The State of the State                                          

An all-Republican state government hasn't given any GOP leader courage to suggest a new formula for funding education

Governor avoids distribution
of dollars in school reform plan

By JENNIFER HALPERIN

Illinois Republicans have given lots of lip service to the idea of sticking together, passing meaningful legislation and moving the state forward. Gov. Jim Edgar's State of the State address alluded to a host of issues his party would work to pass, from increased telecommunication technology to limits on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases.

Unfortunately, even an all-Republican state government hasn't given Edgar — or any GOP leader, for that matter — the courage to stand up on the most divisive issue: the state formula for funding education. And that's too bad. Lawmakers can tout charter schools and learning zones and mandate waivers until they're blue in the face; these proposals still add up to little more than "window dressing," as one Republican senator put it. The funding formula won't be addressed this spring, many lawmakers agree.

"This isn't really a partisan issue," said Sen. Doris Karpiel, a Republican from Carol Stream who has helped to draw up education reform proposals. "It's a geographic issue. To come up with a new formula that would please everyone without a huge new tax increase — I just don't think it's going to happen. I had hoped we would tackle it, but I don't think so. There are quite a few new members in the House, and everybody's got such a full plate we probably won't get to it."

One problem may be that the very words "school funding formula" sound boring and difficult to understand. Voters aren't exactly rallying around their lawmakers crying for formula changes. But maybe they should. What goes into the formula — taxpayers' money — and the formula's effect — the amount of money schools receive — are among voters' top concerns.

"One issue that should draw us all together is education," said Sen. Patrick O'Malley from Palos Park, who co-chairs the Senate Education Committee.

"Instead, it's something that divides us. So we should address it and change it. We can all agree it's a great stumbling block. But the political realities are that regional interests encourage regionalism. The school aid formula by its very nature forces us to be even more regional than we are."

This is true because suburbanites believe they pay more into the system than they get back. Their schools' budgets are funded primarily through property taxes, which are based on their relatively high property values. The rest comes from state aid that's divvied up to school districts across Illinois. Suburbanites want less property taxes going to schools so they can get more state aid, like down-state districts.

Edgar called for charter schools and a Chicago learning zone. He did not call for a discussion on distribution of school aid dollars

But if that happens, state funds will have to be divided more thinly than they already are. They will have to be augmented with a new revenue source — an increase in the state income tax, an option hated by most Republicans. Otherwise, downstate schools will receive even less money than they get now.

Some say these rural schools may just have to bite the proverbial bullet and accept the loss. But with so many of the downstate school districts on the state Board of Education's financial watch list, that hit would be too hard to take, say many central and southern Illinois lawmakers.

What's especially troubling is that such a wide range of politicians, from Edgar to his defeated opponent Dawn Clark Netsch to Senate President James "Pate" Philip, have talked about the need

10/February 1995/lllinois Issues

to create a fairer school funding formula, with its heavy reliance on property taxes. Former Illinois State School Superintendent Robert Leininger had one major regret when he left his post — "that Illinois still hasn't solved its school funding problems."

And yet the "reforms" Edgar advocated in this year's State of the State continue to steer clear of this complicated issue.

Edgar called for a learning zone in Chicago, where schools would be authorized to create their own structure, free from most state and local requirements. He called for 45 charter schools — 15 in Chicago, 15 for suburbia and 15 for downstate — which also would largely be freed from most state educational mandates. And he called for state grants, which would allow schools to purchase computers, train personnel in technology or make capital improvements with local districts required to match at least part of the state money. He did not call for even the beginnings of discussions on working out a compromise on the formula for funding Illinois' schools.

Sen. John Maitland, a Bloomington Republican who has built a reputation as an advocate for education, said no formula can be agreed upon until people give up an "I want everything for myself and my constituents" attitude.

"Anything they come up with is going to be controversial," he said. "My attitude has always been that we should do something about funding for schools before the courts make us do it."

Maitland says that while he doesn't buy the hype on charter schools and learning zones, he plans to support some of these ideas. "I feel charter schools won't really do the right thing," he says. "But I'm willing to do anything that may help. More than willing."

Whenever the school funding discussion does come about, it's going to be arduous, Karpiel said. A formula change would mean winners and losers even within her suburban district, let alone statewide. But the sooner the discussion begins, the sooner something will change for Illinois schools.

So before the cheerleading gets too loud for the Republican takeover of Illinois government, that party's leaders should think about how they plan to tackle one of the state's thorniest problems. *