Post by wvhsparent on Feb 4, 2007 7:18:29 GMT -6
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0702040055feb04,1,5792161.story?page=3&coll=chi-news-hed
Rich school, poor school
Suburbs facing a great divide over spending for students
By Diane Rado
Tribune staff reporter
February 4, 2007
In an education world of haves and have-nots, Chicago's suburbs have some of the most glaring disparities in school spending in Illinois, a Tribune analysis has found.
The differences between districts with high property values and poorer districts in the region are profound and show up vividly in spending per pupil.
Lake, Cook and DuPage Counties are among the five counties in the state with the largest gaps in spending, when the district with the most property wealth is compared with the district with the least.
Of all counties, Lake County had the biggest gap for grade school districts in 2005.
Affluent Rondout School District 72 in Lake Forest spent $22,508 per student, compared with $8,675 in Zion Elementary School District 6, where property values are dramatically lower.
Family wealth also correlates with school spending. The Tribune found that about 80 percent of grade school districts with large low-income populations spent less than the state average of $8,765 per pupil for elementary districts in 2005.
Educators widely agree that disadvantaged students need more resources than their affluent peers to perform at the same level, though money doesn't always guarantee higher performance. And some districts that don't spend a lot are performing well, complicating the debate over education funding.
Disparities between districts will be in the forefront this legislative session, with Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) saying education inequities between rich and poor communities must end.
As lawmakers reconvene this week, educators are more hopeful that the political climate this year could boost the chances of real reform.
But the topic can be bafflingly complex, and solutions have been elusive in the past.
A cluster in Cook County
In the Chicago area, the districts where low property wealth, low incomes and low school spending come together are mostly found in a swath of western and southern Cook County.
There, 27 districts with large low-income populations spent less per pupil than the state average for grade school districts in 2005.
Illinois' school funding system relies predominantly on local property taxes, so property-poor districts are at a disadvantage in raising money.
State and federal subsidies help high-poverty districts, but in many cases they don't close the spending gap, state data showed.
"We are proud of what we have, but we know that it's not fair," said Lela Bridges, superintendent in Harvey School District 152 in southern Cook County.
Harvey is considered the poorest elementary district in the county, based on a state formula. Even with help from the state and federal governments, the district spent just $7,709 per pupil in 2005.
By contrast, West Northfield School District 31 in Northbrook, considered the county's wealthiest elementary district, spent $13,346 per child.
Bridges said she struggles every day to find money for basic instruction, clean and well-maintained buildings, computers and a few extras, such as music lessons for a few dozen students.
She gets extra money to tutor struggling children from federal programs, but she also wishes she could afford more teacher aides for her classrooms.
Children at West Northfield have programs such as forensic testing, flight simulation and fingerprinting techniques in a state-of-the-art applied technology lab.
Shiny guitars line the back of a music room, and all middle school students have the chance to play. They also can learn violin.
All kindergarten classrooms have teacher aides, and 1st-grade classrooms have a teacher aide for reading.
Parents have raised money for programs including a performing artist-in-residence, and they bought a portable, inflatable planetarium where elementary students can view constellations.
"They want for nothing," said Maria Kalant, principal of the district's elementary school, as she opened the door of a well-stocked supply room.
Supt. Debra Hill said, "Every child should have this. Every child deserves this."
Spending disparities were not limited to the Chicago area. Twenty-two counties outside the area had per-pupil spending gaps of more than $2,000 between their wealthiest and least affluent districts.
City tops spending average
The Chicago Public Schools system, where 85 percent of students are poor, spent $9,758 per child in 2005, compared with the $8,676 statewide average for K-12 districts.
Peter Cunningham, a Chicago schools spokesman, said the district would need hundreds of millions more dollars to make changes that would help disadvantaged students succeed, including additional instruction time and smaller classes.
He estimated that it would cost $300.4 million to extend the school day by one hour, and $165 million to reduce class sizes to 25 students.
Cunningham is working with state education groups and others who hope to help lawmakers devise a plan for school funding reform this session.
In addition to closing spending disparities, some educators want to raise spending across the board.
Critics, meanwhile, say many districts already spend too much.
Even if lawmakers agree that schools need more money, it will be difficult to settle on an amount, how to generate the revenue, and how to divide it.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich opposes raising the state income or sales tax, and his office is pursuing a plan to lease the state lottery that is unpopular with many lawmakers who would need to approve it.
