Education funding debate pits haves against have-nots

SPRINGFIELD - A south suburban lawmaker Tuesday accused state education officials of taking money away from minority student programs in order to pay for services in affluent suburban districts.

"If my perceptions are wrong, correct me," said state Rep. Will Davis, a Homewood Democrat whose district includes Harvey, Riverdale and Robbins.

The state's education superintendent defended the cuts during a budget hearing Tuesday, saying tough choices had to be made given the state's tight budget.

"Obviously, there's going to be winners and losers. We'll be hearing from a number of districts in that regard," said superintendent Christopher Koch.

Davis and other lawmakers representing mostly minority areas were riled at where the Illinois State Board of Education cut funding in order to maintain spending on special education teachers, transportation and services. Among the programs axed from the education board's spending plan were after-school programs and healthy kids programs in Chicago, Cicero and Berwyn.

All told, the cuts total nearly $111 million.

That money is used, in part, to maintain full reimbursement for special education costs to local districts across Illinois, But added spending in this area does tend to benefit suburban districts that, because of high local property values, often don't qualify for much other state funding.

The cuts also are used to increase by $130 to $6,089 the minimum amount that must be spent on each student in Illinois public schools.

No school district actually gets the full amount per student. The state sets the minimum amount, considers local resources and then uses state tax dollars to make up any shortfall.

However, because of high property values, several suburban districts have so much local money they don't qualify for this funding formula and therefore get far less in general state aid.

Koch said the board chose to fund far-reaching programs over limited, specific programs.

"Obviously the board has taken a position here of where we get the most bang for the buck in a year of real limited resources," Koch said.

The state education board has asked for a $170 million increase, roughly 2.3 percent, over its current budget, far less than in recent years. But the state faces a nearly $9 billion deficit between the current budget and next year's plan.