LM Nov-Dec.2019

What toolsareavailable tosuperintendents?

The Evidence-Based Funding Formula can provide superintendents with a figure of what it actually costs to provide students with a high-quality education. That figure is known as a district’s Adequacy Target. To find out what your district’s adequacy target is CLICK HERE , download/save, then open the Excel spreadsheet and click its “Base Calc” tab.

The Illinois State Board of Education also provides school districts with an extremely helpful tool to determine if school districts are overstaffed, understaffed or properly staffed. The tool is called the FY 20 Adequacy Target Gap Analysis. To download this Excel Spreadsheet, CLICK HERE .

Analysis. This resource can help superintendents determine staffing levels for your district and individual buildings. By understanding how to use both resources effectively, superintendents will be much better suited to effectively communicate when it comes time to have conversations with legislators, and stakeholders, about property tax rates. If all this sounds confusing, that’s OK. This article is intended as an introduction to this new initiative and to get superintendents thinking about this important issue. In the podcast, webinar and workshops we will dive deeper into better understanding how EBF can be used as a tool for strategic planning, strategic communication and help superintendents win the important debate that is coming around property taxes in Illinois. AnsweringThreeQuestions What we want to leave you with is three questions. You don’t need to have an answer to these now, but you should be able to answer them by the time the General Assembly convenes in Springfield for the spring legislative session. The three questions are: 1. Is my adequacy target sufficient to meet the demand for service in my district? 2. How does my staffing and services compare to the research- based design for the students that we serve? 3. What is the fiscal responsibility for the state and our district, and how can we rightly design our tax rate? We hope everyone can start thinking about these questions and then take part in the podcast, webinar and one of the workshops. We will be sharing dates in the future on when those will be. Doing so will help superintendents be prepared for the debate that is coming around property taxes. Trust us, it’s not one superintendents want to lose.

In addition to this article, IASA will produce a podcast, host a webinar and schedule a series of workshops to better educate superintendents about how to effectively use data to communicate with legislators, and your stakeholders, that the investment into your school district is worth it. What EBFCanDo While the Evidence-Based Funding Model was seen by many as a tool to help funnel more money to the neediest school districts, it also provided districts with a strategic communication tool in detailing what it actually costs to provide students with access to a high-quality education. That figure is what’s known as a district’s Adequacy Target. Every superintendent needs to be aware of it. And so too should your local legislators and stakeholders. That’s not all the formula can do. EBF can be used by superintendents to determine what your local property tax rate should be based upon need, access to property wealth, location in the state and relative ability of all other school districts. Odds are, what your local tax rate currently is, and what the EBF formula says it should be, is different. That’s OK. Stakeholders in your community might demand a higher level of service. Or, perhaps, your district doesn’t have the resources to meet the staffing levels the formula suggests. What’s important is superintendents are able to articulate what and why and build a data-driven narrative to support that decision. In other words, be able to use data and explain the return on investment. However, EBF is not the only tool available to superintendents. The Illinois State Board of Education also has produced a FY 20 Adequacy Target Gap

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LM Month 2019