The head of the Chicago Public Schools said Thursday that the system stands to lose $23.8 million if the legislature adopts Gov. George Ryan’s proposal to change the allocation of state education funds.
It remains unclear exactly how other school districts would be affected. But state education officials say that, in general, suburban districts would lose and Downstate districts would gain.
Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan, returning to Chicago after two days in Springfield, said coping with the shortfall would be difficult, given the tough economy. He declined to speculate about which programs might be cut, saying he hoped to work with lawmakers to ensure that the system does not lose money.
“This is a very significant level of funding that we stand to lose,” Duncan said. “It’s a potential loss for us right now, and we are going to have to really take a hard look to see how we can keep those dollars in the budget. It’s my hope we can make some headway with the legislature to make sure we don’t see a reduction.”
Duncan also said that in principle he favors consolidating state funding as the governor proposed, because “it sends us money with fewer strings attached.”
Under Ryan’s plan, money for 22 education programs, including grants for bilingual education and summer school, would be folded into general state aid to schools.
Distributing the money–about $500 million–as general aid puts Chicago at a disadvantage. Although the state sets aside 30 to 40 percent of targeted education grants for Chicago, the system typically receives only about 25 percent of the money distributed under the more complex formula used for general state aid.
Because that formula favors school districts with a poor property-tax base, many suburban districts are also expected to receive less money if Ryan’s proposal is approved.
Respicio Vazquez, the state superintendent of schools, called Ryan’s plan a step forward in difficult economic times. But, he added, the Illinois State Board of Education needs to study the idea further to discern its full impact on programs across the state.
“It is clear the state is in critical financial condition,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to working with our partners in the education community and with the governor and General Assembly to arrive at a final budget that best serves the needs of Illinois’ 2 million schoolchildren.”
Cuts at the Chicago Public Schools, which has 435,000 students, would come at a time when many of its programs are already under financial stress. High-ranking officials with the Chicago Board of Education have been talking for weeks about where to cut back so existing operations can be funded.
The cuts–calculated at $23.8 million by Kenneth Gotsch, the system’s chief financial officer–represent less than 1 percent of the system’s overall $3.6 billion operations budget for the current fiscal year.
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Gotsch said the system’s fiscal 2003 budget is expected to take shape in a few weeks.