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Illinois Valley Times

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Which Illinois Valley school districts benefit most from state pension subsidies?

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Ohio CHSD 505 in Ohio receives $1,299 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in Illinois Valley, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Earlville CUSD 9 in Earlville receives $230 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.

Ohio CHSD 505, which relies on the state for 3 percent of its revenue and spends $25,284 per student, ranks No. 2 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Earlville CUSD 9 relies on the state for 23 percent of its revenue and spends $5,397 per student. It ranks last in the state, receiving the smallest subsidy.

The analysis shows Rondout SD 72 in Lake County received the biggest subsidy in the state.

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Illinois Valley districts receiving state-provided pension subsidies

DistrictCountyCityAverage daily attendancePercent of district revenue provided by the stateEAV (taxable property) per studentDistrict spending per student  State-provided pension subsidy per student* 
Ohio CHSD 505BureauOhio343%$1,008,942$25,284$1,299
Ohio CCSD 17BureauOhio569%$602,003$26,764$1,151
Rutland CCSD 230LasalleOttawa539%$552,814$23,525$1,065
Seneca Twp HSD 160LasalleSeneca4123%$1,617,944$24,262$1,011
Allen-Otter Creek CCSD 65LasalleRansom8710%$624,425$15,998$782
Seneca CCSD 170LasalleSeneca4535%$1,192,106$15,186$773
Lostant CUSD 425LasalleLostant5815%$429,559$19,150$758
Dimmick CCSD 175LasalleLa Salle1064%$1,005,864$20,142$723
La Moille CUSD 303BureauLa Moille23121%$173,402$15,874$664
Princeton HSD 500BureauPrinceton46510%$530,791$13,173$656
Serena CUSD 2LasalleSerena61514%$215,947$14,057$653
Wallace CCSD 195LasalleOttawa2989%$303,874$13,388$639
Mendota Twp HSD 280LasalleMendota52317%$379,171$13,027$619
Streator Twp HSD 40LasalleStreator81034%$224,816$12,702$606
Grand Ridge CCSD 95LasalleGrand Ridge22812%$335,684$12,603$597
La Salle-Peru Twp HSD 120LasalleLa Salle1,11913%$431,388$13,390$588
Ottawa Twp HSD 140LasalleOttawa1,24714%$428,888$13,373$574
Hall HSD 502BureauSpring Valley36117%$319,438$19,593$550
Deer Park CCSD 82LasalleOttawa859%$389,057$12,541$545
Leland CUSD 1LasalleLeland25212%$179,944$11,936$500
Putnam County CUSD 535PutnamGranville84115%$127,379$11,321$478
Waltham CCSD 185LasalleUtica20711%$288,447$10,638$467
Malden CCSD 84BureauMalden9023%$180,478$11,290$460
Peru ESD 124LasallePeru88118%$183,237$10,190$459
Bureau Valley CUSD 340BureauManlius1,03528%$120,139$10,438$458
Marseilles ESD 150LasalleMarseilles53543%$88,723$10,254$457
DePue USD 103BureauDepue39671%$17,764$9,096$454
Ottawa ESD 141LasalleOttawa1,88630%$138,272$10,230$452
Princeton ESD 115BureauPrinceton1,04824%$222,313$9,038$438
La Salle ESD 122LasalleLa Salle91356%$94,006$9,396$433
Oglesby ESD 125LasalleOglesby49349%$89,546$9,206$430
Dalzell SD 98BureauDalzell5839%$105,497$9,691$413
Miller Twp CCSD 210LasalleMarseilles18414%$293,264$10,072$408
Spring Valley CCSD 99BureauSpring Valley66255%$99,293$8,474$400
Streator ESD 44LasalleStreator1,60156%$89,659$10,270$396
Tonica CCSD 79LasalleTonica19228%$172,977$10,953$392
Mendota CCSD 289LasalleMendota1,13934%$173,485$8,452$376
Ladd CCSD 94BureauLadd20531%$172,988$9,481$357
Earlville CUSD 9LasalleEarlville82223%$59,159$5,397$230
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.

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