School inequity: Does education quality depend on whereyou live?

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -

The wide range of needs in different schools, and even within schools, makes it tough to reach aconsensus on how to improve education.

Other hurdles are built into the American DNA.

We respect everyone but we will fight for our own kids, our own families, and our ownneighborhoods.

It's homework time at the Hauser household in Wilmette.

Fourteen-year-old Isabelle is an eighth grader at Wilmette Junior High and 15-year-old Olivia is afreshman at New Trier High School, both among the best performing schools in the state.

Their parents are paying plenty for those good schools via a hefty property tax bill yet JasmineHauser says it's an investment many North Shore families are willing to pay.

"It's not a good public policy to yank away from people who have moved to this community, whohave sacrificed and invested to come here specifically for the schools. People who have said, youknow what, we want our money to go toward the schools, and this works for us," Hauser said.

That's one reason the political battle over school funding has been such a tough fight in Springfieldeven as most recognize the drastic inequities in per-student spending.

Education funding may sound like a dry topic, but listen to this: a child growing up here in Chicagois getting a public schools education that costs about $13,000 a year.

But walk across the street, the dividing line between Chicago and Niles, and something amazinghappens. In Niles, a child is getting an education worth $18,000 and if they're in high school, thecost of education jumps to more than $22,000. Many education experts say the inequity betweenthat side and this is potentially disastrous for the state of Illinois.

"Do we really think that those two children have different needs? It's not fair and it doesn't work,"said Sarah Duncan, co-director of the University of Chicago's Network for College Success.

"These are really all of our children. And we need them all to be successful. But we're not reallysetting all of them up for success," she said.

Duncan and others believe the way we pay for schools in Illinois is fundamentally flawed.

The vast majority of school funding comes from property taxes which vary wildly between the havesand the have nots.

"We have about the most inequitable school funding system in the country," said Dan Montgomery,president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

Montgomery says a better way to pay for schools is to do it through Springfield which currentlyprovides only about a quarter of statewide funding.

"We need the political will from a lot of people, from both Democrats and Republicans, to put moremoney and more equitable resources into schools," Montgomery said.

But some conservatives, like Ted Dabrowski of the Illinois Policy Institute, argue that residents inwealthy areas are already providing the bulk of the state school funding for poorer districts, throughtheir schools, like New Trier, get little of that state money.

"We've been throwing more money at this thing for decades and we've been getting worse and worseresults," Dabrowski said. "The more you put money at the Springfield level and give it to MikeMadigan and team, the more you don't know how that money is being spent."

Skepticism about the politics of Springfield is so big, even by supporters of massive school fundingreform take pause like Elgin Unit School District 46 Chief of Staff Tony Sanders.

"It's time to blow up the general state aid formula and look at it from a fresh perspective," Sanderssaid.

He favors the rewriting of Illinois's school funding rules, but says in a State Capitol dominated byChicagoans, his district might not benefit.

"Chicago is not treated the same as all other school districts in the area of school funding. The statefunding formula intentionally gives money to the Chicago Public Schools beyond what otherDownstate districts receive," Sanders said.

Gery Chicago, the chair of the state board of education and the former head of Chicago's schoolboard, endorses the idea of rewriting the funding formula.

"You put your money where there's less wealth and there's more poverty and there's more toovercome by that student," Chico said.

But he, too, swings a double-edge sword. He says money is not the most important factor in studentsuccess.

"If you wanted to put me on the spot right now and ask me what the most important thing is, it'sparental engagement," Chico said.

The final political factor in all this is at street level. Can people who are relatively wealthy -- whomay be called rich, but certainly don't feel it -- be convinced they should pay more in taxes to helpunderfunded district when their own schools will likely lose dollars in the deal?

"I'd rather have it simplified, the formula for school funding. Localize it, here closer to our homewhere we can hold out school officials accountable. And then verify. Verify where the money isgoing. Is it following the student," Hauser said.

With slow-going at the statehouse, supporters of school funding equity started a parallel effort in thecourts. They sued the state of Illinois - a civil rights lawsuit.

It claims Illinois' unequal funding of schools is so unfair to African-American and Latino students, it'sequal to discrimination.

The courts are slow-going too. The case was filed six years ago. It's still pending.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/25445362/school-inequity-does-education-quality-depend-on-where-you-live