HJ0119 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0119 LRB094 20211 RAS 58065 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Constitution of the State of Illinois gives the State the primary responsibility for funding the cost of public education; however, the State currently only covers thirty-four percent of this cost, which ranks the State forty-ninth in the nation in terms of the percentage of state funding provided to schools; and

WHEREAS, Rather than fulfilling its constitutional obligation, the State has shifted the primary responsibility for funding the cost of public education to local property taxpayers, with school districts receiving an average of sixty percent of their funds from local property taxes; Illinois ranks forty-ninth among the fifty states for its over-reliance on local property taxes to fund education; and

WHEREAS, By relying on the property tax as the primary source of funding for schools, the State has created a disparity between property rich school districts and school districts without substantial property wealth; the existing funding disparity is unfair to the children of Illinois, who all deserve an equal opportunity to a quality education regardless of where they reside; and

WHEREAS, If the State is to ever assume primary responsibility for funding public education and resolve the current dependence on the property tax and the funding disparity between school districts, the State must either increase an existing source of State revenue or create a new revenue stream; and

WHEREAS, Taxpayers should not be asked to provide additional resources to public schools and school districts without the State improving the current systems of fiscal and performance accountability in such a manner as to provide a guarantee that new moneys would be well spent in ways likely to improve schools and that taxpayers would be afforded appropriate and understandable accountability for greater investments in school improvement; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Accountable Schools Task Force, which shall be facilitated by the State Board of Education, to review and evaluate the complex issues involving the fiscal and performance accountability of the State's school districts and individual schools; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall consist of twenty-three members as follows: one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; one member appointed by the President of the Senate; one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; one member appointed by the Governor; the Chairperson of the State Board of Education or his or her designee; three members who are representatives of the business community appointed by the Governor; four members who are representatives of the education labor community, two of whom shall be appointed by an organization representing teachers who participate in collective bargaining and two of whom shall be appointed by a different organization representing teachers who participate in collective bargaining; two members who are representatives of the education management community appointed by an organization representing school management; two members who are teachers currently employed by school districts within the State appointed by the Governor; one member who is a mayor or village president from the northeastern Illinois region appointed by an organization representing mayors of northern Illinois; one member who is a mayor or village president from downstate Illinois appointed by an organization representing mayors of southern Illinois; one member who is a representative of the Mayor of the City of Chicago appointed by the Mayor of the City of Chicago; and three members appointed at-large by a national or regional organization with particular expertise in school fiscal and performance accountability; and be it further

RESOLVED, That following the appointment of all Task Force members, the Task Force shall meet and select a member to serve as Chairperson and shall meet as necessary thereafter; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall have the following duties and responsibilities: (1) to evaluate the State's existing fiscal and performance accountability systems; (2) to identify costs of mandates imposed on school districts and individual schools; (3) to recommend a fiscal assessment process that includes criteria for examining and evaluating the current financial practices of all school districts and schools and determining the adequacy and efficiency of internal controls; (4) to recommend methods to improve and stabilize the State's system of performance accountability; and (5) to recommend methods by which the fiscal and performance accountability systems are made more transparent and understandable for parents of students and taxpayers; and be it further

RESOLVED, That that the Task Force shall report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by January 8, 2007.