Lake County legislators speak out on school funding needs

• May 7, 2003

In a county where some of the most economically diverse school districts exist cheek to jowl, questions about education funding are complex. Issues ranging from how schools should be funded — by what mix of property taxes and state aid — and whether children should be “penalized” because their homes are worth less or their schools can not afford technology took center stage at a recent Lake County Town Hall meeting on education funding. Overarching the discussion was another question: how can the state ensure all schools have adequate funding without hurting wealthier districts?

Ill. Sen. Adeline Jay Geo-Karis (R-Zion), Rep. Robert Churchill (R-Lake Villa), Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook), Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park) and Rep. Kathy Ryg (D-Vernon Hills).

These issues were debated by legislators and citizens at the May 3, 2003 Lake County Town Hall meeting convened by Network 21: Quality Schools for Stronger Communities, a broad-based education coalition focusing on funding issues.

Bindu Batchu, manager of Network 21, and Scott Goldstein, vice president of policy and planning at the Metropolitan Planning Council, laid out the elements of the education funding and quality crisis:

• 10 years of tax caps and a lack of state support for adequate funding have pushed 80 percent of districts into deficit spending 
• Requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act put additional burdens on schools, but can be an opportunity for quality reform in Illinois 
• Lake County is home to a wide variety of districts, but a surprising number do not have adequate funding; property tax wealth in districts ranges from $38,000 to over $1 million per pupil — this directly affects the quality of education available to students in different parts of the region.

Moving forward, Network 21 proposed to the audience: 

• Supporting the governor’s proposed increase of $250 per pupil in the foundation level, even while working to make sure any cuts in categorical grants do not hurt districts that need the funding 
• Changing the data source for the poverty level count from the outdated U.S. Census to an annual, more accurate count 
• Ensuring that state assessments are returned to schools the same year the test is given so that teachers can use the results in the classroom 
• Supporting increases in funding in support to early childhood education programs
• Creating a mentoring and induction program for new teachers

Lake County state legislators first tackled the difficult questions. State Senators Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) and Adeline Jay Geo-Karis (R-Zion) were joined by Representatives Robert Churchill (R-Lake Villa), Karen May (D-Highland Park), Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook) and Kathy Ryg (D-Vernon Hills). Each approached the issue from a different vantage point, but all spoke of the impending crisis hitting schools.

Sen. Garrett, acknowledging that there was “no quick fix,” announced that suburban senators had created a suburban education caucus to begin to tackle the issue. The purpose was to make sure suburban districts were well represented in budget negotiations. She pointed out the difficulties in meeting the needs of all districts when even wealthier districts were cutting budgets and programs.

Rep. Ryg pointed out that funding formulas go as far back as 1825, when the state paid 2 percent for schools, and local districts could add to that through tuition charges. The current equalization formula began in 1925, a more costly option. Now, it is no longer possible for voters to support referendums because of the high cost of property taxes, she said. Suburban districts do not benefit from proposed increases in the foundation level included in the governor’s budget. “The state must provide reliable, consistent support, and the people (of each district) can vote for ‘extras,’” she said. “But right now every student doesn’t have access to a good education, which is clearly a problem.”

Rep. May called the issue “difficult” due to the many differences among Lake County districts. “In my area,” she said of the Highland Park-Deerfield area, “citizens pay 70 to 80 percent of their property taxes to schools; these are flat-grant, donor districts.” Not all the district residents are wealthy, however; school funding comes from commercial or retail taxes. That makes it difficult for at least three groups: older residents who built the town up in the first place to stay, or farmers who have a hard time paying their property taxes and young people who cannot afford the cost of living in these communities.

If the state were to go to an income tax or a percent of the sales tax to pay for schools — alternative proposals that have been floated in Springfield — there would be a need to drop the individual property tax. If that were to happen, Rep. May insisted that business taxes must increase as well. “We have to be careful that there be no drift upward," she said. Rep. May also pointed out that an important issue in Lake County is the cost of educating students who live on military bases, such as the children from the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in North Chicago.

Even with the pressure of teacher shortages lessened, Rep. Nekritz noted, there were still 2,500 vacancies at the beginning of this school year. One-half of the teachers leave their jobs within three years. The cost of teacher turnover is high, equivalent to about 20 percent of a teacher’s salary. That makes looking at teacher mentoring and professional development, another Network 21 priority, extremely important. Legislation is pending now for mentoring, although it is unlikely to pass due to the fiscal crisis. Still, Rep. Nekritz said, teacher turnover is something people should continue to investigate because of its fiscal impacts.

