(Name-mce) ListServ Rich school, poor school

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Rich school, poor school
Suburbs facing a great divide over spending for students

By Diane Rado
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
Published February 4, 2007

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-0702040055feb04,0,7745897.story?coll=chi-education-hed

In an education world of haves and have-nots, Chicago's suburbs have
some of the most glaring disparities in school spending in Illinois, a
Tribune analysis has found.

The differences between districts with high property values and poorer
districts in the region are profound and show up vividly in spending
per pupil.

Lake, Cook and DuPage Counties are among the five counties in the
state with the largest gaps in spending, when the district with the
most property wealth is compared with the district with the least.

Of all counties, Lake County had the biggest gap for grade school
districts in 2005.

Affluent Rondout School District 72 in Lake Forest spent $22,508 per
student, compared with $8,675 in Zion Elementary School District 6,
where property values are dramatically lower.

Family wealth also correlates with school spending. The Tribune found
that about 80 percent of grade school districts with large low-income
populations spent less than the state average of $8,765 per pupil for
elementary districts in 2005.

Educators widely agree that disadvantaged students need more resources
than their affluent peers to perform at the same level, though money
doesn't always guarantee higher performance. And some districts that
don't spend a lot are performing well, complicating the debate over
education funding.

Disparities between districts will be in the forefront this
legislative session, with Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago)
saying education inequities between rich and poor communities must
end.

As lawmakers reconvene this week, educators are more hopeful that the
political climate this year could boost the chances of real reform.

But the topic can be bafflingly complex, and solutions have been
elusive in the past.

A cluster in Cook County

In the Chicago area, the districts where low property wealth, low
incomes and low school spending come together are mostly found in a
swath of western and southern Cook County.

There, 27 districts with large low-income populations spent less per
pupil than the state average for grade school districts in 2005.

Illinois' school funding system relies predominantly on local property
taxes, so property-poor districts are at a disadvantage in raising
money.

State and federal subsidies help high-poverty districts, but in many
cases they don't close the spending gap, state data showed.

"We are proud of what we have, but we know that it's not fair," said
Lela Bridges, superintendent in Harvey School District 152 in southern
Cook County.

Harvey is considered the poorest elementary district in the county,
based on a state formula. Even with help from the state and federal
governments, the district spent just $7,709 per pupil in 2005.

By contrast, West Northfield School District 31 in Northbrook,
considered the county's wealthiest elementary district, spent $13,346
per child.

Bridges said she struggles every day to find money for basic
instruction, clean and well-maintained buildings, computers and a few
extras, such as music lessons for a few dozen students.

She gets extra money to tutor struggling children from federal
programs, but she also wishes she could afford more teacher aides for
her classrooms.

Children at West Northfield have programs such as forensic testing,
flight simulation and fingerprinting techniques in a state-of-the-art
applied technology lab.

Shiny guitars line the back of a music room, and all middle school
students have the chance to play. They also can learn violin.

All kindergarten classrooms have teacher aides, and 1st-grade
classrooms have a teacher aide for reading.

Parents have raised money for programs including a performing
artist-in-residence, and they bought a portable, inflatable
planetarium where elementary students can view constellations.

"They want for nothing," said Maria Kalant, principal of the
district's elementary school, as she opened the door of a well-stocked
supply room.

Supt. Debra Hill said, "Every child should have this. Every child
deserves this."

Spending disparities were not limited to the Chicago area. Twenty-two
counties outside the area had per-pupil spending gaps of more than
$2,000 between their wealthiest and least affluent districts.

City tops spending average

The Chicago Public Schools system, where 85 percent of students are
poor, spent $9,758 per child in 2005, compared with the $8,676
statewide average for K-12 districts.

Peter Cunningham, a Chicago schools spokesman, said the district would
need hundreds of millions more dollars to make changes that would help
disadvantaged students succeed, including additional instruction time
and smaller classes.

He estimated that it would cost $300.4 million to extend the school
day by one hour, and $165 million to reduce class sizes to 25
students.

Cunningham is working with state education groups and others who hope
to help lawmakers devise a plan for school funding reform this
session.

In addition to closing spending disparities, some educators want to
raise spending across the board.

Critics, meanwhile, say many districts already spend too much.

Even if lawmakers agree that schools need more money, it will be
difficult to settle on an amount, how to generate the revenue, and how
to divide it.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich opposes raising the state income or sales tax,
and his office is pursuing a plan to lease the state lottery that is
unpopular with many lawmakers who would need to approve it.

Becky Carroll, a budget spokeswoman for the governor, said "increasing
funds for K-12 remains a priority," and in the past, the governor "has
certainly directed funding to districts with the most need."

Blagojevich will lay out details of his plans in his March state budget address.

Increase in state aid backed

In a sign of what is likely to come, the Illinois State Board of
Education, which works closely with the governor's office, recently
recommended a $355 per-pupil increase in the basic state aid
guaranteed students--which could be the largest increase in nearly a
decade.

Basic student aid helps disadvantaged districts more than affluent
ones, and it includes special grants to districts based on numbers of
low-income students.

But raising basic aid does not entirely resolve differences in school
spending between rich and poor communities.

Some states, such as Washington, have limited how much local districts
can raise in taxes to supplement school budgets as a way to equalize
funding across districts, said Marguerite Roza, a researcher at the
University of Washington who studies school funding inequities.

Illinois contributes less than 30 percent on average to local school
budgets, according to state data, among the lowest amounts in the
nation.

"I think other states have made a lot more progress than Illinois has
in ensuring more equitable expenditures across the state," Roza said.
"Illinois is at the bottom."

drado at tribune.com