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 On March 28, lawmakers in the Illinois House of Representatives
unanimously passed House Bill 3053 in a 109-0 vote. State Rep. Rita Mayfield,
D-Waukegan, introduced the bill, also known as the Classrooms First Act, in
February.
The bill’s passage is a historic first step toward property tax relief and
ensuring more education funding dollars in Illinois flow to classrooms rather
than top-heavy administrative bodies.
The bill would create the School District Efficiency Commission, tasked with
reviewing the state’s 852 school districts, which together consume nearly
two-thirds of property taxes collected in Illinois. The commission would then
make recommendations for consolidating districts, setting a goal to reduce the
state’s number of school districts by a minimum of 25 percent.
Importantly, consolidation of school districts strictly involves merging
administrative bodies, not closing individual schools. As of 2016, Illinois
school districts served just 2,399 students per district, the fifth-lowest among
states with school populations over 1 million, suggesting ample room for
cost-saving efficiency. If Illinois served the same number of students per
district as Virginia, it would have just 210 districts, 642 fewer than it has
today.
The commission’s district reduction goal would not force any individual district
to consolidate. Rather, its recommendations would go directly to voters as a
ballot question, allowing parents, teachers and local taxpayers living within
each school district to determine what is right for the students in their
communities.
Finally, the bill would require all newly formed districts to be unit districts,
meaning they’d serve both high schools and elementary schools. Data from the
Illinois State Board of Education shows unit districts are the most efficient in
terms of spending per student.
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Currently, Illinois spends more to get less. Our
neighbors Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana spend between $2,400 and
$4,000 fewer per student but all three states score better on K-12
math and reading proficiency, according to the National Assessment
of Education Progress.
Why hasn’t more money translated to higher scores?
Illinois spends more than any neighboring state and nearly double
the national average on “general administration” costs, which
measures spending on school districts but excludes administrative
costs within individual schools. This excessive spending on
bureaucracy keeps money away from students and teachers, where it
matters most. School district administrators
collecting six-figure salaries across the state provide numerous
examples of misplaced education spending priorities. Take Troy
Paraday, former superintendent of Calumet City School District 155,
who earned a salary and benefits totaling $440,000 per year. Despite
such lavish compensation, District 155 serves just three schools and
1,100 students. After an investigation into “pay padding” and other
abuses, the district fired Paraday in October 2018.
Excessive administrator salaries remain commonplace in Illinois
school districts. In 2017, there were over 9,000 school
administrators in Illinois who made $100,000 or more per year, each
of whom is expected to receive $3 million or more over the course of
their retirements, due to generous taxpayer-funded pensions.
Illinois’ excessive spending on administration diverts state
education dollars from teachers and students, and inflates local
property tax bills. If the Illinois Senate joins the House in
passing HB 3053, state lawmakers would redirect more education funds
where they belong – classrooms – offering students a better
education and residents some property tax relief.
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