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HJ0119 Engrossed |
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LRB094 20211 RAS 58065 r |
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| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 119
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| WHEREAS, The Constitution of the State of Illinois gives |
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| the State the primary responsibility for funding the cost of |
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| public education; however, the State currently only covers |
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| thirty-four percent of this cost, which ranks the State |
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| forty-ninth in the nation in terms of the percentage of state |
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| funding provided to schools; and
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| WHEREAS, Rather than fulfilling its constitutional |
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| obligation, the State has shifted the primary responsibility |
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| for funding the cost of public education to local property |
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| taxpayers, with school districts receiving an average of sixty |
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| percent of their funds from local property taxes; Illinois |
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| ranks forty-ninth among the fifty states for its over-reliance |
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| on local property taxes to fund education; and
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| WHEREAS, By relying on the property tax as the primary |
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| source of funding for schools, the State has created a |
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| disparity between property rich school districts and school |
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| districts without substantial property wealth; the existing |
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| funding disparity is unfair to the children of Illinois, who |
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| all deserve an equal opportunity to a quality education |
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| regardless of where they reside; and
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| WHEREAS, If the State is to ever assume primary |
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| responsibility for funding public education and resolve the |
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| current dependence on the property tax and the funding |
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| disparity between school districts, the State must either |
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| increase an existing source of State revenue or create a new |
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| revenue stream; and
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| WHEREAS, Taxpayers should not be asked to provide |
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| additional resources to public schools and school districts |
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| without the State improving the current systems of fiscal and |
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| performance accountability in such a manner as to provide a |