East Central Reporter

Oakland CUSD 5 in Oakland receives $596 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in East Central Illinois, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Red Hill CUSD 10 in Bridgeport receives $324 per student.

Wirepoints examined the system in which school districts pay salaries to teachers and administrators, but not pensions, which are funded by state tax dollars.

"It’s a scheme that allows districts to spend more money on salaries and perks than they otherwise would," Wirepoints reported. "Wealthy districts – like those on the North Shore – benefit far more from the state’s pension payments than poor districts do."

Almost 50 percent of what the state pays toward education has gone to teacher pensions in recent years, according to Wirepoints. Bigger pensions in wealthy districts means there’s less money to adequately fund districts with less property wealth.

Oakland CUSD 5, which relies on the state for 33 percent of its revenue and spends $12,939 per student, ranks 203 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Red Hill CUSD 10 relies on the state for 57 percent of its revenue and spends $7,743 per student. It ranks 831th in the state.

The analysis shows Rondout SD 72 in Lake County received the biggest subsidy in the state and Earlville CUSD 9 in LaSalle County received the smallest subsidy.

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East Central Illinois districts receiving state-provided pension subsidies

District	County	City	Average daily attendance	Percent of district revenue provided by the state	EAV (taxable property) per student	District spending per student	State-provided pension subsidy per student*
Oakland CUSD 5	Coles	Oakland	226	33%	$151,999	$12,939	$596
Beecher City CUSD 20	Effingham	Beecher City	289	22%	$189,186	$10,993	$533
Central A & M CUD 21	Shelby	Assumption	727	36%	$122,413	$10,133	$512
Kansas CUSD 3	Edgar	Kansas	190	23%	$167,711	$11,602	$476
Arcola CUSD 306	Douglas	Arcola	679	48%	$103,565	$9,709	$456
Windsor CUSD 1	Shelby	Windsor	336	39%	$122,363	$10,018	$450
Arthur CUSD 305	Douglas	Arthur	1,157	27%	$167,167	$9,658	$449
Shelbyville CUSD 4	Shelby	Shelbyville	1,090	41%	$100,799	$8,858	$449
Altamont CUSD 10	Effingham	Altamont	693	47%	$91,699	$9,051	$449
Martinsville CUSD 3C	Clark	Martinsville	354	54%	$75,179	$9,828	$443
Edgar County CUD 6	Edgar	Chrisman	294	20%	$165,297	$9,994	$438
Paris-Union SD 95	Edgar	Paris	850	59%	$81,988	$9,957	$435
Tuscola CUSD 301	Douglas	Tuscola	917	15%	$120,743	$9,237	$426
Shiloh CUSD 1	Edgar	Hume	378	17%	$228,662	$9,891	$425
Mattoon CUSD 2	Coles	Mattoon	3,176	37%	$97,486	$9,844	$423
Richland County CUSD 1	Richland	Olney	2,110	48%	$94,109	$9,328	$421
Clay City CUSD 10	Clay	Clay City	253	44%	$98,481	$10,227	$415
Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A	Shelby	Cowden	374	58%	$51,412	$9,151	$413
Dieterich CUSD 30	Effingham	Dieterich	452	52%	$70,103	$8,321	$409
Oblong CUSD 4	Crawford	Oblong	491	46%	$90,013	$9,947	$409
Casey-Westfield CUSD 4C	Clark	Casey	834	46%	$81,131	$9,516	$403
Neoga CUSD 3	Cumberland	Neoga	575	41%	$107,657	$8,216	$397
Palestine CUSD 3	Crawford	Palestine	283	41%	$99,189	$9,120	$391
Hutsonville CUSD 1	Crawford	Hutsonville	287	43%	$69,177	$10,002	$384
Effingham CUSD 40	Effingham	Effingham	2,502	26%	$153,996	$8,354	$384
Paris CUSD 4	Edgar	Paris	425	31%	$210,150	$9,586	$377
Marshall CUSD 2C	Clark	Marshall	1,230	53%	$82,665	$8,194	$376
Teutopolis CUSD 50	Effingham	Teutopolis	1,020	38%	$111,455	$8,053	$376
Lawrence County CUD 20	Lawrence	Lawrenceville	1,079	56%	$57,945	$8,911	$375
Robinson CUSD 2	Crawford	Robinson	1,560	13%	$199,122	$9,286	$372
Charleston CUSD 1	Coles	Charleston	2,487	33%	$123,921	$9,279	$372
Cumberland CUSD 77	Cumberland	Toledo	948	54%	$72,318	$8,012	$367
Villa Grove CUSD 302	Douglas	Villa Grove	598	42%	$107,874	$8,254	$366
Stewardson-Strasburg CUD 5A	Shelby	Strasburg	323	39%	$101,636	$8,522	$365
Flora CUSD 35	Clay	Flora	1,252	56%	$67,379	$8,238	$356
North Clay CUSD 25	Clay	Louisville	607	58%	$65,913	$7,980	$354
Jasper County CUD 1	Jasper	Newton	1,246	21%	$148,803	$9,010	$343
Red Hill CUSD 10	Lawrence	Bridgeport	933	57%	$56,621	$7,743	$324

Source: Source: Illinois State Board of Education, ILEARN data 2016; Total earnings data received from a 2018 FOIA request to the Teachers' Retirement System; TRS actuarial report 2017; Wirepoints calculations

*Proxy of the pension subsidy provided to each school district. District subsidy is calculated by taking the TRS employer normal cost in 2017 ($871 million) and multiplying it by each district's share of TRS total employee earnings. To calculate the subsidy per student, each district's share is divided by their average daily attendance.