U-46, Huntley may inspire school funding change

The top education authority in the state is looking to change the way it doles out money to suburban schools but the financial implications of the change are not yet clear.

The change involves arcane details of the school funding formula; those details, school officials say, are costing some suburban schools millions in lost state funding each year.

While the Illinois State Board of Education disputes the claim that some suburban districts, notably Elgin and Huntley schools, are owed millions in state aid, the state board acknowledges there is a problem with the formula that determines how much funding a district gets.

The state board is proposing to change the funding formula that governs most suburban school districts so that the calculation of state funding each year is linked to the rate of inflation.

The board believes this would eliminate problems with the current formula, which can run into trouble when estimated tax rates are used to calculate a district's state funding. The new formula would not use tax rates.

“Our goal is to stop the controversy,” said Jason Hall, senior budget analyst for the state board. “We think the best solution is to take the rates out altogether.”

The board's revision of the state aid formula, if successful, could address issues that have been festering in Elgin Area School District U-46 and Huntley Unit District 158 for years and have the potential to arise in any district that overlaps county lines.

It is not clear, however, how the proposal would affect funding for school districts across the state. The state board plans to analyze the financial impact before lobbying for the change in Springfield.

“I'd be surprised if there was a great cost or savings for the state,” Hall said. “If we were to find there was a huge swing or shift in the cost, that would signify there was a problem with this legislation.”

U-46 officials support the state board's effort, citing an state board estimate that Elgin schools would have received $10.6 million in additional state funding if the new formula had been in place.

At the same time, the U-46 board is backing an effort by Huntley school leaders to address the issue by fixing “errors” in the funding formula for affected districts a solution likely to encounter resistance from the state board.

Elgin school officials say they will support any effort to address the issue especially at a time when many schools are already feeling the pinch.

“I don't think we can sit back silently,” U-46 board President Ken Kaczynski said Monday.

Earlier efforts to address the problem have failed, most recently when Gov. Pat Quinn in July vetoed a state funding fix because it would “boost state aid to one district at the expense of the others,” he said at the time.

The problem also received increased visibility recently when it became a contentious issue in the campaign for the 43rd state House District, where it has been the subject of many negative mailings.