State Budget Proposal Gives Schools Some Guidance

The unveiling Wednesday of Governor Pat Quinn's delayed budget proposal cleared away some of the fog in which school district planners have been working.  But only a little.

In a bow to reality Quinn's budget doesn't count on a continuation of the $1 billion in Federal stimulus funds used to shore up Illinois education spending this year. “It was crystal clear that the votes are not there in the Congress to extend the federal stimulus for education. It’s not going to happen," said Quinn.

His proposal calls for $1.3 billion in cuts to state education funding--unless the state increases its income tax from 3 to 4 percent. In that case the state will pay off the $850 million it already owes districts for the current year and will restore support to this year's nominal figures.

D158 CFO Mark Altmayer said the Governor's budget proposal remains a pretty broad brush affair, though.  "They didn't break down the $1.3 billion cuts," said. The state provides several different kinds of education funding but Quinn's proposal doesn't say how much will be cut from specific areas like general support, special education and transportation.

Overall, though, "The cuts amount to a 17 percent level," said Altmayer. "We're planning for those cuts," he said, since extra money from an income tax increase is no more than conjectural now. "Is it going to get done?" he said.

D300 CFO Cheryl Crates said she hoped for more detail from an Illinois State Board of Education budget analysis but she isn't counting on an income tax increase, either.  "At this point, there's no new money," she said. Crates said Quinn's budget works out to roughly the worst-case scenario she presented to the D300 board Monday.  "If I'd had Quinn's numbers to work with I'd have still done it the way I did it," she said.

Crates' projections work out to an $11 million state shortfall for the coming year and her district has already agreed to lay off as many as 150 teachers next year.  Altmayer is working on cuts to place before the D158 board next week.

Largely unremarked in Quinn's income tax proposal this week is an extra $650 million left over if the state paid schools at this year's level.  So far Quinn hasn't said what he'd to do with that money.