Becky Carroll, a budget spokeswoman for the governor, said "increasing funds for K-12 remains a priority," and in the past, the governor "has certainly directed funding to districts with the most need."
Blagojevich will lay out details of his plans in his March state budget address.
Increase in state aid backed
In a sign of what is likely to come, the Illinois State Board of Education, which works closely with the governor's office, recently recommended a $355 per-pupil increase in the basic state aid guaranteed students--which could be the largest increase in nearly a decade.
Basic student aid helps disadvantaged districts more than affluent ones, and it includes special grants to districts based on numbers of low-income students.
But raising basic aid does not entirely resolve differences in school spending between rich and poor communities.
Some states, such as Washington, have limited how much local districts can raise in taxes to supplement school budgets as a way to equalize funding across districts, said Marguerite Roza, a researcher at the University of Washington who studies school funding inequities.
Illinois contributes less than 30 percent on average to local school budgets, according to state data, among the lowest amounts in the nation.
"I think other states have made a lot more progress than Illinois has in ensuring more equitable expenditures across the state," Roza said. "Illinois is at the bottom."
- - -
Sizing up state's school districts
The Tribune analyzed financial data for the state's nearly 900 school districts for 2004-05, the most recent statewide figures available, in three ways.
To determine the districts with the most and least property wealth, the Tribune used the Illinois State Board of Education's calculations for per-pupil wealth.
That figure is based roughly on property values divided by the number of students enrolled.
For example, Rondout School District 72 is the wealthiest elementary district in Lake County, with per-pupil wealth of $1.89 million. Zion Elementary School District 6 is the least affluent, with per-pupil wealth of $83,345.
The Tribune then looked at how much districts spend on each student, using the per-pupil operating expenditures reported to the state.
Though there are different ways to calculate spending, the operating expenditures include classroom instruction, bus transportation, building maintenance, counselors and other services for children. Almost half the expenditures statewide go toward instruction.
The Tribune also looked at family wealth by using the state board's calculations of the percentage of families in each district considered "low-income."
To look up your district's property wealth and per-pupil spending, go to the state board's Web site: webprod1.isbe.net/ilearn/ASP/index.asp.
Rich school, poor school
Suburbs facing a great divide over spending for students
By Diane Rado
Tribune staff reporter
February 4, 2007
In an education world of haves and have-nots, Chicago's suburbs have some of the most glaring disparities in school spending in Illinois, a Tribune analysis has found.
The differences between districts with high property values and poorer districts in the region are profound and show up vividly in spending per pupil.
Lake, Cook and DuPage Counties are among the five counties in the state with the largest gaps in spending, when the district with the most property wealth is compared with the district with the least.
Of all counties, Lake County had the biggest gap for grade school districts in 2005.
Affluent Rondout School District 72 in Lake Forest spent $22,508 per student, compared with $8,675 in Zion Elementary School District 6, where property values are dramatically lower.
Family wealth also correlates with school spending. The Tribune found that about 80 percent of grade school districts with large low-income populations spent less than the state average of $8,765 per pupil for elementary districts in 2005.
Educators widely agree that disadvantaged students need more resources than their affluent peers to perform at the same level, though money doesn't always guarantee higher performance. And some districts that don't spend a lot are performing well, complicating the debate over education funding.
Disparities between districts will be in the forefront this legislative session, with Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) saying education inequities between rich and poor communities must end.
As lawmakers reconvene this week, educators are more hopeful that the political climate this year could boost the chances of real reform.
But the topic can be bafflingly complex, and solutions have been elusive in the past.
A cluster in Cook County
In the Chicago area, the districts where low property wealth, low incomes and low school spending come together are mostly found in a swath of western and southern Cook County.
There, 27 districts with large low-income populations spent less per pupil than the state average for grade school districts in 2005.
Illinois' school funding system relies predominantly on local property taxes, so property-poor districts are at a disadvantage in raising money.
State and federal subsidies help high-poverty districts, but in many cases they don't close the spending gap, state data showed.
"We are proud of what we have, but we know that it's not fair," said Lela Bridges, superintendent in Harvey School District 152 in southern Cook County.
Harvey is considered the poorest elementary district in the county, based on a state formula. Even with help from the state and federal governments, the district spent just $7,709 per pupil in 2005.
