Chicago schools aren't underfunded

Chicago is a unit level school district which combines K-8 (elementary) and 9-12 (high school). The "Chicago Public School" web page's most recent itemization for student expenses is "FY2005-06." In this period this district's unit expenses were: operating per pupil: $10,555; tuition per pupil: $ 9,488. This information can be found at: http://www.cps.k12.il.us/AtAGlance.html.

The Web site of Illinois Comptroller Daniel W. Hayes uses information from the same year to array the "Operating Expense per Pupil" of Illinois school districts by their percentile placement. Unit districts in the 95th percentile spent $10,314 per pupil. So, two operating budgets ago Chicago was above the 95th percentile; and unless the financial dynamics of public education in the state have experienced a spending tsunami, this position is probably pretty much unchanged. This information can be found at: http://www.ioc.state.il.us/FiscalFocus/article.cfm?ID=202.

The Educational Intelligence Agency lists pertinent statistics for every school district in the country. Its most recent figures cover 2005-06. The largest 10 districts in Illinois indicate that Chicago has the third highest spending per pupil, which is within 7 percent of Peoria at number 1. By the way, the second largest district is the local U-46, which is outspent by Chicago by almost $1,000 per pupil. This information can be found at: http://www.eiaonline.com/districts/Illinois.pdf.

By statewide example, Chicago public education is well funded.

William H. Regnery

Wayne