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School districts statewide are looking for ways to fill budget gaps created by the state of Illinois\u2019 failure to make its payments to schools in a timely manner.<\/p>\nSchool districts statewide are looking for ways to fill budget gaps created by the state of Illinois\u2019 failure to make its payments to schools in a timely manner.<\/p>\n
School boards and superintendents are looking at cutting teachers, increasing class sizes and in, some schools, cutting foreign language education, sports, agriculture programs, music and a variety of other extra-curricular activities.<\/p>\n
Southwestern School District<\/strong><\/p>\n In the Southwestern School District, 175-square mile area in Macoupin and Jersey counties in southern Illinois, frustrated school board members opened the floor to suggestions from its residents on how it can cut more than $2.3 million from its budget next year \u2013 a hole left from money the state has yet to pay it.<\/p>\n The cut encompasses about one-sixth of the district\u2019s total budget. To cope, a variety of measures have been proposed, including laying off one-quarter of the teaching staff, cutting all sports, cutting band at the grade and middle school levels, slashing all aide positions, eliminating the very strong Future Farmers of America program and other cuts.<\/p>\n About 700 local residents showed up to a forum to share their support for teachers and the district and to make other suggestions.\u00a0 Those ran from the area starting its own local bartering system, to holding large-scale fundraisers, to suing the state of Illinois for breach of contract.\u00a0 (See a video report on the crisis in the Southwestern School District<\/a>)<\/p>\n Peoria Area Special Education Cooperative<\/strong><\/p>\n In central Illinois, Jane Winter Clark, director of the Peoria Area Special Education Cooperative, said the state is $1 million behind in payments to the co-op.\u00a0 To plug the budget hole, the 17 districts that make up the co-op have agreed to prepay their co-op fees by a month, adding to each individual district\u2019s own financial struggles.<\/p>\n Winter Clark said the co-op is in a bind. It is not a taxing body and doesn\u2019t own property that it can borrow against or sell.\u00a0 Because it has It has no way to raise its own money it must rely on local districts to fill the hole.\u00a0 Shutting down isn’t an option; state and federal law require students with special needs to be served.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not much to cut. We ccould cut out a certain level of services and we could shift services to local districts but these are services students are required by law to have so where do we cut? We don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 (See a report on the crisis in the Peoria Area Special Education Cooperative <\/a>)<\/p>\n The problem is definitely not limited to downstate.<\/p>\n Wheaton-Warrenville<\/strong><\/p>\n Charles Baker, acting superintendent at the Wheaton-Warrenville School District west of Chicago, said his district is looking at an $8.6 million deficit this year.\u00a0 He blames the crisis on a faulty school funding structure combined with nationwide economic problems and compounded by problems within the state legislature.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state of Illinois alone is on the brink of bankruptcy as we know it and that financial crisis has had a direct impact on our school district,\u201d he said, adding that the district has heard the state also intends to reduce its per-pupil foundation level funding by as much as $500 next year. If it does, the Wheaton-Warrenville deficit jumps from $6.8 million to $17 million \u201covernight,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n