Illinois Valley Times

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

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*
Ohio CHSD 505	Bureau	Ohio	34	3%	$1,008,942	$25,284	$1,299
Ohio CCSD 17	Bureau	Ohio	56	9%	$602,003	$26,764	$1,151
Rutland CCSD 230	Lasalle	Ottawa	53	9%	$552,814	$23,525	$1,065
Seneca Twp HSD 160	Lasalle	Seneca	412	3%	$1,617,944	$24,262	$1,011
Allen-Otter Creek CCSD 65	Lasalle	Ransom	87	10%	$624,425	$15,998	$782
Seneca CCSD 170	Lasalle	Seneca	453	5%	$1,192,106	$15,186	$773
Lostant CUSD 425	Lasalle	Lostant	58	15%	$429,559	$19,150	$758
Dimmick CCSD 175	Lasalle	La Salle	106	4%	$1,005,864	$20,142	$723
La Moille CUSD 303	Bureau	La Moille	231	21%	$173,402	$15,874	$664
Princeton HSD 500	Bureau	Princeton	465	10%	$530,791	$13,173	$656
Serena CUSD 2	Lasalle	Serena	615	14%	$215,947	$14,057	$653
Wallace CCSD 195	Lasalle	Ottawa	298	9%	$303,874	$13,388	$639
Mendota Twp HSD 280	Lasalle	Mendota	523	17%	$379,171	$13,027	$619
Streator Twp HSD 40	Lasalle	Streator	810	34%	$224,816	$12,702	$606
Grand Ridge CCSD 95	Lasalle	Grand Ridge	228	12%	$335,684	$12,603	$597
La Salle-Peru Twp HSD 120	Lasalle	La Salle	1,119	13%	$431,388	$13,390	$588
Ottawa Twp HSD 140	Lasalle	Ottawa	1,247	14%	$428,888	$13,373	$574
Hall HSD 502	Bureau	Spring Valley	361	17%	$319,438	$19,593	$550
Deer Park CCSD 82	Lasalle	Ottawa	85	9%	$389,057	$12,541	$545
Leland CUSD 1	Lasalle	Leland	252	12%	$179,944	$11,936	$500
Putnam County CUSD 535	Putnam	Granville	841	15%	$127,379	$11,321	$478
Waltham CCSD 185	Lasalle	Utica	207	11%	$288,447	$10,638	$467
Malden CCSD 84	Bureau	Malden	90	23%	$180,478	$11,290	$460
Peru ESD 124	Lasalle	Peru	881	18%	$183,237	$10,190	$459
Bureau Valley CUSD 340	Bureau	Manlius	1,035	28%	$120,139	$10,438	$458
Marseilles ESD 150	Lasalle	Marseilles	535	43%	$88,723	$10,254	$457
DePue USD 103	Bureau	Depue	396	71%	$17,764	$9,096	$454
Ottawa ESD 141	Lasalle	Ottawa	1,886	30%	$138,272	$10,230	$452
Princeton ESD 115	Bureau	Princeton	1,048	24%	$222,313	$9,038	$438
La Salle ESD 122	Lasalle	La Salle	913	56%	$94,006	$9,396	$433
Oglesby ESD 125	Lasalle	Oglesby	493	49%	$89,546	$9,206	$430
Dalzell SD 98	Bureau	Dalzell	58	39%	$105,497	$9,691	$413
Miller Twp CCSD 210	Lasalle	Marseilles	184	14%	$293,264	$10,072	$408
Spring Valley CCSD 99	Bureau	Spring Valley	662	55%	$99,293	$8,474	$400
Streator ESD 44	Lasalle	Streator	1,601	56%	$89,659	$10,270	$396
Tonica CCSD 79	Lasalle	Tonica	192	28%	$172,977	$10,953	$392
Mendota CCSD 289	Lasalle	Mendota	1,139	34%	$173,485	$8,452	$376
Ladd CCSD 94	Bureau	Ladd	205	31%	$172,988	$9,481	$357
Earlville CUSD 9	Lasalle	Earlville	822	23%	$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.