Illinois' Education Funding Task Force met yesterday to consider whether to change how the state finances education.
The current system is based on property taxes, so school districts with high land values -- like those in the suburbs north of Chicago -- want to keep the status quo.
They say a Senate plan to shift money to less wealthy districts would create winners and losers.
But David Lett, superintendent of Pana schools, said districts like his can't raise enough money through property taxes to offer the same quality of education as wealthier districts.
"We've been losing. They are now contemplating the possibility of losing under a formula that weights more heavily for poverty. And they're scared of it,” Lett said.
Governor Bruce Rauner has announced a plan to spend more money on schools.
But he would do so under the current system ... rather than the Senate plan to focus on areas with high rates of poverty.
