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| William
Burns, Education and Tax Policy Manager, Metropolitan Planning Council.
The Metropolitan Planning Council has been a consistent voice on school funding issues and tax policy. MPC is working with regional partners educators, business organizations, civic groups, and civil rights organizations through the Network 21: Quality School and Stronger Communities Coalition to advocate for school funding reform. The Network 21 Coalition will work to:
Today you have heard form several members of the coalition. Throughout the fall, the coalition will be working to develop a consensus plan to address many of the concerns expressed by members today. We look forward to working with Education Funding Advisory Board to draft recommendations that will provide a quality education for every child in the state. The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) researches and advocates for a variety public policies including housing, transportation, technology, and development to improve the viability of the six county metropolitan region and to increase the equity of opportunity of our region's citizens. Although the 1997 reforms improved the State's funding system there are still unresolved difficulties in the school finance arena:
MPC encourages the Education Funding Advisory Board to carefully study the costs of providing a quality education for all students. The 1997 reforms were drafted through a transparent and rigorous process. The State's efforts in 2000 should use the same level of detail and study. MPC encourages EFAB to examine proposals and strategies for reducing the reliance of local property taxes for school funding. MPC encourages EFA-B to ensure that the continuing appropriation language is retained in any school finance law. MPC encourages EFAB to recommend an alternative method of counting low-income students other than census data. MPC encourages EFAB to recommend an expansion of the eligibility requirements for the supplementary poverty grant. School districts with low-income populations between zero and twenty percent are ineligible for poverty grant assistance. Expand the poverty grant to school districts with a low-income population between ten and twenty percent. MPC encourages EFAB to consider efforts to create efficiencies in large categorical programs. MPC also supports efforts to create categorical block grants to school districts to encourage flexibility and cost savings. Savings in categorical spending can be used to reduce funding inequalities between districts by redirecting the savings into the General State Aid formula. Spending on categorical programs now is nearly equivalent to the General State Aid (GSA) appropriation of $3.05 billion. MPC, as a member of the business community, is part of the Illinois Business Education Coalition (IBEC). We believe that quality and accountability reforms can be packaged with increases in funding levels.
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| Seeing both
the need and the opportunity for education funding reforms a broad array
of organizations have joined together to form the Network 21: Quality
Schools and Stronger Communities coalition. Representatives of the education,
business, labor, and civil rights communities will work together through
the next legislative session to improve education for all of Illinois' children.
A list of members is attached on page three.
The Network 21 Coalition will work to:
Metropolitan Planning Council (UTC) President MarySue Barrett explained, "Education is the most important issue to Illinois voters, and despite the hard-won 1997 reforms and increased education appropriations over the past two years, local property taxes still constitute the majority of school dollars spent statewide. The over-reliance on local property taxes in Cook County and statewide deters business growth, affects the availability of affordable housing, and unfairly links the opportunity for a quality education to where a child lives in the state." The General Assembly will revisit school funding in January after the Education Funding Advisory Board makes its recommendations to Governor Ryan and the General Assembly. Paula Czupek, legislative director of the South Cooperative Organization for Public Education (SCOPE), agreed that the time is ripe for change. "Several school districts in the south suburbs have some of the highest property tax rates in the state yet they struggle to produce the dollars necessary to provide a quality education. Districts are forced to increase class sizes, defer capital improvements, or cannot pay good teachers or administrators a competitive salary. The high tax rates encourage homeowners and businesses to leave the area, which in turn forces school districts to increase tax rates. It's a vicious cycle." Heidi Biederman, executive director of the Large Unit District Association (LUDA) concurred, "The current formula assumes that the increases in the foundation level are sufficient to provide a quality education. Statewide average spending per pupil is $6,600. Many members of LUDA are concerned that the foundation level and General State Aid are not keeping up with real education costs." Network 21 will work on both funding and important accountability and quality reforms to ensure that new education dollars are used efficiently. Richard Laine, director of education policy and initiatives of the Illinois Business Roundtable explained, "Too often accountability reforms and funding issues have been treated as two separate arenas. We must ensure that the foundation level is sufficient to educate all children, but we must also make sure that the resources are deployed efficiently and that schools are held accountable for improving student learning." "The next legislative session will offer a unique opportunity for education reform. Having worked with MPC and other education groups as a legislator, I am excited to join forces with the Network 21 coalition and optimistic about the opportunity for positive reform in 2001," said Former Senator Art Berman (D-Chicago). "Network 21 offers the opportunity for comprehensive education improvements in Illinois, because teachers, administrators, and the business community will work together to craft the vision as opposed to separately," added David Piccioli, school finance analyst of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. This spring, MPC hired William Bums as education and tax policy manager to spearhead Network 21. Mr. Bums has previous political experience in Illinois government, including the Senate Education Committee. He has worked closely with urban and suburban education leaders and holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Chicago. Keeping with MPC's mission of promoting balanced growth and equity of opportunity in the Chicago area, Mr. Bums will be responsible for leading Network 21 to make positive reforms in the way Illinois schools are funded. Founded in 1934, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of business and civic leaders committed to serving the public interest through the promotion and implementation of sensible planning and development policies necessary for a world-class Chicago region. MPC conducts policy analysis, outreach, and advocacy in partnership with public officials and community leaders to improve equity of opportunity and quality of life throughout metropolitan Chicago. Network 21: Quality Schools and Stronger Communities (in formation)
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