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School Superintendents Sue Illinois Over Funding

Flickr user / alamosbasement "old school" (CC BY 2.0)

Seventeen school superintendents sued the state of Illinois Wednesday. They're asking Governor Bruce Rauner and the state board of education to come up with a funding formula that would help schools meet the state's learning standards. 
 
The superintendents say the lawsuit is their last resort given Illinois' notoriously inequitable funding formula and years of reduced state spending,

 

Consider Cahokia. It’s cut staff to the point that even kindergarten classes have up to 30 students (double the recommended ratio) and residents pay a 13 percent property tax, about four times the state average. Superintendent Art Ryan says repairing buildings is out of the question:

 

"Our high school needs approximately $20-$25 million worth of repairs that we have no idea where that potentially is going to come from," Ryan said.?

 

Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic General Assembly have increased school funding to historically high levels, but the plaintiffs say pouring more money into an inequitable formula doesn't help their schools.

 

Dan Cox, superintendent of schools in Staunton, says pumping money through the existing state formula doesn't help districts with low property values.

 

"We're looking for an evidence-based model that's based on research. And currently, our funding model is not based on any of that. It's just an arbitrary number," Cox said.

 

Lawmakers are considering a variety of overhauls to the school funding formula. But so far, no plan has made it to the governor's desk.?