PolicyReport
Putting a Price on Education What future funding cuts could mean for Illinois public schools by Collin Hitt
As charter schools face budget cuts, they should remind policymakers that the promise was never that charter schools can always perform well at any funding level, but simply that they can produce better results for less money than Illinois has typically spent.
Charter schools were stunned in early 2010 when Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman predicted a 19 percent cut to their funding. Once the district’s budget neared final form, cuts were not nearly so deep, but still significant, coming in at around 5 percent.
more than $72 billion in debt, three times the amount that Illinois spends on K-12 education annually.
A new reality is sinking in for all public schools across Illinois: charter schools and district-run schools alike. Substantial increases in funding are highly unlikely. In fact, a decrease in funding might be inevitable. Past debts at the state and local levels will likely consume any new tax revenue, whether that revenue comes as a result of a rebounding economy or tax hikes. A recent report from the Manhattan Institute estimates that Illinois’ teacher pension systems alone are
One can understand the need to decrease public school funding writ large, but charter schools have good reason to demand that their funding be left alone. Charter schools already receive less money than traditional public schools while by-and-large producing superior results.
If cuts across the system are made, there will be a push to target charter school funding as well.
A 2010 report from Ball State University examined charter school funding stateby-state. It showed that Illinois charter
schools receive $1,500 less per pupil than district-run public schools, on average. This is part of a long-term and widespread trend in which charter schools are made to survive on fewer dollars. Despite that fact, charter schools in Illinois have raised the bar academically, since their inception. Virtually every high-quality, independent research study of charter schools in Illinois finds that, on balance, they outperform other public schools serving similar student populations. When charter schools were first envisioned, an ambitious promise was made by some: charter schools can educate kids better at a lower cost than that of district-run schools. The research shows that charter schools in Illinois have FocalPoint
|
05
PolicyReport
lived up to that promise. However, as charter schools face budget cuts, they should remind policymakers that the promise was never that charter schools can always perform well at any funding level, but simply that they can produce better results for less money than Illinois has typically spent. Charter schools first began opening in large numbers in Illinois in 2000. That year, per-pupil education funding had reached a record high. It was easy then to see how charter schools could get by on less funding. And since that time, Illinois school funding has remained at that high level, and even increased slightly to its current level of more than $12,000 per child. But Illinois taxpayers can no longer afford to sustain record government spending while also paying down government debts. Tough choices for education funding will need to be made. Instead of urging cuts to every single school, state lawmakers 06
| FocalPoint
should look to bring system-wide spending closer to what charter schools currently receive. According to the Ball State report, district-run schools in Illinois receive $12,130 per pupil, while charter schools get $10,616. Charter schools have shown that Illinois students can learn more when their schools take innovative approaches to schooling, teaching, and administration.
Truthfully, spending less on charter school students as a rule has never made much sense. Nor has spending money system-wide at an unaffordable level. Public school students should receive equal backing from districts and state governments, and government needs to pay down its debts. Charter schools in Illinois have found success while spending $1,500 less per
Charter schools have shown that Illinois students can learn more when their schools take innovative approaches to schooling, teaching and administration. It would make little sense to punish them for that success. As lawmakers look to bring spending under control, they should look to simply bring all public school spending in line with charter schools.
pupil than district-run schools. District-run schools that are willing and able to be innovative can do the same. And in case there is a question of whether an entire school system can improve
UPDATE: Aaron Eldridge Admitted to CICS Wrightwood
Per-Pupil Funding District-run Schools in Illinois Receive Charter Schools such as CICS Receive Difference in Pupil Compensation
$12,130 $10,616 $1,514
results while spending less money, they need only look to Florida. A new Illinois Policy Institute report shows that schools in the Sunshine State are making far more progress than Illinois schools, using many of the innovations that are common to charter schools, while spending $1,500 less per child than Illinois. Collin Hitt is director of education policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.
Aaron Eldridge, featured in FocalPoint Vol. 03 Num. 1, “The Waiting is the Hardest Part” by Hilary Masel Oswald, has finally been admitted into the CICS network. After four years of being on the waitlist, Aaron’s name was selected in the lottery.
Excerpt from article: Focal Point: “Are you frustrated at being waitlisted for three years now?”
He can be reached at collin@illinoispolicy.org
Aaron Eldridge, Sr: “Yes, I was really frustrated this year. I wrote a letter [to Chicago International’s main office]. I mean, at some point, doesn’t our name start to look familiar? I know the lottery is random, but we keep getting our hopes up and then getting the letters that say Aaron is on the [waiting list] again.”
From everyone at CICS, congratulations to Aaron and the Eldridge family. FocalPoint
|
07