How does Chicago school funding stack up?

State Sen. James Meeks of Chicago plans to bring Chicago Public Schools students to the suburbs today so they can try to enroll at New Trier High School in a protest against school-funding inequities.

Meeks believes the state's property tax-based funding system gives an unfair advantage to schools in wealthier areas. Here is a sampling of per-pupil spending levels at school districts in Chicago, the suburbs and downstate. High school districts are separated from unit districts because their spending levels generally run much higher. All figures come from the 2007 state report cards, the most recent available, and they represent spending levels for the 2005-06 year.

High school districts

• Northwest Suburban High School District 214 (based in Arlington Heights): $14,453

• Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211: $13,576

• New Trier Township District 203: $16,856

• Stevenson High School District 125: $13,308

Unit Districts

• Round Lake Unit District 116: $7,328

• Barrington Area Unit District 220: $11,142

• Community Unit School District 300 (based in Carpentersville): $8,495

• Naperville Unit District 203: $9,881

• Chicago Public Schools: $10,409

• Elgin Area School District U-46: $9,067

• Farmington Central District 265 (about 20 miles west of Peoria): $7,372

• Cairo Unified District 1 (far Southern Illinois district, 100 percent of students considered low-income): $12,042

• State average: $9,488

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/packages/2007/schoolreport/">Daily Herald School Report Card analysis and data </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>