Decades of over overspending by career politicians in Springfield have left our state finances a mess – and there is no easy solution – but certainly there is much more we can agree on than we disagree on. Educating future generations and giving our children the best chance to succeed should be near the top of that list.

Sadly, for years, Springfield politicians have taxed federal money given to school districts serving low-income students in an effort to pay down debts created due to fiscal mismanagement. Under no circumstances should these politicians be allowed to use federal money intended to help our most in-need students to bail themselves out of the mess they created through decades of irresponsible spending. The Stand Up for Students Act will ensure that we are giving our most vulnerable children the best chance to succeed by stopping this immoral tax on the students who need our help the most.

Here's how it works:

The State of Illinois currently taxes low-income school districts, forcing them to pay not only the district’s pension obligation for teachers hired utilizing federal Title I funds but also an additional fee amounting to millions more per year being used to offset years of irresponsible budgeting and underfunding. The state collects $74.5 million from the federal government per year through this practice and uses approximately $59 million to pay down old pension debt caused by fiscal mismanagement. There is no comparable fee for schools not receiving federal funding, significantly disadvantaging the school districts and students that are most in need of additional help.

For example, consider the following hypothetical from the STAND for Children report “An Education Funding No-Brainer”:

There are two school districts: 1) District A has a high property tax base, serving few low-income children and 2) District B has a low property tax base, enrolling mostly low-income students. Because District B has a smaller base of local revenue, the district relies on federal Title I dollars to hire many of its teachers.

Each district hires a teacher at a $40,000 salary. District A uses local funds and pays $232 to the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) toward the teacher’s pension. District B uses federal Title I funds, and because the funding is from a federal source, the district is forced to pay $14,400 to TRS for pension costs for the same $40,000 teacher salary.

The reason for this gap is the TRS “federal funds rate.” School districts in Illinois pay 0.58% of teachers’ salaries to TRS. However, when federal funds are used the school district gets charged the TRS “federal funds rate” of 36.06% of salary. This additional payment covers not just current pension costs, but is being used primarily to pay down the massive pension debt accrued through decades of fiscal mismanagement. The result is that low-income school districts and students who need help the most are being brutally disadvantaged.

By eliminating this disparity and ensuring that pension contributions for teachers hired using Title I dollars are going only to pay current pension obligations, the Stand Up for Students Act would put approximately $59 million per year back into educational programs and services intended to help low-income and at-risk students. The bill would enable low-income Illinois schools to hire more than 1,500 additional teachers, with money left over to retain experienced educators.

In the Tenth Congressional District of Illinois alone, the Stand Up for Students Act would save schools more than $3,000,000 per year, including more than $700,000 in Waukegan, nearly $400,000 in Round Lake and nearly $300,000 in North Chicago.

Read the bill: