LM Mar 2025

financial capacity to meet the educational needs of all our students. The reality is much different. Proration in trans portation is causing us to divert money from the classroom to our vehicle fleet. You’re giving me the money in one bucket, but I’ve got to fill another bucket with that bucket.” Tier 3 and Tier 4 Hit Hard In 2017, Illinois enacted the Evidence-Based Funding mod el to address the inequities caused by years of pro-rated General State Aid payments. The reform has been crucial for the state’s most economically disadvantaged school districts, which depend more significantly on state funding to operate. The EBF model categorizes school districts into four tiers based on their financial capacity to meet educational needs, with Tier 1 having the greatest financial need and Tier 4 the least. Although the state has invested approximately $2 billion in additional funding into EBF since FY18 — generally $300

has particularly stung districts in Tier 3 and Tier 4 who don’t receive much new money from the state. And the problem is only getting worse. The Governor’s proposed budget only recommends an increase of $20 million in mandated categoricals to solely cover the projected increase in orphanage claims — mean ing proration levels for transportation and other mandated categoricals will likely drop significantly for FY26, if the Illinois General Assembly doesn’t appropriate additional money. In a year where the budget is expected to be tighter than year’s past, Robert Wolfe, IASA Compliance Plus Co-Facil itator and former CFO at the Illinois State Board of Edu cation, said it might take the General Assembly lowering allocations for popular grant programs such as Dolly Parton Imagination Library and Teacher Vacancy to shake loose funds for transportation. “There’s only a finite amount of money put into education, and EBF has always been the higher priority, which most people understand why,” Wolfe said.

“” -Dr. Kevin Blankenship, Scott Morgan CUSD #2 You’re giving me the money in one bucket, but I’ve got to fill bucket, but I’ve got to fill another bucket with that bucket.

Make Cuts or Increase Property Taxes? For a school district like CHSD #99, home of Downers Grove North and South high schools, the state’s reduction in funding is prompting some hard conversations, not likely to be well received locally. Dr. Hank Thiele, superintendent, said the deficit in reim bursement from the state and local expenses for trans portation in his district was about $5.7 million in 2023-24 school year. As a Tier 4 district, CHSD #99 has to cover the gap through local resources because the district receives less than $5,000 per year in new EBF dollars. It’s an unsustainable path, according to Dr. Thiele, particularly as transportation costs rise due to increasing fuel prices and new bus purchases, while health insurance expenses and state mandates continue to balloon. The situation is

million annually ($50 million for Property Tax Relief Grant), with 99 percent distributed between Tier 1 and Tier 2 dis tricts — transportation funding, which falls under state-man dated categorical programs, has received significantly less financial support during the same period. In contrast to the EBF model’s increased funding, the state of Illinois continues to apply proration to transportation and other mandated categoricals — including special education and the Illinois Free and Reduced Lunch program ( Regular Orphanage Tuition and Special Education Orphanage Tu ition is required by state statute to be paid at 100 percent) — leaving these programs funded at merely 80 percent, give or take, of what’s actually needed. While all school districts are feeling the pinch — the diminished funding in transportation and other categoricals

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