House Democrats’ funding bill. That’s still in the upper quadrant, but other schools clearly fare better.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 8, 16 @ 1:08 pm

Comments

Fibs, Darn Fibs and Statistics

Politicians will present information in the manner that supports their message. Providing a complete picture is not in their best interest. Review with a critical thought.

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Jun 8, 16 @ 1:30 pm
It’d be more helpful in a spreadsheet and not PDF, but the facts are clear no matter what way you slice them, the governor’s supposed support for education is nothing but duds.

Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, Jun 8, 16 @ 2:01 pm
Good coverage on The 21st today- education funding

http://wuis.org/programs/21st

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 8, 16 @ 2:03 pm
I’m always a fan of trying to keep things simple (where possible) but as I recall the school funding formula is anything but. The chart shows differences in how much would be spent per school district but it doesn’t show me the FY16 or FY15 total spending amounts. I presume CPS already gets the largest share of the money which makes sense since it has the largest number of students attending. What would be the fallout if we just set a monetary number per student and allocated money across the board that way? Now it just comes down to attendance in terms of money spent. The number can be adjusted to a greater amount if the student is determined to be needy. I think if the formula was simplified and applied equally to all districts then nobody can complain they are getting a bad deal, it’s the same formula for everyone.

Comment by Maximus Wednesday, Jun 8, 16 @ 2:16 pm
Maximus-
That’s how the current formula works, and basically every other proposal (except for evidence based), they just differ on the little details such as how much to weight low income, how to measure local wealth.

Comment by m Wednesday, Jun 8, 16 @ 2:37 pm
Maximus-
Should add that’s how they’re supposed to work. CPS has special deals in all the plans, Block Grant, etc. Downstate gets pensions paid.

Comment by m Wednesday, Jun 8, 16 @ 2:37 pm