A proposed bill called Senate Bill 16 has been created to change the way we fund public education in Illinois. As proposed, this bill will have a direct and negative impact on District 58, District 99 and all but one school district in DuPage County.

What is Senate Bill 16?

Last July, a committee of state legislators was charged with recommending ways to improve public education funding in Illinois, which has remained unchanged since 1997. The result of the task force was the creation of Senate Bill 16 (SB16).

If enacted into law, SB16 will make sweeping changes in how the state funds education. Generally, school districts with higher assessed property values like ours will receive much less state funding. Other districts will receive much more in state funding.

SB16 does not increase the level of education funding, but rather it changes the way in which limited state funding is distributed among school districts.

How will SB16 impact District 58 and its associated school districts?

The financial impact on the District 58 School District and its associated school districts is significant. If the bill becomes law in its current form, District 99 would lose 77 percent of its state funding or more than $3 million per year. This would greatly impact the district’s ability to provide a quality education to its students, and may put us in a position of needing to reduce programs and services. Similarly, District 58 would lose 73 percent of its state funding or more than $2 million per year. In total, if Senate Bill 16 becomes law, District 99 and its associated elementary districts would lose more than $11 million per year.

Under SB16, all but one of the 42 school district in DuPage County will lose state funding, a total of $140 million across the county.

See the impact on all DuPage County school districts.

See the impact across the State of Illinois.

SB 16 is modeled after an effort in Massachusetts.Their General Assembly provided $1 billion in new money. There is no new money in SB16.This legislation is a redistribution of current resources.

What can you do?

SB16 has already passed the Senate. The four State Senators who serve District 58 and/or District 99 voted as follows:

No - Senator Michael Connelly, District 21, senatorconnelly21@gmail.com, 630-682-8108

No - Senator Kirk Dillard, District 24, senator@kdillard.com, 630-969-0990 (Chris Nybo, chris@chrisnybo.org, 630-519-3652, is now Senator of District 24)

Present (no vote) - Senator Christine Radogno, District 41, Christine@senatorradogno.com, 630-243-0800

Yes - Senator Pat McGuire, District 43, senatorpatmcguire@sbcglobal.net, 815-207-4445

See how other Illinois senators voted here.

It is expected that the House will vote on SB16 this fall. We need your help. Please contact your Illinois Representative and voice your opinion. District 58 and/or District 99 are served by the following State Representatives:

Representative Jeanne Ives, District 42, repjeanneives@gmail.com, 630-384-1108

Representative Sandra Pihos, District 48, sandrapihos42@gmail.com, 630-858-8855

Representative Patricia Bellock, District 47, rep@pbellock.com, 630-852-8633

Representative Jim Durkin, District 82, repdurkin@hotmail.com, 708-246-1104

Representative Ron Sandack, District 81, repsandack@gmail.com, 630-737-0504

Representative Emily McAsey, District 85, emily@voteemily.com, 815-372-0085

You may also use the following tool to look up and contact your legislators:

http://www.ieanea.org/legislative/find-your-legislators/

Additional Resources

-Illinois State Board of Education

-Full text of SB16