Sangamon Sun

WirePoints issued the following announcement on July 7

A Wirepoints analysis of new U.S. Census education finance data finds that Illinois education spending per student grew 70 percent between 2007 and 2019, the most in the nation. That’s nearly two times more than the national average over the same period.

 At $16,227 per student, Illinois spent more in 2019 than every other state in the entire Midwest, a position the state has held since 2010.

 Unfortunately, that higher spending hasn’t translated into better outcomes for Illinois students. Wirepoints analyzed National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data and found that Illinois test scores have remained flat since 2007.

 “This new Census data helps dispel the claim that Illinois needs billions in additional Pre-K to 12 funding,” says Ted Dabrowski, President of Wirepoints.

 “Gov. Pritzker, like Gov. Rauner before him, has embraced the ‘underfunded’ narrative in Illinois education and continues to push for additional funding every year. But what’s lost in the spending demands of lawmakers and education officials is that Illinoisans already pay the 10th-highest overall tax burden – along with the nation’s 2nd-highest property taxes – for a system that largely fails to deliver student achievement.”

Major findings of Wirepoints’ analysis of U.S. Census and NAEP data include:

• At 70 percent, Illinois’ education spending growth (federal, state and local) per student over the 2007-2019 period was the most in the nation. Spending grew almost double the national average (36 percent) and five times more than Florida (13 percent), the state with the smallest education funding growth in the country. Wirepoints chose 2007 as the starting year to avoid the volatility in education funding during the Great Recession.
• Illinois spent far more per student than any other state in the Midwest in 2019. At $16,227, Illinois spent 16 percent more than North Dakota ($14,004), 27 percent more than Michigan ($12,756), 60 percent more than South Dakota ($10,139) and 23 percent more than the national average ($13,187). Across all 50 states, Illinois ranked 12th in total per student spending, 8th when cost-of-living is factored in.
• Even Illinois’ neediest districts spent more per student than the overall average in other Midwest states. Illinois’ neediest districts (designated Tier 1 by Illinois’ evidence-based funding system) spent $15,216 per student in 2019, more than the average per student spend in every other Midwest and neighboring state.
• Illinois’ education spending growth is still one of the nation’s highest even when controlling for rising pension costs. Even after removing pension contributions from Illinois’ expenditures – while leaving pension spending intact in all other states – Illinois’ per student spending still grew the 10th-most in the nation (49 percent) between 2007 and 2019.
• Illinois’ increased spending has done little to nothing to improve students’ NAEP scores. Illinois’ National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math and reading scores have remained virtually flat over the 2007-2019 period.
• Neighboring states achieve better student outcomes while spending far less than Illinois does. Illinois’ neighbors spent 30 to 60 percent less on education per student in 2019. Yet students in those states largely outscored Illinois students on the NAEP. For example, Illinois fares worse in NAEP proficiency in fourth-grade math versus all its neighbors except Michigan.

“Lawmakers should discuss how to better spend the education money Illinois already has. But first, they have to acknowledge how much Illinois already spends and how little student achievement has improved, despite billions in additional funding over the years,” says Dabrowski.

 “Illinois has hundreds of overlapping, duplicative school districts, a bloated administrative bureaucracy, overgenerous retirement perks, a regressive pension funding system, and more, that have siphoned away billions in direct funding for classrooms and Illinois’ neediest districts.”

 Illinois’ experience with education funding and achievement shows the state needs to change how it operates. Rather than squeeze billions more out of Illinoisans, lawmakers should reform the bloated system already in place: Consolidate school districts, cut back on perks, and reform pensions – starting with a pension amendment to the state’s constitution.

Read Wirepoints’ full report: https://wirepoints.org/new-u-s-census-data-illinois-education-spending-soars-while-outcomes-flatline-wirepoints-special-report

Per student spending, 2007-2019, and other key data for each Illinois school district can be found HERE.