Consolidation Blues, Chorus: The Down State / Lame Duck Shuffle

By Mick Parsons For The Prairie Advocate News

The twisting back road of public school finance inevitably leads to the state of Illinois, which is currently trying to deal with a six million dollar short fall in a 13 million dollar budget. While ISBE is ultimately responsible for how state money is distributed, and it has some say limiting and shaping local school budgets, the purse holder makes the rules. And for West Carroll, just like every other public school, state money is ultimately controlled by the Illinois legislature.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. The ISBE, at the behest of Governor Quinn, has cut school bussing from 80% to 40%. The reason for this? To help pay for pre-school education, which the Governor has stated is one of his priorities. And while everyone agrees that educating kids is crucial and that pre-school plays a significant role in how children do in school later, the fact is that pre-school education in Illinois is not a state mandate.

According to State Representative Jim Sacia, cutting money for bussing is “crippling” for schools in the northwest corner of Illinois. He pointed out that while some cuts were inevitable, that “the equation should be more equitable. He says that the ISBE is supposed to be fair in how it distributes money; but he adds “You do this (cut bussing reimbursements) in Chicago and the suburbs, and it squeezes them. If you do it in Chadwick, Mount Carroll, and Savanna, that’s a hell of a lot more painful.” His suggestion, off the cuff, is that maybe the ISBE should cut bus funding 20% in rural and impoverished districts and 40% in collar counties and in Chicago proper. This would give rural districts more to work with as gas prices seem to do nothing but go up. “How can you transport students,” he asks, “when you can’t afford gas?”

Although the state has nearly paid all the money due to the school districts, under the Prompt Payments Act it has until the end of December to pay the balance. Assuming that actually happens and assuming that the legislature doesn’t pass another law giving the state additional time to pay off the debt, that still leaves the hole left in THIS year’s budget. At last count, this debt is reaching the million dollar mark. West Carroll and other local school districts could see some of what’s owed them if things work out, says Sacia, the way they do “in the world of Jim.”

Although the new General Assembly will gather for the first time on January 12, 2011, the lame duck Assembly is still in session. Sacia says the lame duck assembly will be meeting every day from January 2nd to the 11th and that he expects the Governor to push some bills through that otherwise wouldn’t have a chance. The new General Assembly will see 25 legislators leaving and being replaced; Sacia says he won’t be surprised if a “significant tax increase” prior to the seating of the new General Assembly. “In the world of Jim,” he adds, “public schools would see 50% of that money.”

Of course, that’s partly speculation and mostly insight into state politics talking. With the state budget in the six million dollar shortfall it’s currently in, a tax increase is probably inevitable. Another probability, according to Sacia, is House Speaker Madigan’s proposal to sell six million dollars in bonds in order to cover the short-fall. Sacia says that Illinois is the worst funded state in the nation. In fact, Sacia says that even California isn’t in arrears as much as Illinois. He adds that “the argument could be made that it’s cheaper for Illinois to simply borrow the money; but he’s confident that the bonding authority exists and that Madigan’s plan has a high probability of happening. “But,” he says, “I am not in Madigan’s confidence.”

There’s also some potential for state revenue if the lame duck Assembly adopts some changes to Illinois gaming law that would encourage land-based casinos and expand river-based casinos. But whether that would directly impact public schools is anybody’s best guess, and how it might exactly help West Carroll and other struggling school districts is even more unclear.

The division between Chicago and the collar counties and what is most often referred to as Down State Illinois – which includes the northwest corner of the state, because we, like everything south of Chicago, is down wind of the manure pile that is the Chicago-centered political agenda – plays out in how the ISBE distributes what money it’s allotted, and in what programs are deemed important to the three people who actually control how state education money is spent: Governor Quinn, Comptroller Hynes, and Speaker Madigan.

Sacia points out that while this is true, that doesn’t mean it’s fair. “I always do my best to speak for needs of the region,” he says, “but the emphasis tends to go towards the 6.5 million people who live in Chicago and the collar counties.”