In June 2016, Illinois policy-makers proudly announced a compromise which would “fully fund” K-12 education and allow for a six-month, stop-gap budget for the state. Despite assurances to the contrary, the term “fully fund” has been narrowly applied to only include the general state aid (GSA) formula. Fully funding K-12 must also include the payment of mandated quarterly categorical payments which provide revenue to schools for things such as special education, transportation, bilingual education, early childhood education, driver education and more.
The education community and the general public were led to believe that K-12 education would be fully funded. This is a gross misrepresentation of the facts, as quarterly mandated categorical payments have not been disbursed. Additionally, fully funding general state aid at a foundation level of $6,119, which is the same funding level as 2010, is a mere 66 percent of the recommendation of the Education Funding Advisory Board whose job it is to determine the cost of educating two-thirds of non-at-risk students. Compounding irresponsible funding practices is the continual erosion of CPPRT funds, another source of local support of schools. The Legislature has exacerbated the impact of state funding negligence while misleading the public into thinking they have met their obligations to the children in our state.
The state of Illinois has not disbursed the last two quarterly categorical payments required of them to school districts leaving districts in a very difficult situation. To illustrate the gravity of the situation, VOICE (Visions on Issues and Choices in Education), on behalf of its member school districts covering all or parts of Bureau, DeKalb, LaSalle, Marshall and Livingston counties) has compiled data from 36 school districts, two special education cooperatives, and one regional office of education. To date, an astounding $10.2 million of categorical funding has been vouchered by the Illinois State Board of Education and is owed VOICE member educational entities.
If education is to be a priority in the Illinois, funding for it must be a priority as well. It takes more than complex formulas to fund education adequately. It takes the will to do so.
Daniel F. Marenda, VOICE
coordinator, on behalf of VOICE
Peru