Sangamon Sun

Springfield SD 186 in Springfield receives $592 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in Metro Springfield, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Porta CUSD 202 in Petersburg receives $362 per student.

Wirepoints examined the system in which school districts pay salaries to teachers and administrators, but not pensions, which are funded by state tax dollars.

"It’s a scheme that allows districts to spend more money on salaries and perks than they otherwise would," Wirepoints reported. "Wealthy districts – like those on the North Shore – benefit far more from the state’s pension payments than poor districts do."

Almost 50 percent of what the state pays toward education has gone to teacher pensions in recent years, according to Wirepoints. Bigger pensions in wealthy districts means there’s less money to adequately fund districts with less property wealth.

Springfield SD 186, which relies on the state for 29 percent of its revenue and spends $12,405 per student, ranks 207 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Porta CUSD 202 relies on the state for 25 percent of its revenue and spends $9,514 per student. It ranks 790th in the state.

The analysis shows Rondout SD 72 in Lake County received the biggest subsidy in the state and Earlville CUSD 9 in LaSalle County received the smallest subsidy.

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Greater Springfield districts receiving state-provided pension subsidies

District	County	City	Average daily attendance	Percent of district revenue provided by the state	EAV (taxable property) per student	District spending per student	State-provided pension subsidy per student*
Springfield SD 186	Sangamon	Springfield	13,167	29%	$145,914	$12,405	$592
West Lincoln-Broadwell ESD 92	Logan	Lincoln	195	10%	$384,325	$11,502	$592
Hartsburg Emden CUSD 21	Logan	Hartsburg	194	13%	$204,634	$12,345	$580
Mt Pulaski CUSD 23	Logan	Mt Pulaski	497	10%	$207,820	$10,421	$542
Pleasant Plains CUSD 8	Sangamon	Pleasant Plains	1,160	17%	$170,012	$10,451	$515
New Holland-Middletown ED 88	Logan	Middletown	102	14%	$276,812	$11,106	$513
Lincoln CHSD 404	Logan	Lincoln	744	21%	$373,759	$11,537	$503
Lincoln ESD 27	Logan	Lincoln	1,082	45%	$106,166	$10,348	$490
Greenview CUSD 200	Menard	Greenview	217	24%	$173,411	$10,257	$489
Pawnee CUSD 11	Sangamon	Pawnee	590	11%	$118,907	$8,544	$425
Tri City CUSD 1	Sangamon	Buffalo	503	25%	$152,600	$10,220	$420
Auburn CUSD 10	Sangamon	Auburn	1,173	43%	$98,228	$8,947	$415
Athens CUSD 213	Menard	Athens	992	35%	$118,437	$8,758	$379
Chester-East Lincoln CCSD 61	Logan	Lincoln	266	11%	$266,002	$8,274	$377
Ball Chatham CUSD 5	Sangamon	Chatham	4,314	19%	$160,607	$8,896	$377
Williamsville CUSD 15	Sangamon	Williamsville	1,403	34%	$116,621	$9,162	$375
Rochester CUSD 3A	Sangamon	Rochester	2,176	32%	$115,854	$9,213	$372
New Berlin CUSD 16	Sangamon	New Berlin	844	13%	$200,455	$8,943	$371
Riverton CUSD 14	Sangamon	Riverton	1,352	45%	$85,383	$8,177	$370
Porta CUSD 202	Menard	Petersburg	996	25%	$154,362	$9,514	$362

Source: Source: Illinois State Board of Education, ILEARN data 2016; Total earnings data received from a 2018 FOIA request to the Teachers' Retirement System; TRS actuarial report 2017; Wirepoints calculations

*Proxy of the pension subsidy provided to each school district. District subsidy is calculated by taking the TRS employer normal cost in 2017 ($871 million) and multiplying it by each district's share of TRS total employee earnings. To calculate the subsidy per student, each district's share is divided by their average daily attendance.