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* But maybe not a bad idea. Dusty Rhodes…
Illinois’ new school funding plan — approved in August and hailed as a historic change — relies on the legislature to give every school the same state aid it got last year, plus push another $350 million through a new formula. That $350 million is crucial because it’s the part designed to address the inequity that has plagued Illinois schools for decades.
State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat from Shorewood, wants to make sure lawmakers don’t skip that step.
She filed a measure today tying it to a tax break for people who provide private school scholarships. […]
Since the General Assembly has a history of “pro-rating” school funding, Bertino-Tarrant wanted to find a way to hold lawmakers to their $350 million promise to public schools. Her legislation would nix those private school tax credits any fiscal year the General Assembly fails to appropriate full funding for public schools.
Bertino-Tarrant’s measure, Senate Bill 2236, was filed in response to Senate Bill 1947, which includes a five year pilot program that would award a 75 percent tax credit to donors that contribute to scholarship funds for students to attend non-public schools. The credits are capped at of up to $1 million per taxpayer and $75 million statewide.
Bertino-Tarrant said this could take valuable taxpayer dollars away from Illinois’ public schools especially if the minimum funding level is not met.
“I’m proud that the General Assembly worked in a bipartisan manner to put our children first, now we need to take the next step,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “Since we embarked on this mission, our goal has remained funding our schools in a way that guarantees our children are provided an excellent education regardless of their zip code. This initiative solidifies our mission by keeping Illinois’ children our top priority.”
The new school funding mechanism outlined in Senate Bill 1947 established an evidence-based funding formula to dispense state dollars to public schools. The formula institutes a base funding minimum for school districts that serves as a hold harmless to ensure schools do not lose state dollars the next year.
Any additional funding the General Assembly appropriates is distributed through a tier-based system that prioritizes the state’s poorest and disadvantaged schools. The funding plan outlined in the new law includes a minimum funding level of $350 million in additional funding each year, with the goal of meeting the total statewide adequacy target over a period of time.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 11:37 am
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Previous Post: Today’s number: 0.02 percent
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Senator JBT is an education policy powerhouse. Not a lot of people know she is actually a DOCTOR in education. Great bill.
Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 11:42 am
This proposal is a fair way to make sure the funding reformers get what was supposed to be their quid for the quo of the tuition scholarship program.
Comment by anon2 Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 11:46 am
I am proud to say Senator Bertino-Tarrant is my Senator. Prior to winning the seat,in 2007, Bertino-Tarrant unseated the incumbent to become the Will County Regional Superintendent of Schools. The Will County Regional Superintendent heads the Regional Office of Education (ROE) for Will County. The office acts as an intermediate between the State Board of Education and local school districts.
Comment by Honeybadger Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 11:52 am
Senator is a former regional superintendent of education so she _knows_ from experience what happens to schools when promises are not kept. Totally agree with tying the non-public school scholarship grants.
Comment by Nearly Normal Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 12:21 pm
Credentials matter.
Comment by BPWMAN Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 12:45 pm
Considering the huge number of school districts Illinois maintains why are we protecting districts that lose population and/or students. We should be encouraging consolidation.
Comment by Downstate Illinois Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 1:09 pm
=== we should be encouraging consolidation ===
Districts with a relatively good property base aren’t likely to voluntarily consolidate with poorer neighboring districts.
Comment by anon2 Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 1:29 pm
Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant expresses a very legitimate concern that the evidence based model passed by the Assembly is potentially not fully funded. I do not agree with the five year pilot program that would award a 75 percent tax credit to donors that contribute to scholarship funds for students to attend non-public schools. But to pass a law that suddenly eliminates a tax credit for those who contribute to scholarship funds because the General Assembly has passed yet another underfunded education plan is unseemly.
Let’s be clear here, Senator Manar, the School Management Alliance, the Democrat leadership in the Senate, and mostly liberal school reform supporters that floated the evidence based model knew what it would cost relative to the revenue estimates based on the limited tax increases the Assembly also passed. It is all part of a theory of passing a mandate that is partly unfunded and hoping down the road the mandate itself will generate a tax increase. That theory does not work in practice.
Comment by Rod Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 3:52 pm
=We should be encouraging consolidation.=
So long as you do not mind rural kids traveling 1-2 hours each way on country roads during the winter months.
You may want to check on transportation funding, those buses don’t run well without fuel and it gets harder with additional miles and the state only delivering 25% of entitled funding for transportation.
Will your kids be on one of those buses?
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 3:53 pm
This can be viewed as an attempt to remove K-12 from the vicissitudes of the state budget process. When the state has done little to address its long-term deficit problem, why should one function of government be immunized from the pain of correcting this situation.+
Comment by Cynic Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 4:35 pm
@T S Mill
===We should be encouraging consolidation.=
So long as you do not mind rural kids traveling 1-2 hours each way on country roads during the winter months. ==
The consolidation value can be obtained just as easily by shared services rather than just closing schools, TS. for example, a county’s worth of school procurement could be performed by a single co-op where they can minimize staffing and get economies of scale. Non-daily classes such as art and music could also be shared,as could some special ed services. Pooling maintenance and janitorial services outsourced should also help. Sharing facilities sometimes makes sense as well. I remember a few years back Lockport HS was asking taxpayers to kick in about $80 million for a new school while neighboring Lincoln Way was CLOSING brand new schools. Are you pooling these services already?
Comment by Arizona Bob Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 6:27 pm