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The very long ramp ahead for evidence-based school funding

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Illinois

“[The] total investment going into K-12 Education is $3.7 billion less than what the evidence indicates is needed for every school district to have the resources it requires to educate the students it serves,” [Ralph Martire, the executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability] said.

Martire co-wrote the evidence based funding model which is designed to use certain metrics to determine the amount of money schools need to give students a proper education. Those metrics include total enrollment, and the number of English learners, low income students and students with disabilities. It passed in 2018 under Republican Governor Bruce Rauner. […]

The model is supposed to be fully funded by 2028 but he said now, it won’t reach that until 2040.

“We’re very far away from fully funding the model, and you skip another year, skip another two, that means another generation of kids has to go through a K-12 education system that doesn’t have adequate resources to implement the evidence based practices that have been shown to allow every student to receive the kind of education they need to achieve academically,” Martire said.

* I asked Martire for an explanation of that evidence-based funding ramp…

The EBF establishes two ongoing funding metrics for state-level investments in K-12 Education. First, the EBF sets a target of having state-level formula funding for K-12 Education increase on a year-to-year basis by at least $300 million (the “Minimum Target Level”). Note that is $50 million less than the $350 million amount actually specified in Section (g) of the EBF. The reason for this is the Property Tax Relief Grant or “PTRG” established in paragraph 9.5 of Section (g) of the legislation. Under the statute, the dollar amount of any year-to-year increase in funding the state appropriates to the EBF in a given fiscal year that is in excess of $300 million, up to and including $350 million, is dedicated to the PTRG—not to formula funding.

In addition to creating the aforesaid target for increasing K-12 funding on a year-to-year basis, the EBF also committed the state to fund the formula fully within 10 years of its initial implementation, which would be June 30, 2027. According to ISBE, at the start of FY 2023, the EBF was underfunded statewide by some $3.68 billion. At its current rate of increasing EBF funding, the state is not close to being on track for satisfying the obligation to fund the EBF fully by 2027.

Figure 1 shows that if the state continues the practice of increasing year-to-year funding for the EBF at the Minimum Target Level, the legislation will not be fully funded in real, inflation adjusted terms, until FY 2038, which is 20 years after the EBF was first implemented—or double what is required in statute.

To meet the statutory deadline of fully funding the EBF in real, inflation adjusted terms by 2027, starting in the 2023-2024 school year and continuing thereafter, Illinois would have to increase K-12 funding by $912 million each year—or more than triple the current Minimum Target Level—as shown in Figure 2.

* Martire referenced this issue in a recent Daily Herald op-ed…

Unfortunately, according to the Illinois State Board of Education, the current amount of K-12 funding in Illinois is some $3.7 billion less than what the evidence indicates is needed for each school to have the resources to educate the children it serves. And Bailey wants to cut school funding?

Even more curious is Bailey’s head-scratcher of a rationale for reducing state spending on education. According to Bailey, the high-quality academic programming offered in excellent schools like New Trier — you know curriculum designed to ensure students who graduate high school are college and career ready — isn’t needed in downstate communities like Clay County, because “Most, many of our children, some of our children are going to the military. They’re going right into the workforce,” where they get employed as ‘pipe fitters,’ ‘welders,’ and ‘linemen.’”

Wait, what? There’s so much wrong with that thinking it’s impossible to unpack it all in one column.

And then he tries.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 12:50 pm

Comments

The last person who should give advice and commentary on education is Darren Bailey. His vision for students does not provide options for students’ choice.

Students pursue advanced training in the trades need strong foundational skills in problem-solving and logic.

It is not Bailey’s decision to make. Hubris.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 1:09 pm
So the ISBE is saying that as of today the schools are underfunded by a total of 3.6 billion? I would like to see how much each school district is underfunded that might make it easier to understand. The whole funding of education and real estate taxes needs to be reformed and consolidating should be done. But it will never happen. And what Bailey thinks is irrelevant

Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 1:21 pm
Sounds like Bailey might have benefitted from an adequately funded educational system.

On second thought, I doubt it.

Comment by PublicServant Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 1:26 pm
==how much each school district is underfunded==

That’s a huge part of it. No doubt some districts are hugely underfunded while others much less or not at all so. Seems like the major focus of this plan is to try and close the gap in funding.

Comment by The Velvet Frog Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 1:48 pm
EBF Funding Gap: $3.7 billion

Projected Fair Tax Amendment new revenue: $3.6 billion

Missed opportunity.

Comment by DuPage Guy Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 2:06 pm
Advance Illinois has where each district is in terms of actual funding versus the EBF adequate funding level.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/advance.illinois/viz/Evidence-BasedFundinginIllinois2017-2021/Intro

Comment by Dunwich Snorer Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 2:16 pm
== Sounds like Bailey might have benefitted from an adequately funded educational system. ==

Sad thing is, he did; at least for his AAS degree. Community Colleges were really well funded in the mid-1980s. With the state kicking in a third of the college’s operating cost, plus local property taxes kicking in another third, he probably paid around $1500 in tuition, fees, and book rentals over the two-ish years he was enrolled at Lake Land. Less if he got a trades scholarship.

Comment by Leap Day William Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 2:29 pm
Dunwich, thanks for the link. I see my district is at 71%. Several years ago voters (not including me) approved a tax increase for athletic facilities, They sure love their football team.

Comment by very old soil Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 2:42 pm
= I would like to see how much each school district is underfunded that might make it easier to understand. =

That figure is available here:

https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/

What the data does not tell you is what districts receive from the state. The closer to 100% the less they receive from the state.

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 3:32 pm
The FY2023 EBF payouts are here: https://www.isbe.net/_layouts/15/Download.aspx?SourceUrl=/Documents/FY23-EBF-Quick-Facts.xlsx. Tier 1 districts are the furthest from adequate funding and receive the highest allocation. Tier 4 districts receive the lowest allocations. For example, Rockford receives just under $7K per student, while New Trier receives a little over $600. Rockford is at 69% of adequacy; New Trier is at 195% of adequacy.

Comment by WingGirl Wednesday, Oct 26, 22 @ 11:52 pm