 |
||
|
News > In the Headlines
When Mike Padavic took his first job as a social worker for the AERO Cooperative in 1985, his $16,000 annual salary seemed reasonable. So did the state's plan to begin issuing one $8,000 reimbursement check per teacher to school districts to help them pay for the special education services that people such as Padavic would provide. Nowadays, teachers, on average, make four times as much, but neither state nor federal reimbursements for special education costs have increased much since. And that's left local districts that are bound by tax caps squeezed to cover the costs, according to a report released by the Illinois State Board of Education, which estimates that Illinois school officials had to find more than $900 million in their budgets last year to cover the rising costs of wages and other supportive services. It has added to the financial crunch that districts are facing, which has prompted some to borrow money to balance their budgets and others to go to voters for a property tax increase. "A lot of people believe that school funding just magically happens and that whatever schools are asked to do, they have the money," said now-retired Homewood District 153 business director Ed Wahl. Wahl set out to change that perception seven years ago when he started pushing for the statewide special education financial report, hoping state officials would learn how much money services actually cost. While the reported numbers may not be perfect - they're based on unaudited figures - Deb Vespa, a school business services administrator with the state board, said they illustrate a looming problem: The statewide tab for special education costs is a whopper. Breaking the bank? State Rep. Roger Eddy (R-Hutsonville), who's also a downstate school superintendent, thinks he has a solution for covering the runaway costs. Eddy has introduced legislation that would give school boards the authority to make up for special education shortfalls by increasing their capacity to levy additional property taxes, which would be earmarked to special education expenses. That bill is stuck in committee, and legislators aren't going to touch any proposal that could be perceived as a tax hike - particularly during an election year, Eddy predicts. If it were to pass, though, Community High School District 218, which includes Shepard, Eisenhower and Richards high schools, for example, could levy for the $4.5 million of special education costs the district wasn't reimbursed for and couldn't recoup through property taxes last year. The district's total tab for special education services for about 700 students in 2007 was $12.8 million, or 17 percent of the district's overall budget. The costs haven't broken the bank - yet, district 218 Supt. John Byrne said. "But we're all aware of how quickly these costs are spiraling," he said. Legislators this year upped teacher reimbursements by $1,000 to help ease the financial pressure. It's a start, but it won't go too far, school officials say. "The reality is that somebody's got to pick up the cost," said Padavic, who's now the director of student services in District 218. So in the meantime, Orland School District 135 Supt. Dennis Stoustek said his 10-school district will penny-pinch where it can to cover the $10.8 million special eduction program, which is just one of many areas - like energy, transportation and salaries - where overall costs are rising. "We'll have no new programs. We're going to hold the line and watch our expenditures," Stoustek said. Angela Caputo can be reached at acaputo@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5993. Top 10 Southland districts in non-reimbursable special education expenses: District, Amount spent, Amount reimbursed Orland Elementary School District 135, $10.8 million, $4.7 million Community High School District 218, $12.8 million, $4.5 million Rich Township District 227, $10.8 million, $4.3 million Bremen High District 228, $12.8 million, $4.2 million New Lenox Elementary School District 122, $7.4 million, $3.7 million Summit Hill Elementary School District 161, $5.7 million, $3.3 million Cook County Elementary School District 130, $6.9 million, $2.99 million Ridgeland Elementary School District 122, $5.3 million, $2.5 million Tinley Park Elementary School District 146, $5.4 million, $2.5 million Bloom Township High School District 206, $7.3 million, $2.3 million Source: Illinois State Board of Education, based on financial report data from fiscal year 2007 Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
|
|
Students First Illinois | Ronald J. Gidwitz | 200 South Wacker Drive, Suite 4000 | Chicago, IL 60606 | email | (312) 943-1955 p (312) 943-8397 f © 2006 Students First. All Rights Reserved |
||
