Naperville CUSD 203, Indian Prairie 204, and Wheaton-Warrenville CUSD 200 will host Legislative Breakfast

Senate Bill 16 and other legislative impacts on local School Districts will be discussed…

On Wednesday, September 24,  Naperville Community Unit School District 203, Indian Prairie School District 204 and Wheaton-Warrenville CUSD 200 are co-hosting a Legislative Breakfast for an informal discussion on public education with the local elected officials who represent the three school Districts. Representatives from the Districts’ Board of Education will welcome the group followed by a brief status report given by District superintendents, Dan Bridges of 203, Karen Sullivan of 204 and, Jeff Schuler of 200.

New testing, curriculum standards, and collaborative electronic learning opportunities among the Districts are to be discussed as well as proposed legislation, including Senate Bill 16 and Senate Bill 1 (pension reform/cost shift), and adverse effects on they would have on the Districts, if passed. Specifically, if SB16 is implemented District 203 would lose an estimated $9.4 million dollars, or 76 percent, of state funding, which would require the District to revisit how it would offer quality instruction in our classrooms.

Districts 203, 204 and 200 are very cost effective. District 203 has a lower operating expense per pupil than Chicago Public Schools’ and has comparable expenditures to area benchmark districts. Similarly, Indian Prairie District 204 has among the lowest per pupil operating expense for unit districts in DuPage County. And, at $11,100, District 200 already has one of the lowest operating expenses per pupil for unit districts in DuPage County, operating below the state average. Passage of SB 16 would be financially burdensome on our Districts and would directly impact the quality of instruction provided to our students.

The Legislative Breakfast is being held at Lincoln Junior High School, located at 1320 South Olympus Drive in Naperville.  The breakfast will begin at 7:30AM sharp.

Agenda

Legislative Breakfast
7:30AM-9AM Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Lincoln Junior High School

District 200 Roll Call, District 203 Roll Call, District 204 Roll Call

Welcome
Lori Price, President, Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education
Terry Fielden, Vice President, Naperville Community Unit School District 203
Jim Vromen, Vice President, Community Unit School District 200

Introduction of Legislative Guests

Discussion Items
1. District 203 Status Report – Dan Bridges, Superintendent
2. District 204 Status Report – Karen Sullivan, Superintendent
3. District 200 Status Report – Jeff Schuler, Superintendent
4. Mutual Interests
5. State Legislation

Public Comment
Adjourn

Sept. 10 / From District 204 E-News, the official e-mail newsletter for Indian Prairie School District 204

What is Senate Bill 16?

Last July, the Illinois Senate Education Funding Advisory Committee was tasked with recommending ways to improve public education funding in Illinois, which has remained unchanged since 1997. 

If enacted into law, Senate Bill 16 (SB16) will make sweeping changes in how the state funds education and those changes will have a negative impact on District 204. 

The state’s current system has multiple funding sources, each with separate rules and regulations. The committee recommended that 96 percent of state education dollars be combined under one funding formula, with the exception of funds for early childhood education, capital projects and special education. The recommendation of creating one funding formula is aimed at providing greater equity among districts throughout the state.

What Senate Bill 16 does not… 

SB16 does not increase the level of education funding, but changes the way in which limited state funding is distributed to school districts. Generally, school districts with higher assessed property values will receive much less state funding. Other districts will receive much more in state funding. As written, SB16 provides a special cost benefit to Chicago Public Schools. Under SB16, the state will now assume teacher pension costs for Chicago Public Schools, which represents a substantial cost savings for the district. 

SB16 also does not address the issue of the state not being able to meet its current obligations to fund education. For the past three years, the state has underfunded all school districts by 11 percent.  

How will SB16 impact District 204? 

The financial impact on our school district is significant. The district’s budget will be reduced by $10.1 million over four years. This is a loss of 41 percent in state revenue. A $10.1 million revenue reduction would equal a loss of approximately 135 teachers. District 204 will have the third largest reduction in state funding among the 862 school districts in Illinois. The district is at the top of the list of DuPage County reductions.  

If passed into law, District 204 would once again be placed in a position of reviewing programs and class sizes in order to stay within its budget. Over the past several years, a reduction in funding already forced the district to cut $40 million from its budget. Finding areas outside of the classroom to cut an additional $10.1 million would be difficult. 

At $10,636, District 204 already has the lowest operating expenses per pupil for unit districts in DuPage County. The district also operates below the state average of $11,842. Simply put, there aren’t many remaining areas outside of the classroom to cut.  

What can you do?  

SB16 has already passed the Senate. You can see how your Senator voted here.  

It is expected that SB16 will be discussed and possibly voted on by the House this fall. This is where we need your help. We are asking parents to contact your Illinois Representative and ask them to vote no on SB16.  

District 204 is served by the following Representatives:  

State Representative Darlene Senger (sengerstaterep@gmail.com, 630-420-3008) 
State Representative Stephanie Kifowit (stephanie.kifowit@att.net, 630-585-1308) 
State Representative Mike Fortner (mike.fortner@sbcglobal.net, 630-293-9344) 
State Representative Natalie Manley (repmanley@gmail.com, 815-725-2741) 
State Representative Tom Cross, (815-254-0000) 

Additional resources on SB16 

Legislative Education Network of DuPage County’s presentation to District 204’s Board of Education on Sept. 8, 2014: Video  PowerPoint  
Impact of SB16 on DuPage County school districts