Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for December 23, 2005 INCENTIVES TO CONSOLIDATE

From today's Southern Illinoisan...

Lawmakers consider plans to make district mergers easier

BY JIM MUIR
THE SOUTHERN

In an attempt to put more dollars in classrooms and also reduce property taxes, state officials will be looking at initiatives in the coming year that will make it easier for Illinois school districts to consolidate.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's staff has teamed with the state board of education to push the proposals through the spring legislative session that begins next month.

Meta Minton, public information director with the state board of education, said the mergers would not be forced, but stressed that the new proposals that will go before the General Assembly will make it easier for voters to approve mergers and also allow districts to consolidate in ways that previously were prohibited.

"We want people to take a serious look at this," Minton said. "We have shown clearly that there could be some serious savings here. Many school districts are in a financial bind right now and this will certainly provide them with options that will help put more money back in the classroom."

The proposed legislation:

- Authorizes elementary districts within the same high school district to consolidate with each other, even if the elementary districts are not contiguous;

- Eliminates minimum equalized assessed valuation and population requirements for the formation of unit districts;

- Authorizes an elementary district or districts to form a unit district with a high school district even if not all elementary districts approve. Only the approval of the high school district and the merging elementary districts is required. An opt-in provision allows a non-merging elementary to join with the unit district solely on the vote of that elementary district, so that if an elementary district that could join the unit district did not immediately join the unit district, the elementary district could later change its mind without needing additional approval from the newly formed unit district;

- Allows a high school district to combine with a unit district so long as both districts approve the referendum and are physically contiguous. The feeder elementary districts to the high school district do not have to join in the consolidation, but can later opt-in to the unit district through approval of the voters within that elementary district;

- Creates a stair-step mechanism to reduce the maximum tax levy gradually over time, to allow districts to recognize the benefits of consolidation as their tax levy decreases.

Elliot Regenstein, who serves as director of education reform for Gov. Blagojevich, said consolidations will not be mandatory and will be approved only by referendum.

"There are a lot of communities that have dual districts and some want them," Regenstein said. "But, others have been looking to make a change in the current framework and this will allow them to do that."

District consolidation legislation last was approved in 1985, but was stripped down as smaller districts fought to maintain independence. The number of Illinois districts since has declined from 1,006 to 875, but more than 200 districts have only one school and many towns have multiple districts. In Southern Illinois, Carbondale, Benton and Mount Vernon have elementary and high school districts.

According to the state board of education, since 1984, 103 districts have received consolidation funding from the state. Consolidation affords school districts greater flexibility in the services they offer students, increased administrative efficiency, and a means to address underlying financial problems. School districts that consolidate are eligible for the following grants from the state board of education:

For four years the consolidated district receives general state aid at the level of the district receiving the most state aid prior to the consolidation.

For four years the consolidated district receives a grant to pay the difference in teacher salaries, allowing salaries in the combined districts to be increased to the same level.

The consolidated district receives a one-time grant to cover some of the negative fund balance that one district brought to the consolidation.

The consolidated district receives $4,000 per certified staff person, which includes all teachers and administrators holding certificates.