State’s failure to pay fuels crises
State’s failure to pay fuels crises
February 10, 2010 by IEA Communications
School districts statewide are looking for ways to fill budget gaps created by the state of Illinois’ failure to make its payments to schools in a timely manner.School boards and superintendents are looking at cutting teachers, increasing class sizes and in some schools cutting foreign language education, sports, agriculture programs, music and a variety of other extra-curricular activities.
In the Southwestern School District, 175-square mile area in Macoupin and Jersey counties, frustrated school board members opened the floor to suggestions from its residents on how it can cut more than $2.3 million from its budget next year – a hole left from money the state has yet to pay it.
The cut encompasses about one-sixth of the district’s total budget. To cope, a variety of measures have been proposed, including laying off one-quarter of the teaching staff, cutting all sports, band at the grade and middle school levels, slashing all aide positions, eliminating the very strong Future Farmers of America program and other cuts.
About 700 local residents showed up to the forum to share their support for teachers, the district and to make other suggestions that ran from the area starting its own local bartering system to holding large-scale fundraisers to suing the state of Illinois for breach of contract. (See a video report on the crisis in the Southwestern School District)
Jane Winter Clark, director of the Peoria Area Special Education Cooperative, said the state is $1 million behind in payments it owes the co-op. To plug the budget hole, the 17 districts that make up the co-op have agreed to prepay their fees to the co-op by a month, adding to each individual district’s own financial struggles.
Winter Clark said the co-op is in a bind. It is not a taxing body. It doesn’t own property it can borrow against or sell. It has no way to raise its own money. It must rely on local districts to fill the hole because state and federal law require students with special needs to be served.
“There’s not much to cut. We could cut back on a certain level of service and we could cut out a certain level of services and we could shift services to local districts but these are services students are required by law to have so where do we cut? We don’t.” (See a report on the crisis in the Peoria Area Special Education Cooperative )
The problem is definitely not limited to downstate.
Charles Baker, acting superintendent at the Wheaton-Warrenville School District, said his district is looking at an $8.6 million deficit this year. The crisis has been caused by a faulty school funding structure combined with nationwide economic problems and compounded by problems within the state legislature.
“The state of Illinois alone is on the brink of bankruptcy as we know it and that financial crisis has had a direct impact on our school district,” he said, adding that the district has heard the state also intends to reduce its per-pupil foundation level funding by as much as $500 next year. If it does, the Wheaton-Warrenville deficit jumps from $6.8 million to $17 million “overnight,” Baker said.
“The citizens of this community and communities we serve cannot carry on their backs the individual tax burden of these schools. The state has to step up. They have to do something,” he said.
Districts all over Illinois are facing similar crises. The following are taken from headlines in newspapers from southern to northern Illinois just in the past several weeks:
–Elgin Area School District U-46 had already trimmed millions from its budget over the past 18 months. It turns out it wasn’t enough. The district is looking at an additional $40 million in cuts that have to be made prior to the start of next school year.
–Georgetown-Ridge Farm Community Unit School District in Vermillion County had to transfer money within in order to make payroll in late January. But the district is still owed about $400,000 by the state, has issued more than $500,000 in working cash bonds to retire some older bonds and to generate internal money and is looking at cuts to programs and personnel.
–Effingham Unit 40 is owed almost $900,000, forcing the district to look at cuts. In addition, the district is keeping a running tally on how much money its’ owed on its school marquees so the public is aware.
–Mokena District 159 tried to pass a tax referendum that would have boosted taxes by about $400 a year on a $250,000 home in an effort to stave off a $2 million budget hole caused by a lack of state funding and a lack of commercial growth in the area. The referendum resoundingly failed. The district said the deficit will top $3 million by next year.
–Community Unity School District 300 in Kane County is owed $6 million by the state. It plans on cutting $6.3 million from next year’s budget, which could mean teacher and staff layoffs and cutting programs in education and transportation.
–University heads from across the state wrote a letter to Gov. Pat Quinn urging him to find a way to pay them the $735 million owed to them by the state.
–Northfield Township District 225 may have to lay off 100 teachers, end language classes or put off long-needed repairs to boilers and roofs if they aren’t either paid money owed to them by the state, or issue bonds.
–Williamson County’s Early Childhood Cooperative has opted to RIF its 41 staff members in preparation that the state may not be able to fund the program.
–Indian Prairie School District 204 currently is owed $7.8 million, had already cut $9.4 million from its budget and fears it may face cuts between $14 and 20 million, should the state decide to reduce its foundation level of per-student funding.
http://twitter.com/Cook4LTGOV
