Rockford Sun

Durand CUSD 322 receives $622 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in Metro Rockford, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Rockton SD 140 receives $407 per student.

Wirepoints examined the system where school districts pay salaries to teachers and administrators, but not pensions, which are funded by state tax dollars.

"It’s a scheme that allows districts to spend more money on salaries and perks than they otherwise would," Wirepoints reported. "Wealthy districts – like those on the North Shore – benefit far more from the state’s pension payments than poor districts do."

Almost 50 percent of what the state pays toward education has gone to teacher pensions in recent years, according to Wirepoints. Bigger pensions in wealthy districts means there’s less money to adequately fund districts with less property wealth.

Durand CUSD 322, which relies on the state for 16 percent of its revenue and spends $14,789 per student, ranks 170 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Rockton SD 14 relies on the state for 32 percent of its revenue and spends $$8,138 per student. It ranks 666th in the state.

The analysis shows Rondout SD 72 in Lake County received the biggest subsidy in the state and Earlville CUSD 9 in LaSalle County received the smallest subsidy.

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Metro Rockford districts receiving state-provided pension subsidies

District	County	City	Average daily attendance	Percent of district revenue provided by the state	EAV (taxable property) per student	District spending per student	State-provided pension subsidy per student*
Durand CUSD 322	Winnebago	Durand	524	16%	$144,991	$14,789	$622
Harlem UD 122	Winnebago	Machesney Park	6,140	30%	$92,317	$12,691	$579
Hononegah CHD 207	Winnebago	Rockton	1,876	22%	$337,934	$12,017	$550
Rockford SD 205	Winnebago	Rockford	25,626	39%	$78,642	$12,376	$524
Belvidere CUSD 100	Boone	Belvidere	7,564	36%	$95,917	$11,114	$492
Shirland CCSD 134	Winnebago	Shirland	114	9%	$244,443	$11,397	$488
Winnebago CUSD 323	Winnebago	Winnebago	1,286	26%	$117,302	$10,510	$478
Pecatonica CUSD 321	Winnebago	Pecatonica	854	26%	$102,060	$11,192	$456
Kinnikinnick CCSD 131	Winnebago	Roscoe	1,680	25%	$172,303	$8,717	$447
Prairie Hill CCSD 133	Winnebago	South Beloit	719	27%	$153,686	$8,699	$425
North Boone CUSD 200	Boone	Poplar Grove	1,556	33%	$85,479	$10,959	$415
County of Winnebago SD 320	Winnebago	South Beloit	962	38%	$73,544	$10,050	$409
Rockton SD 140	Winnebago	Rockton	1,374	32%	$149,937	$8,138	$407

Source: Source: Illinois State Board of Education, ILEARN data 2016; Total earnings data received from a 2018 FOIA request to the Teachers' Retirement System; TRS actuarial report 2017; Wirepoints calculations

*Proxy of the pension subsidy provided to each school district. District subsidy is calculated by taking the TRS employer normal cost in 2017 ($871 million) and multiplying it by each district's share of TRS total employee earnings. To calculate the subsidy per student, each district's share is divided by their average daily attendance.