School Funding Proposal Picks Up Support

Jim Anderson -- Illinois Radio Network

A handful of school superintendents are jumping on board a proposal to change the way the state distributes money to school districts.

They’re for S.B. 16, sponsored by State Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill), which adjusts the funding formula to take into account not only the level of poverty in a school district, but also the amount of taxable property wealth, or lack thereof.

“We don’t believe that children in this state should be penalized due to their Zip Code, and we believe that’s what’s been happening, and we believe that this bill and this formula will help fix that,” David Lett, the superintendent in Pana, said at a news conference in the Capitol with a dozen other superintendents.

The superintendents are also against “proration,” which is what happens because the state funds only 89 percent of the foundation level.  The districts that rely the most on state aid end up hurting the most when state funding is short of the level recommended by the Education Funding Advisory Board; this bill also aims to fix that.