West Central Reporter

Meredosia-Chambersburg CUSD 11 in Meredosia receives $641 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in West Central Illinois, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Carthage ESD 317 in Carthage receives $328 per student.

Wirepoints examined the system in which 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.

Meredosia-Chambersburg CUSD 11 which relies on the state for 14 percent of its revenue and spends $14,605 per student, ranks 153 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Carthage ESD 317 relies on the state for 32 percent of its revenue and spends $8,017 per student. It ranks 828th 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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West Central Illinois 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*
Meredosia-Chambersburg CUSD 11	Morgan	Meredosia	184	14%	$146,808	$14,605	$641
Waverly CUSD 6	Morgan	Waverly	339	25%	$141,809	$11,752	$539
Brussels CUSD 42	Calhoun	Brussels	119	24%	$169,467	$12,232	$537
Virginia CUSD 64	Cass	Virginia	265	25%	$128,662	$11,412	$530
Franklin CUSD 1	Morgan	Franklin	267	18%	$200,959	$13,675	$524
Greenfield CUSD 10	Greene	Greenfield	411	33%	$122,018	$10,182	$495
West Prairie CUSD 103	McDonough	Colchester	559	24%	$158,351	$10,784	$473
Griggsville-Perry CUSD 4	Pike	Griggsville	349	41%	$101,825	$11,707	$464
Scott-Morgan CUSD 2	Scott	Bluffs	205	39%	$92,139	$11,180	$464
Calhoun CUSD 40	Calhoun	Hardin	418	34%	$99,164	$10,680	$463
Pleasant Hill CUSD 3	Pike	Pleasant Hill	279	39%	$90,074	$10,229	$461
Nauvoo-Colusa CUSD 325	Hancock	Nauvoo	215	14%	$256,027	$12,285	$457
Brown County CUSD 1	Brown	Mt Sterling	658	36%	$111,417	$10,016	$455
Winchester CUSD 1	Scott	Winchester	571	52%	$74,750	$8,975	$453
Triopia CUSD 27	Morgan	Concord	352	31%	$115,444	$9,383	$440
La Harpe CSD 347	Hancock	La Harpe	214	24%	$190,712	$12,567	$438
Macomb CUSD 185	McDonough	Macomb	1,903	26%	$123,406	$9,368	$432
Carrollton CUSD 1	Greene	Carrollton	534	41%	$116,171	$8,969	$432
Southeastern CUSD 337	Hancock	Augusta	460	42%	$120,625	$10,862	$416
Dallas ESD 327	Hancock	Dallas City	170	48%	$117,299	$11,524	$413
Jacksonville SD 117	Morgan	Jacksonville	3,114	31%	$122,676	$10,126	$408
Illini West H S Dist 307	Hancock	Carthage	342	31%	$380,142	$9,671	$406
A-C Central CUSD 262	Cass	Ashland	424	32%	$112,612	$9,421	$401
Bushnell Prairie City CUSD 170	McDonough	Bushnell	653	49%	$84,470	$9,041	$395
Western CUSD 12	Pike	Barry	466	43%	$108,144	$11,131	$390
Hamilton CCSD 328	Hancock	Hamilton	531	31%	$125,327	$8,625	$389
Schuyler-Industry CUSD 5	Schuyler	Rushville	999	37%	$113,899	$9,688	$376
Pikeland CUSD 10	Pike	Pittsfield	1,179	44%	$91,916	$8,893	$376
Warsaw CUSD 316	Hancock	Warsaw	417	41%	$75,494	$8,103	$364
North Greene CUSD 3	Greene	White Hall	756	52%	$84,302	$10,303	$344
Beardstown CUSD 15	Cass	Beardstown	1,426	61%	$39,561	$7,871	$337
Carthage ESD 317	Hancock	Carthage	410	32%	$168,326	$8,017	$328

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.