NW Illinois News

Erie CUSD 1 in Erie receives $926 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in Northwest Illinois, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Meridian CUSD 223 in Stillman Valley receives $380 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.

Erie CUSD 1, which relies on the state for 6 percent of its revenue and spends $19,503 per student, ranks 28 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Meridian CUSD 223 relies on the state for 38 percent of its revenue and spends $9,655 per student. It ranks 743th 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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Northwest 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*
Erie CUSD 1	Whiteside	Erie	545	6%	$448,692	$19,503	$926
Steward ESD 220	Lee	Steward	55	8%	$465,544	$15,008	$918
Scales Mound CUSD 211	Jo Daviess	Scales Mound	205	5%	$449,703	$17,422	$905
Kings Cons SD 144	Ogle	Kings	67	13%	$327,936	$17,658	$852
River Ridge CUSD 210	Jo Daviess	Hanover	477	7%	$351,262	$13,717	$726
Byron CUSD 226	Ogle	Byron	1,352	5%	$460,526	$17,862	$690
Creston CCSD 161	Ogle	Creston	95	9%	$325,945	$13,548	$648
Galena USD 120	Jo Daviess	Galena	774	8%	$254,808	$12,587	$605
Paw Paw CUSD 271	Lee	Paw Paw	181	10%	$231,508	$15,872	$593
Eswood CCSD 269	Ogle	Lindenwood	80	12%	$331,318	$12,235	$577
Rock Falls Twp HSD 301	Whiteside	Rock Falls	604	29%	$246,013	$12,764	$552
Orangeville CUSD 203	Stephenson	Orangeville	323	31%	$131,149	$11,000	$525
Eastland CUSD 308	Carroll	Lanark	545	10%	$318,918	$12,499	$515
Rochelle Twp HSD 212	Ogle	Rochelle	953	16%	$372,167	$10,377	$514
Pearl City CUSD 200	Stephenson	Pearl City	409	34%	$104,111	$11,596	$512
Stockton CUSD 206	Jo Daviess	Stockton	551	19%	$136,745	$10,060	$507
Amboy CUSD 272	Lee	Amboy	652	12%	$203,956	$11,638	$503
Chadwick-Milledgeville CUSD 399	Carroll	Chadwick	442	28%	$130,354	$10,551	$502
Oregon CUSD 220	Ogle	Oregon	1,315	24%	$136,112	$11,500	$497
Freeport SD 145	Stephenson	Freeport	3,814	40%	$79,422	$11,901	$497
East Coloma - Nelson CESD 20	Whiteside	Rock Falls	269	34%	$159,279	$9,810	$493
Rochelle CCSD 231	Ogle	Rochelle	1,536	34%	$167,963	$9,148	$492
Polo CUSD 222	Ogle	Polo	544	26%	$138,716	$10,463	$479
Ashton-Franklin Center CUSD 275	Lee	Ashton	474	14%	$183,166	$10,940	$478
Dakota CUSD 201	Stephenson	Dakota	771	27%	$119,710	$10,791	$460
Warren CUSD 205	Jo Daviess	Warren	349	20%	$141,616	$11,752	$454
West Carroll CUSD 314	Carroll	Mt Carroll	1,018	35%	$111,924	$11,980	$444
Dixon USD 170	Lee	Dixon	2,479	25%	$136,806	$9,712	$441
Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico CUSD3	Whiteside	Prophetstown	753	38%	$111,399	$9,467	$437
Montmorency CCSD 145	Whiteside	Rock Falls	272	37%	$145,849	$8,445	$434
Forrestville Valley CUSD 221	Ogle	Forreston	735	28%	$128,823	$9,318	$428
Morrison CUSD 6	Whiteside	Morrison	984	31%	$108,427	$8,859	$428
Lena Winslow CUSD 202	Stephenson	Lena	777	31%	$123,214	$9,428	$427
River Bend CUSD 2	Whiteside	Fulton	901	30%	$115,640	$9,422	$421
Rock Falls ESD 13	Whiteside	Rock Falls	1,052	65%	$63,403	$8,658	$404
East Dubuque USD 119	Jo Daviess	East Dubuque	632	23%	$143,631	$8,936	$389
Sterling CUSD 5	Whiteside	Sterling	3,036	34%	$93,121	$9,086	$387
Meridian CUSD 223	Ogle	Stillman Valley	1,650	38%	$95,552	$9,655	$380

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.