CHICAGO (WBBM) — Fewer teachers and larger classroom. Those are the predictions of school analysts and taxpayer watchdogs.
A wave of teacher layoffs is underway in Chicago suburbs — and experts say that is just the tip of the iceberg looming over all Illinois districts which are just now coming to grips with the state’s financial crisis.
Seventy five teachers have been laid off in Maine Township, District 300 is considering 140 layoffs, 31 have been laid off in West Aurora, as districts face a March deadline to let union teachers know their positions will be eliminated next fall. There are also teacher cuts and higher fees for students in Elgin District U-46.
Ralph Marterie, the executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, says with fewer dollars to spend schools throughout Illinois are looking at class sizes above 30, maybe reaching 40 unless additional funding is found.
And it’s not just the public school system feeling the pinch, but higher education in the state as well.
University of Illinois at Chicago Political Science Professor Dick Simpson says his department will be teaching 7 fewer classes next year.
He says the University of Illinois is short 483-million dollars budgeted and promised by the state. University officials are now considering long term borrowing, program cuts and a hike in tuition that could go as high as 20 percent for incoming freshman
The President of Chicago’s civic federation says Illinois was in financial trouble before the financial downturn cut into tax revenue. Lawrence Msall says Illinois is facing a 12.8 billion dollar deficit.
Msall says his group is calling for a 2.5 billion dollar spending cut, pension reforms, and only after that….additional funding from a state income tax hike.
Msall says that the National Pew Center for the States has found Illinois to be the worst financially managed state in the entire nation.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services