East Central Reporter

Giving twice the amount of funding to school districts with twice the number of high school dropouts punishes schools that are succeeding, state Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) told the Senate.

“Basically, there is one pool of money, and if we have a situation where the law now is going to be to dump twice the state aid (to districts with high dropouts) that otherwise would go to a school district then that money is going to come from other districts," he argued. "In other words, someone is going to pay for this. Absent of a lot more money in the (school funding) formula, other districts which do not experience twice the dropout rate are going to be giving money up in order to pay for this.”

State Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), who introduced SB446 on May 2, said it won't affect district funding. The districts will still receive their funding, but schools experiencing twice the amount of dropout rate than the national average would receive double the funding relative to the foundation level, which is currently $6,119. The fund will also only become active once a dropout student re-enrolls. 

Righter reiterated his argument using a pie analogy. 

“We are in this chamber and in this General Assembly talking a lot – as we do every year – about school funding and not just how much money is in the pie but how we slice that pie up,” Righter said. “Everyone … has stake in this because it will affect the amount of money that goes to the school districts. If the pie is this big – and there is always a limit to the size of the pie – then what affects the school district allocations is how you decide to slice up those pieces.”

He said under SB446, a school district could stand to receive two slices of pie, to continue the analogy.

“Now, their per pupil allocation isn’t going to be the $6,119 that’s in statue; it’s going to be whatever twice that amount is," Righter said. "That’s well over $12,000. That’s going to come from someone. In absence of more money being put into the pie, it’s going to come from the school districts that do not experience twice the state average in terms of dropouts.”

Righter concluded by commending Lightford for trying to solve the dropout problem, even if the proposed bill isn't it.

“There is a problem across Illinois, and (Lightford) is trying to solve that problem, but … does this bill solve the problem at the expense of the school districts who are not having this high of a dropout rate?” he said. “I would suggest to you, respectfully, that it does.” 

SB446 passed 32-20.