May 20--Two fixable problems plague the public education industry in Illinois:
--First, there's too much of it. Illinois has more than 850 school districts, some so tiny and choking on overhead costs that they cheat students of educational opportunities common in bigger districts.
--Second, the formula for distributing state money to all those districts only widens the spending gap between schools that serve affluent and poor communities. How that state money gets divvied up matters: Last year 34 percent of the $30.1 billion spent on K-12 schools came from Springfield. About 56 percent came from local sources and 10 percent from Washington.
Lawmakers could demand a fix for the first problem. But they've largely ignored calls to do so, afraid of backlash from local voters, even though other states have streamlined the enormous bureaucratic structure of education. A 2013 study by the Center for American Progress found that Illinois' 380 small, nonrural districts "potentially cost upward of an additional $90 million each year." Yet there is no move to consolidate.
But lawmakers do have a chance -- right now -- to address the second problem, by rewriting that unfair funding formula. No, the bill in question isn't perfect. But today we're smiling on it. That there's even a serious plan with some shot at passage is remarkable in a political culture that prefers paralysis to tough decision-making.
You've heard the suspicions about school funding reform: Many suburbanites largely fund their own schools via exorbitant property taxes. They think fiddling with the state formula is a Democratic plot to steal from the rich and the not-so-rich, then give to areas that vote Democratic. But the inequities in how we educate this and succeeding generations of Illinois children have grown too egregious to perpetuate.
Some communities in Illinois have property-rich economies -- shopping malls, corporate headquarters, pricey Italian restaurants -- that generate a wealth of tax revenue for local schools. Other communities struggle to attract development beyond the gas station, a discount store and a fast-food chain. Schaumburg, meet Robbins.
For the first time since 1997, a proposal to overhaul the formula without raising taxes has traction in Springfield. Sponsored by Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, the plan would shift more money to low-income districts at the expense of wealthier districts. His bill, highly controversial and especially unpopular with suburban Republicans whose schools would lose some funding, passed the Senate but is being largely ignored in the House.
House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has taken no action yet on Manar's bill. That should be a wake-up call to his Democratic members, particularly the House Black Caucus and downstate lawmakers, whose schools have suffered under the current formula. Where are you city, south suburban and downstate representatives? Where are the teachers unions that rail against the social injustices of the current model?
They've been awfully quiet.
Speculation is swirling that Madigan or Gov. Bruce Rauner will offer a one-year funding bandage instead of leaping at the chance for long-term reform. Lawmakers should reject one-year fixes and promises to deal with the formula later.
