Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday he will fight any budget proposal that would cut money for Chicago’s public schools, even as state officials acknowledged that the governor’s new school funding initiative would slash money for classrooms across the state.
“I am upset with it,” Daley said of the plan, adding his voice to those of powerful suburban Republicans who have criticized the proposal. “I am not going to have a parade for this. This is ridiculous.”
The plan needs legislative approval, and that is becoming less likely as opposition mounts from both Democrats and Republicans.
In his budget message last week, Gov. George Ryan proposed shifting money now earmarked for 22 special grant programs into general state aid. The grants targeted for elimination now pay for bilingual, gifted and early-childhood education programs, among other things. Ryan said the change would free districts to spend the money without the strings attached to grant programs.
What Ryan did not make clear at the time is that he doesn’t intend to shift all the money now used for the grants, which are receiving more than $600 million in state funding this year. More than $102 million of that funding would disappear in fiscal 2003 under Ryan’s plan, according to a preliminary analysis by the Illinois State Board of Education that was obtained by the Tribune.
According to the analysis, the hardest hit would be the Chicago schools, which could lose as much as $40 million in funding–far more than the $23.8 million city school officials had estimated. Schools in DuPage County collectively could lose $18 million. Downstate schools could lose a total of $44 million.
But the pain for schools could get worse. Ryan’s plan is contingent on legislative approval of bond sales that would prop up education funding by $80 million. If lawmakers reject that portion of the plan, then education funding would have to be reduced further, said Ryan spokesman Dennis Culloton.
He defended the plan and said Ryan has pumped nearly $1.5 billion in new money into education over the last four years.
“We don’t want to see less money going into classrooms,” Culloton said. “We are doing everything we can to squeeze out more money for education and still balance our budget.”
But Daley said he will lobby against Ryan’s funding scheme, adding, “I think all the [suburban] mayors will.”
“What is your priority?” Daley declared. “That’s what [the General Assembly] has to figure out. What is the priority of the state? I would say …. you have to build a good education system to give young people better opportunities.”
Daley’s opposition does not guarantee defeat for the plan in Springfield, but it does not bode well for it as lawmakers await a district-by-district breakdown to see how their constituents would be affected. Many members already have drawn negative generalizations about the proposal’s impact.
“It seems on its face that it will have a very difficult time,” said Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago). “Who would vote to send less money to their district?”
But he said that Madigan has not ruled out the governor’s plan. Senate President James “Pate” Philip, a Republican from DuPage County, is awaiting more details before he weighs in.
“We’ve always been in favor of local control,” Philip spokeswoman Patty Schuh said. “But you’ve got to look at impact, and we don’t know what that will be.”
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Superintendents complain
State Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst), who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said that local superintendents are complaining loudly about the plan.
“I am more convinced than ever that this is a bad idea,” he said. “It’s perplexing to me that the governor would stir up this kind of controversy to benefit a very few districts–if there’s any benefit at all.”
As lawmakers clamor for more information, education officials are scrambling to refine the analysis that will either doom the proposal or set the stage for its overhaul. The governor has asked a commission chaired by former state schools Supt. Bob Leininger to evaluate the plan as part of its continuing examination of the way Illinois’ elementary and secondary schools are funded.
Leininger said he hopes the proposal will fuel a discussion about changing the complex school aid formula, which many consider to be unfair. The politics of it will be delicate, he acknowledged.
“Every time you shift a dollar, that means somebody lost a dollar,” Leininger said. “If you take money from grants and put it into general state aid, then you’re taking money from the wealthier districts. Remind me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that where most of the votes are?”
Daley voiced concern about receiving less money overall under Ryan’s plan and the proposed cuts in specific programs.
“These are real programs,” Daley declared. “They are not made-up programs. They deal directly with the quality of education and the care of a child.”
“We’ll certainly listen to what the mayor has to say,” Culloton said. “But the problem is that we are trying to take $500 million that is dispensed by bureaucrats in Springfield and get that money to the parents and teachers so they can work directly to serve students in their local schools.”
Contributing ideas
Ryan contends that giving that money straight to the schools would allow them to do their jobs better. He believes lawmakers should give the proposal a chance and contribute ideas now while the plan is in its developmental stages, Culloton said. But, he added, “if the school districts don’t support it, if local leaders won’t support it, then the governor isn’t going to support it. But we still think we’re onto a good idea here.”
Daley made his comments to reporters after delivering his annual State of the City speech at a luncheon sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
He announced in the speech that 45,000 more slots will be created in KidStart, an after-school and summer activities initiative that now has about 700,000 slots for participants.
Also Tuesday, the City Council’s Landmarks Committee advanced a proposal to confer landmark status on the Historic Michigan Boulevard District, a stretch on the west side of Michigan Avenue between Randolph and 11th Streetsthat contains 41 buildings. The full council is expected to approve the designation on Wednesday.