By contrast, West Northfield School District 31 in Northbrook, considered the county's wealthiest elementary district, spent $13,346 per child.
Bridges said she struggles every day to find money for basic instruction, clean and well-maintained buildings, computers and a few extras, such as music lessons for a few dozen students.
She gets extra money to tutor struggling children from federal programs, but she also wishes she could afford more teacher aides for her classrooms.
Children at West Northfield have programs such as forensic testing, flight simulation and fingerprinting techniques in a state-of-the-art applied technology lab.
Shiny guitars line the back of a music room, and all middle school students have the chance to play. They also can learn violin.
All kindergarten classrooms have teacher aides, and 1st-grade classrooms have a teacher aide for reading.
Parents have raised money for programs including a performing artist-in-residence, and they bought a portable, inflatable planetarium where elementary students can view constellations.
"They want for nothing," said Maria Kalant, principal of the district's elementary school, as she opened the door of a well-stocked supply room.
Supt. Debra Hill said, "Every child should have this. Every child deserves this."
Spending disparities were not limited to the Chicago area. Twenty-two counties outside the area had per-pupil spending gaps of more than $2,000 between their wealthiest and least affluent districts.
City tops spending average
The Chicago Public Schools system, where 85 percent of students are poor, spent $9,758 per child in 2005, compared with the $8,676 statewide average for K-12 districts.
Peter Cunningham, a Chicago schools spokesman, said the district would need hundreds of millions more dollars to make changes that would help disadvantaged students succeed, including additional instruction time and smaller classes.
He estimated that it would cost $300.4 million to extend the school day by one hour, and $165 million to reduce class sizes to 25 students.
Cunningham is working with state education groups and others who hope to help lawmakers devise a plan for school funding reform this session.
In addition to closing spending disparities, some educators want to raise spending across the board.
Critics, meanwhile, say many districts already spend too much.
Even if lawmakers agree that schools need more money, it will be difficult to settle on an amount, how to generate the revenue, and how to divide it.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich opposes raising the state income or sales tax, and his office is pursuing a plan to lease the state lottery that is unpopular with many lawmakers who would need to approve it.
Becky Carroll, a budget spokeswoman for the governor, said "increasing funds for K-12 remains a priority," and in the past, the governor "has certainly directed funding to districts with the most need."
Blagojevich will lay out details of his plans in his March state budget address.
Increase in state aid backed
In a sign of what is likely to come, the Illinois State Board of Education, which works closely with the governor's office, recently recommended a $355 per-pupil increase in the basic state aid guaranteed students--which could be the largest increase in nearly a decade.
Basic student aid helps disadvantaged districts more than affluent ones, and it includes special grants to districts based on numbers of low-income students.
But raising basic aid does not entirely resolve differences in school spending between rich and poor communities.
Some states, such as Washington, have limited how much local districts can raise in taxes to supplement school budgets as a way to equalize funding across districts, said Marguerite Roza, a researcher at the University of Washington who studies school funding inequities.
Illinois contributes less than 30 percent on average to local school budgets, according to state data, among the lowest amounts in the nation.
"I think other states have made a lot more progress than Illinois has in ensuring more equitable expenditures across the state," Roza said. "Illinois is at the bottom."
- - -
Sizing up state's school districts
The Tribune analyzed financial data for the state's nearly 900 school districts for 2004-05, the most recent statewide figures available, in three ways.
To determine the districts with the most and least property wealth, the Tribune used the Illinois State Board of Education's calculations for per-pupil wealth.
That figure is based roughly on property values divided by the number of students enrolled.
For example, Rondout School District 72 is the wealthiest elementary district in Lake County, with per-pupil wealth of $1.89 million. Zion Elementary School District 6 is the least affluent, with per-pupil wealth of $83,345.
The Tribune then looked at how much districts spend on each student, using the per-pupil operating expenditures reported to the state.
Though there are different ways to calculate spending, the operating expenditures include classroom instruction, bus transportation, building maintenance, counselors and other services for children. Almost half the expenditures statewide go toward instruction.
The Tribune also looked at family wealth by using the state board's calculations of the percentage of families in each district considered "low-income."
To look up your district's property wealth and per-pupil spending, go to the state board's Web site: webprod1.isbe.net/ilearn/ASP/index.asp.
