How Much Would YOUR District Be Affected By State School-Funding Reform?
- Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article had a typo in Batavia’s per-pupil gain. The correct amount is $25 per pupil, and the article has been updated to reflect that.
East Aurora School District 131 stands to be the second-biggest winner of funding per pupil under Senate Bill 1 — the much-talked-about school funding reform legislation being considered in Springfield.
The bill has passed the Illinois House and Senate but has not been forwarded to the governor for sign-off. Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he opposes the bill in its present form because he believes it’s a bailout for Chicago public schools.
According to a report by WTTW Chicago, SB 1 is an “evidence-based model” that would increase state funding to every public school district in the state. The bill identifies how much a district currently receives from the state and locks that in, then rewards additional dollars based on each district’s “adequacy targets.”
Those targets are determined by a number of factors, including the costs for professional development, class size ratios, technology, demographics and about two dozen other items. The Advance Illinois website offers this PDF explaining the “key provisions.”
According to a report by Reboot Illinois, East Aurora School District 131 would receive $925 per pupil in additional funding under SB 1. That per pupil amount is second only to J.S. Morton High School District 201 in Cicero, which would receive $1,062 additional funding per pupil.
Other Kane County School Districts would receive as little as $1 per pupil in additional state funding.
The biggest winner in terms of total funding would be the City of Chicago School District 299, which would receive $193 additional per pupil for a total of $70,819,546.
SB 1 would take effect immediately in the fall, but that only if legislative leaders can reach a budget deal beforehand.
Here’s a look at the amount of additional per-pupil funding each Kane County School District would get under SB1, as well as the dollar figure of the total additional funding each district would receive. The figures are from a spreadsheet published on the Reboot Illinois website. (Information regarding School District 300 was not available. Hinckley-Big Rock School District 429 and Huntley School District 158 are included below but are not part of the Kane County Regional Office of Education.)
Kane County School Districts
SOURCE: Reboot Illinois
school district — (total additional per pupil) / total additional funding to be received from the state
- East Aurora School District 131 — ($925) / $13,042,489
- West Aurora School District 129 — ($392) / $4,771,389
- School District U46 — ($384) / $14,532,073
- Huntley School District 158 — ($72) / $670,760
- Central School District 301 — ($31) / $117,791
- Kaneland School District 302 — ($31) / $140,195
- Batavia School District 101 — ($25) / $145,547
- Hinckley-Big Rock School District 429 — ($25) / $17,458
- St. Charles School District 303 — ($1) / $15,069
- Geneva School District 304 — ($1) / $6,834