Educators push for more state funding

Panelists at an Illinois House committee hearing on education funding urged state lawmakers to increase financial support to schools.

Members of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee met in Oak Park Thursday to gather testimony on education funding. It was the first of five such hearings planned by the committee statewide.

Panelists asked state representatives to funnel more money to education, with many suggesting an increase in the state income tax.

The state can't continue to rely on local property taxes to pay for education, Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability said. Local property taxes are strangling businesses and homeowners.

"If Illinois really wants to make an investment in the vast majority of school districts ... it's going to have to drive additional state-based revenue targeted at educational expenses," Martire said.

But given the state's tax system, Martire said, that's impossible. The system needs to be reformed, he said.

The state income tax could be increased, with targeted relief to low- and middle-income residents, Martire said. The sales tax can be updated, taxing services as well as goods.

Illinois could solve its fiscal problems with a $6 billion tax increase, Martire said. The state is the country's fifth biggest economy, he said, but ranks 45th in tax burden. Such an increase would raise it to 41st.

Don Rubin, president of the Illinois Property Tax Lawyers Association, said Illinois cannot continue to over-burden property tax payers. He suggested the state look at alternative sources of income for schools, such as the corporate income tax and slot machines at the airports.

"You'd be taking money, hopefully, out of the pockets of non-residents as opposed to residents," Rubin said.

Internet sales ought to be taxed as well, Rubin said.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan said the state has failed to pass legislation that swaps property taxes with state income taxes for education. He suggested the state increase education funding, putting less pressure on local districts to raise property taxes.

Duncan suggested the state not look to gaming or lottery receipts for support, because schools need a stable source of income. A 2-percent increase in the income tax would be too much for taxpayers, Duncan said, but something less might have a chance of passing.

Bellwood teacher Ron DeFalco of the Illinois Education Association said pending legislation, such as Senate Bill 2288, would increase money for education.

The bill not only increases funding for schools, but also directs that money be spent in areas such as reducing class sizes and mentoring for new teachers and principals, DeFalco said.

In Bellwood District 88, some teachers have to buy their own books and bring in their own computers to teach, DeFalco said. Classes are in disrepair.

Students cannot be held accountable for reaching academic standards if they're not even given adequate opportunities to do so, he said.

Panelists from Chicago suggested that, while more money would be good for their schools, better oversight is needed on how money is spent.

Chicago does not run its schools as community schools, James Smith, executive director of Servants of the World Youth Outreach, said.

He suggested the state take over operation of the Chicago Public School system.

"I don't see any hope unless you all get involved," Smith said.

Some schools were overcrowded at the start of the school year, with students sitting on the floor, Wanda Hopkins, of Parents United for Responsible Education, said.

Hopkins was told by the schools that they anticipated at least 10 students in those classrooms would drop out, she said.

"Only in poor school neighborhoods do you see that happen," she said.

Four more hearings on school funding are scheduled. The next is at 6 p.m. Sept. 30 at Thornwood High School, 17101 S. Park Ave. in South Holland.

There's more focus at the state level to do something about education funding, Education Committee Chairman Mike Smith said. A member of the legislature for 14 years, Smith said there's only been one major attempt at reforming how education is paid for in Illinois. That was in 1997.

"A lot of my colleagues still have a fear of supporting any major tax increase because of retribution from voters," Smith said. "The governor has also been a major roadblock."