State budget or not, schools not counting on funds

SPRINGFIELD — Even as Gov. Pat Quinn unveils his budget proposal Wednesday, suburban schools owed millions of dollars by the state continue to make their own spending plans not knowing if and when they’ll get what they’re owed.

“It’s difficult to know if the assumptions are going to be valid or reliable,” said Dave Beery, spokesman for Maine Township High School District 207.

The district is just one example of suburban school systems that have come to rely on one thing from the state — unreliable funding.

And because it’s budget planning season for many, school officials across the suburbs are making spending plans without knowing how much money to expect from the state — information that might not be final until the state budget is approved in late May or even later.

The state owes local schools in Illinois more than $1 billion, according to a spokesman for the state comptroller.

Quinn has offered a plan to borrow money in order to pay debts like that off, but Republicans say they’ll do everything they can to block it.

The uncertainty that comes with those unpaid bills means Ellen Correll, superintendent of Grayslake Elementary District 46, said she’d almost rather see a cut in the money that’s promised to schools if it meant getting a guarantee the cash would actually come.

“What bothers me the most is that we’re talking about kids and their lives,” Correll said.

In the meantime, local schools plan anyway, and many cut their budgets as a result.

Allison Strupeck, spokeswoman for Community Unit School District 300, said officials have to make their best guesses based on what the state has provided in the recent past: “unreliable state funding that is very late in coming,” she said.

District 300 is looking at cutting back $8.3 million next year, after big cuts already the year before. Cash flow is a problem for schools when the state doesn’t pay, and often, staff members feel the pain.

“We have almost nothing left to give besides employee wages and benefits,” Strupeck said.

Whether Quinn’s borrowing plan is approved, and how much money the state promises schools, is ultimately in the hands of lawmakers and their negotiations with the governor.

Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said Monday that cuts in state spending had to come from anywhere that could be found, even if it meant looking at controversial cuts to schools.

Cutting schools can be a tough political maneuver for lawmakers because many voters put such a high value on children’s educations.

“The reality is investing in education leads to benefits for communities and companies moving to those places where there is an educated work force,” said Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat. “A great education system will produce value.”