An oft-repeated $1.1 billion demand from Chicago’s mayor
would actually wind up costing state taxpayers $5.5 billion. And Gov. JB
Pritzker is turning a big thumbs down.
Chicago Public Schools made the huge mistake of putting a
ton of temporary federal pandemic aid into its permanent spending base for
years and that money is just about gone. It also recently over-estimated some
state tax revenues. Mayor Brandon Johnson also dumped $170 million in pension
costs onto the district from his own budget, and the Chicago Teachers Union is
asking for the moon in its contract negotiations. The end result is deficits as
far as the eye can see.
Johnson has suggested CPS borrow money in the interim,
but he has said over and over again that the state “owes” CPS $1.1 billion and
he wants the state to pony up.
But does the state really owe CPS that much money? “No”
is the simple answer.
First, a quick primer. The state’s Evidence-Based Funding
law was passed in 2017 after years of work. The idea of EBF was to move to a
system based on “adequate” state and local funding levels. A lot of factors
determine adequacy, like regional salaries, how much districts spend, how much
they have the capacity to spend, the types of district students (with an
emphasis on low-income, English learners, special education) and more.
The legislation was designed to help districts eventually
reach 90% of adequate funding. This fiscal year, the state will spend $8.6
billion on evidence-based funding. Negotiators realized from the beginning that
the state didn’t have enough money to fund every school at 90% adequacy right
away, so it’s been spending $350 million more each year (except Fiscal Year 21)
in order to reach the eventual target where all districts have 90% adequacy. Fifty
million of that goes to property tax relief grants.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education, if
the state had decided last fiscal year to just all of a sudden abandon the
funding “ramp” and immediately reach 90% adequacy, the total state cost
would’ve been $2.5 billion.
Of that $2.5 billion, the ISBE says, Chicago would’ve
received $503 million, less than half the $1.1 billion that Mayor Johnson
claims the state owes.
So, where does the $1.1 billion number come from?
According to the state board, that amount would’ve been owed to Chicago last
fiscal year if the state immediately funded schools at 100% of their adequacy
levels. However, the board points out that 100% funding is not in state law,
despite what the mayor is saying.
Johnson has always said that all Illinois schools should
get what’s coming to them right away, not just Chicago. But EBF funding for all
public schools at 100% last fiscal year would’ve cost taxpayers a whopping
$4.85 billion, according to the State Board of Education.
But wait, there’s more. Mayor Johnson’s spokesperson
released a statement to me saying in part: “(T)he State of Illinois provides
all other school districts with nearly $3,000 more per student by fully paying
their teacher pensions,” and went on to say they would work with the state to
make that happen.
That’s about $969 million. Take out what the state
already gives CPS for teacher pensions and you wind up with a tab of $615
million. And now you’re at $5.47 billion.
The mayor hasn’t mentioned that state law gives Chicago a
special pension carveout. The Chicago school district’s ability to pay (known
as the “local capacity target”) portion of the formula is reduced by whatever
CPS spends on teacher pensions. This reduces the city’s amount that it has to
pay for its own schools. Last fiscal year, CPS was given a nearly $700 million
reduction in its local capacity target.
Gov. Pritzker told me this past Friday that, despite all
the public rhetoric, Mayor Johnson has never once personally asked him to help
fund that $1.1 billion.
I told Pritzker that I assumed other school districts
also put temporary federal money into their permanent spending bases and would
also be demanding more state aid. “I don't think that that's the job of
Springfield, to rescue the school districts that might have been irresponsible
with the one-time money they received,” Pritzker said.
“Poor fiscal management on the part of a local government
is not necessarily the responsibility of Springfield,” he added.
Is CPS poorly fiscally managed? Pritzker at first hedged,
then, when pressed, said he'd like to answer the question his own way.
"One-time money shouldn't be spent for ongoing
operations."
