McHenry Times

Allen Skillicorn, Republican candidate vying for a state House seat from District 66, emphasized recently that a bailout for Chicago schools should not be in the cards, instead expressing clear support for education reform. 

Illinois’ General State Aid (GSA) funds K-12 education. Originally intended to support the neediest districts, formulas used to allocate funds have now fueled outrage over large subsidies to select districts, particularly  Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

“Rather than bailing out Chicago, we should reform our education systems to ensure that every child receives a world-class education,” Skillicorn said. “Instead of sending education dollars to centralized bureaucracies like CPS, the state should (let) parents choose which school is best for their child. Rather than investing in bureaucracy, we should invest in our students.”  

The formulas used to determine which individuals qualify as poor have broadened, resulting in the state recognizing thousands more students as low-income and placing a heftier burden on the state’s budget. In 2000, just less than $300 million from the GSA went toward supporting low-income children. By 2013, Illinois was spending an astounding $1.8 billion to support low-income students.

In 2013, most of the $500 million-plus in special state education subsidies related to property wealth was appropriated to just 40 of the 102 districts in Illinois. All of the districts that received the funds were in Cook County and its collar counties. Chicago alone received more than $280 million while downstate districts received a mere 3 percent of the $500 million.

“Two-thirds of 4th graders in Illinois can’t read at grade level; we pay the 2nd highest property taxes in the nation; and we have the largest unfunded pension liabilities of any state,” Skillicorn said.  “(Their answer) … is to shift more education funding from our communities to Chicago. They … want to give them more money, and they want us to pay for it.”  

Since 1998, Chicago teachers’ salaries have increased by 80 percent, resulting in Chicago teachers receiving the highest lifetime salaries among school districts comparable in size across the nation. 

CPS reportedly spent more than $1.2 billion on teacher pension pickups over the past decade, enacted pension holidays, which diverted close to $3 billion originally intended to fund pensions toward school salaries instead, and allowed a 400 percent growth in accrued teacher pension benefits since 1987. And now CPS is on the verge of collapsing under the weight of its financial obligations.

“In the Chicago Public Schools, only 20 percent of the students who graduate in four years will be considered ‘college ready,' and the average amount spent per student for the year will exceed $14,000,” Skillicorn said. “A bailout is not the answer. They want more money from our district. They want more money from you to go to Chicago to backstop a failed system.”

In the midst of its financial crisis, Chicago Sun-Times reported that CPS spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on fast food last year – more than $150,000 on pizza and more than $200,000 on Subway sandwiches.

According to CPS, it spent $2.9 million on food from outside vendors between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015, of which nearly $1.5 million was authorized by the district’s central office. CPS indicated, however, that over a third of the money could not be accounted for due to the spending lacking detail or being miscoded, Chicago Sun-Times reported.

In May, House Speaker Michael Madigan proposed a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that included a CPS bailout by increasing its subsidies, seeking an additional $500 million appropriation for target school districts and an additional $75 million for early childhood education.

“This is exactly the kind of Springfield math that has bankrupted our state and caused so many families to flee Illinois,” Skillicorn stated. “It demonstrates how out of touch the political class is with our lives. I am going to Springfield to protect … your quality of life and protect the investment you’ve made in our community.”