Schools fear disastrous effects of prolonged stalemate

Kevin Beese

Community colleges, which have not gotten their aid appropriations approved by the Illinois General Assembly in Springfield, are starting to feel the pinch. (Photo by Meagan Davis)

Community colleges, which have not gotten their aid appropriations approved by the Illinois General Assembly in Springfield, are starting to feel the pinch. (Photo by Meagan Davis)

School leaders throughout the state are keeping a watchful eye on activities in Springfield, knowing that a doomsday scenario inches closer with each week of a budget impasse.

Community colleges throughout the state are already starting to feel the effects as their state aid package has not been approved. Public grade schools and high schools are getting their aid payments, but for how long remains to be seen.

“There is uncertainty,” said Ben Schwarm, deputy executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards. “Funds are flowing, state aid checks are on time, but there is uncertainty about how long that will last.

“Generally, other parts of the state budget are letting funds go. They are paying state employees; they are paying state agencies. But they didn’t pass a budget. There is no spending plan or limit on spending. Agencies are spending at the same rate as last year when $4 billion more was available. If they don’t get a budget in place, they are going to run out of money and then it will be a disaster for schools and everyone else.”

Community colleges, which have not gotten their aid appropriations approved in Springfield, are starting to feel the pinch.

Matt Berry, legislative and external affairs liaison for the Illinois Community College Board in Springfield, noted the amount of state aid that community colleges get ranges from 8 to 45 percent. He said, in general, schools in the southern and western parts of the state are more dependent on state aid.

Illinois Community College in Peoria gets less than 10 percent of its operating budget from state aid. With tuition revenue coming in during August, cash flow has not been an issue so far for the school, according to Bruce Budde, executive vice president of administration and finance.

“However, the lack of cash flow or funding from the state will be a significant hardship if delays extend beyond January” Budde said. “The college has delayed certain capital and technology purchases and any discretionary spending for staff training until the budget and funding levels are confirmed by the state.”

He said students are feeling the hit as Monetary Award Program funds are tied up in the budget battle.

“The most significant impact is the lack of MAP funding and the corresponding impact to our students who rely on those dollars to support their education,” Budde said. “Our students would generally receive approximately $1 million each academic year, of which most of those dollars go to support books and transportation.”

The IASB’s Schwarm said that even though K-12 education got a slight increase in funding from the state this year, state support has not increased significantly in five or six years.

“State funding is about at the level that is was in fiscal year 2009,” Schwarm said. “We are going into our sixth year of funding schools at the same level. Costs are not going down. Schools have not been able to keep pace. A lot had room to cut, but you can’t cut six years in a row. “

Schwarm said the six years of local cuts are being compounded now as there is a push to lower property taxes, the biggest source of revenue for local schools.

He said the lack of a budget could create fairly drastic teacher layoffs

Schwarm said it is unknown how long state funds will last without a budget in place.

“I don’t know anybody who knows the answer to that,” Schwarm said. “The income-tax rate fell with the temporary increase ending and dropping the rate down to 3.25 percent. So there are several billion dollars less.

“How long the money lasts depends on how quickly it flows out. The courts have been saying these payments and those payments have to be made.  It is just a matter of time if nothing else is done.”

Schwarm said schools not getting state payments at the end of this school year would be devastating for districts.

“School districts’ budgets are in place,” he said. “From mid-year to the end of the year, costs are set. They would have no option but to cut.”

–Schools fear disastrous effects of prolonged stalemate–