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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois serves over 2,000,000 | ||||||
3 | students in 862 school districts statewide; and
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4 | WHEREAS, State funding for pre-kindergarten through grade | ||||||
5 | 12 education in Illinois has been reduced by $636,640,000 since | ||||||
6 | fiscal year 2009; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The State is currently not meeting its statutory | ||||||
8 | obligations of funding general State aid at the Foundation | ||||||
9 | Level of support of $6,119; instead, the State is underfunding | ||||||
10 | it by close to $560 million, resulting in an 89% proration | ||||||
11 | rate; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, Illinois ranks 50th in terms of the state | ||||||
13 | proportion of kindergarten through grade 12 funding, providing | ||||||
14 | for just 32.5% of all funds spent on kindergarten through grade | ||||||
15 | 12 public education, despite the plain language of Article X of | ||||||
16 | the Illinois Constitution, which states: "The State has the | ||||||
17 | primary responsibility for financing the system of public | ||||||
18 | education."; and
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19 | WHEREAS, In 2007, 23% of Illinois school districts reported | ||||||
20 | deficit spending; today, more than 67% of Illinois school | ||||||
21 | districts report deficit spending; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Reductions in State spending have increased | ||||||
2 | school districts' reliance on local resources, impacting | ||||||
3 | classroom services and financial stability, at a time when | ||||||
4 | school districts are required to undertake more necessary | ||||||
5 | improvements and initiatives, such as teacher and principal | ||||||
6 | evaluations, new and higher learning standards, and | ||||||
7 | assessments; and
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8 | WHEREAS, To address this important issue, the Illinois | ||||||
9 | Senate passed Senate Resolution 431 in the spring of 2013, | ||||||
10 | which created the Advisory Committee on Education Funding; and | ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, The Senate Advisory Committee on Education | ||||||
12 | Funding sought input from stakeholders and members of the | ||||||
13 | public on issues and possible improvements to the existing | ||||||
14 | funding system and eventually made recommendations on | ||||||
15 | education funding reform; and | ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, Some, but not all, of the final recommendations of | ||||||
17 | the Senate Advisory Committee on Education Funding can be found | ||||||
18 | in Senate Bill 16 (Chief Sponsors Sen. Manar and Rep. Chapa | ||||||
19 | LaVia) of the 98th General Assembly; and | ||||||
20 | WHEREAS, Senate Bill 16 was an important first step in | ||||||
21 | moving forward on the topic of education funding reform; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, The Illinois House of Representatives should | ||||||
2 | continue its discussion and give full consideration to any and | ||||||
3 | all recommendations on how to adequately address funding and, | ||||||
4 | more importantly, underfunding of Illinois education; and | ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, The House of Representatives must stay engaged in | ||||||
6 | public education issues and be prepared to make legislative and | ||||||
7 | administrative recommendations, but to do so it is important | ||||||
8 | that our members have an in-depth understanding of how the | ||||||
9 | State funds education, what changes have been made over recent | ||||||
10 | history, where there is room for improvement, and what | ||||||
11 | implications come as result of any reform; therefore, be it
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12 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
13 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
14 | there is created the House Education Funding Advisory | ||||||
15 | Committee, consisting of members appointed as follows: 4 | ||||||
16 | members of the House majority caucus appointed by the Speaker | ||||||
17 | of the House, one of whom shall be designated as a co-chair, | ||||||
18 | and 4 members of the House minority caucus appointed by the | ||||||
19 | House Minority Leader, one of whom shall be designated as a | ||||||
20 | co-chair; and be it further
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21 | RESOLVED, That the House Education Funding Advisory | ||||||
22 | Committee shall do the following: |
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1 | (1) conduct a thorough review of the existing | ||||||
2 | distribution methods and expenditures of all | ||||||
3 | pre-kindergarten through grade 12 education funding, with | ||||||
4 | a focus on general State aid as provided in Section 18-8.05 | ||||||
5 | of the School Code; | ||||||
6 | (2) make recommendations to implement an education | ||||||
7 | funding system that: | ||||||
8 | (A) is adequate; | ||||||
9 | (B) is equitable;
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10 | (C) prepares students for achievement and success | ||||||
11 | after high school; and | ||||||
12 | (D) supports teachers and school leaders; and | ||||||
13 | (3) consider the following when making its | ||||||
14 | recommendations: | ||||||
15 | (A) the number of students in a school and school | ||||||
16 | district and the level of need of those students, | ||||||
17 | including special needs populations; | ||||||
18 | (B) a school district's ability to provide local | ||||||
19 | resources to pay for basic educational needs;
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20 | (C) transparency and accountability; | ||||||
21 | (D) revenue predictability to support sound | ||||||
22 | planning and budgeting by school boards and | ||||||
23 | administrations;
and | ||||||
24 | (E) the long-term implications and outcomes of the | ||||||
25 | funding system, along with provisions that require the | ||||||
26 | system to be monitored, publicly reported, assessed, |
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1 | and improved over time; and
be it further | ||||||
2 | RESOLVED, That the House Education Funding Advisory | ||||||
3 | Committee shall seek input from stakeholders and members of the | ||||||
4 | public on issues and possible improvements to the existing | ||||||
5 | funding system; and be it further | ||||||
6 | RESOLVED, That the House Education Funding Advisory | ||||||
7 | Committee shall utilize the findings and reports of the Senate | ||||||
8 | Advisory Committee on Education Funding in the preparation of | ||||||
9 | its report to the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House | ||||||
10 | of Representatives; and be it further | ||||||
11 | RESOLVED, That we encourage the House Education Funding | ||||||
12 | Advisory Committee and Senate Advisory Committee on Education | ||||||
13 | Funding to hold joint meetings to discuss the recommendations | ||||||
14 | and proposed policies created by both committees; and be it | ||||||
15 | further | ||||||
16 | RESOLVED, That members of the House Education Funding | ||||||
17 | Advisory Committee shall serve without compensation, and the | ||||||
18 | State Board of Education shall provide administrative and other | ||||||
19 | support to the House Education Funding Advisory Committee; and | ||||||
20 | be it further
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21 | RESOLVED, That the House Education Funding Advisory |
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1 | Committee shall meet at the call of the co-chairs, but shall | ||||||
2 | meet a minimum of 4 times per year; and be it further
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3 | RESOLVED, That the House Education Funding Advisory | ||||||
4 | Committee shall share its legislative and administrative | ||||||
5 | recommendations with the Speaker and Minority Leader of the | ||||||
6 | House of Representatives no later than December 31, 2015; and | ||||||
7 | be it further
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8 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
9 | delivered to the Chairperson of the State Board of Education | ||||||
10 | and the State Superintendent of Education; and be it further
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11 | RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education shall provide a | ||||||
12 | copy of this resolution to school districts in the State.
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