A skeptical Rep. Churchill questioned the basic assumption that there was, indeed, a lack of sufficient funding. He believed that in Lake County, some schools already receive sufficient funds. In addition, “the mantra that more money means better results” is an assumption that needs to be analyzed, he said. Because the state has made the decision that Illinois should have locally controlled schools paid for at the local level — through the property tax — the representative said he was unwilling to tinker with tax caps.  “They are there for a purpose and they work.” He said a better way to assess the situation was by establishing proper funding levels between schools.  There may be some changes needed because of the lack of property tax to support Round Lake schools and the wealth of the Stevenson district, he suggested.  "And what do we do," he asked, "about communities with high growth that have no growth supplement?"

Judy Armstrong, an active member of the Illinois Parent Teacher Association, noted that what happened in Round Lake a few years ago — when the State stepped in to oversee the district’s finances because it had become insolvent — was now possible in wealthy Lake Forest. “Our Constitution provides for every child to have a good education to grow to his or her full capacity,” she said, adding that something had to be done to ensure each child’s success.

While some in the audience agreed with Rep. Churchill that funding may not need to be increased, Rep. May noted that state government needs to provide predictable funding to the schools. Rep. Ryg added that the cost of living adjustment is between 1.5 and 2 percent today, the ceiling for tax caps. Yet these are not the numbers anyone contemplated when tax caps were passed. “This was not the original intention of the legislation,” she declared, noting that the 5 percent top was seen as much more likely.

On the second of two panels, Dr. Constance Collins, superintendent of Zion District 6, outlined the story of her district, one that exemplifies difficulties faced by Lake County’s poorer districts. District 6 wants to be fiscally responsible and increase student achievement, but a lack of funding is forcing cuts — not of fat, but bone, Dr. Collins said. The district lost 60 percent of its equalized assessed valuation when the nuclear power plant closed down and many of the Zion students are considered needy (they qualify for free breakfast and lunch programs because of their parents’ low incomes). Dr. Collins listed numerous problems of districts like hers: older buildings that have higher maintenance costs, academic achievement that is challenged by the state, requiring the withholding of 20 percent of funds until the district’s test scores from this year are returned. If student achievement has not increased, those funds are held back. The district, headed toward deficit spending, faces $1 million in cuts. It is difficult to find teachers, particularly in speech and pathology, math and science, and 38 teaching positions have been eliminated. “We are talking about cutting physical education, after school activities, basic music, art and technology — not water polo,” Dr. Collins said, (referring to news reports of a Lake Forest High School cut). None of this makes the community happy; some parents have threatened to move out of the district.

Mayor Ila Bauer of Round Lake Park followed with a summary of the problems of Lake County communities in relation to schools: a "double whammy" — the lack of affordable housing and insufficient state school funding. You cannot solve the affordable housing problem without solving the school funding issue, she said. The quality of the schools affects a community’s crime rate, property values, funding for community services, the reputation of the community and the reputation of one’s self. Good schools also are required for a skilled workforce, Mayor Bauer said. “In Lake County we have unskilled and professional workforces. We are lacking skills workers.”

Peggy Upton, from the Illinois Education Association, a cosponsor of the meeting, opened the second panel, which focused on local perspectives. Ms. Upton reiterated that the perspective of Lake County is one of disparities. No one in the county wants the Illinois State Board of Education to think there is a need to institute an oversight board, as was done in Round Lake, she said. Yet, school districts are dealing with tight finances by increasing class sizes, decreasing employee benefits and cutting the numbers of teachers. All of these actions affect test scores — the measure by which the public evaluates schools. At the same time, schools are testing children who have never been tested before — lik children whose first language is not English and children with disabilities. The implication is that the public judges schools solely on the test scores and does not understand who is being tested.

Ms. Upton noted that Beach Park has cut $1 million this year. That translates into 40 teaching assistants and an inability to fill teacher vacancies. Yet just one year ago, the district passed a referendum to avoid making cuts. “This shouldn’t have happened,” she said. “We are trying to figure out why (it did).” She also brought up the case of Grass Lake schools where fund balance ratios were above 20 percent — a healthy situation, but which have now fallen into a negative balance. Overall, districts in Lake County are suffering, and none wants “another Round Lake," although the results of the three year effort have been “magnificent.” It was a concerted effort by the board, the teachers union and everyone involved to make cuts, let class sizes increase and freeze salaries. As the district comes out of the oversight authority, it has become a group effort, she said, that has achieved results but will require much more effort to continue.

The meeting ended with a call by Scott Goldstein to continue to work together to solve these problems.

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