Paul Sassone

There is no algebra for wealthy students, no algebra for poor students.

There is only algebra.

So, it is vital that the same educational resources are available to students in poor school districts as in wealthy school districts.

But, that’s not how it works in Illinois.

Funding of public schools in this state is heavily dependent on local property taxes. Property values in wealthy communities are high. They are low in  poor communities. Thus, wealthy communities have more to spend on education.

According to the Illinois State Board of education, in 2014, the average expense per pupil in Illinois schools was $12,521.

But, in wealthy New Trier Township that amount was $22,123. In poorer Monroe School district in Peoria, that amount was $6,701.

This disparity happens all over illinois. And the result is that thousands of children receive a poorer quality education than those in wealthy communities.

That isn’t fair and it isn’t right.

It “denies the American Dream to low-income families because they don’t get the same level of resources as higher-income families do,” Gov. Bruce Rauner said when announcing creation of the Illinois School Funding reform Commission.

This bipartisan commission will have 25 members selected by the governor and by House and Senate leaders of both parties. It will examine how Illinois schools are funded.
“We should put more money into our schools and focus resources to the students that need them most,” Rauner said.

A study by the Education Trust found that the gap between how much well-off school districts in Illinois can spend per pupil  and how much poor districts can afford is the widest in America.

The Governor said that Illinois is last of all 50 states in the percentage of school costs paid by the state and most relies on property taxes.

That Illinois’ over-reliance on property taxes to fund education results in thousands of children not receiving the education to which they are entitled is not new. It has been a state scandal for decades.

And there have been efforts in the past to rectify the situation by having more of the cost of education paid for by the state with less reliance on property taxes.

All such efforts have come to naught.

And maybe this latest effort will, too. Cynics already are prophesying the commission’s doom.

But someone has to try. And the someones who actually can do something about just and equitable school funding are Illinois elected political leaders.

This is the lives of children we are talking about. The quality of education they receive will, to a large extent, shape their future.

“Education is a fundamental right in America,” Rauner said.

It’s long past time our political leaders did something to make sure that all children in Illinois, not just the wealthy, receive that right.

–Illinois needs to fix school-funding gap–