Politics & Government

Report: School District Mergers Could Cost Illinois Nearly $4 Billion

Gov. Pat Quinn's proposal to merge state's 868 districts failed to consider financial incentives promised under the law, according to a recent study.

Consolidating the state's 800-plus school districts into a more manageable number could cost nearly $4 billion, according to a recent report.

The Classroom First Commission, a panel formed last year to study ways Illinois could increase schools' efficiency and cut costs, found little support for "sweeping consolidation of school districts," the Associated Press reports.

In February 2011, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn told the General Assembly that merging the state's 868 school districts into just 300 would save about $100 million, primarily through the reduction of the number of administrators.

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According to the panel's study, however, Quinn's plan failed to consider the financial incentives that Illinois law promises to merging districts, including additional money for salaries.

The panel considered a hypothetical consolidation smaller than Quinn's proposal and found that the mergers could cost the state at least $3.7 billion over four years, according to the report.

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The study assumed all of Illinois' individual high school districts and elementary districts would be forced to merge into unit districts—a move that would merge 478 separate districts into just 101.

If mass consolidation were to occur across the state, the structure of public education would dramatically change in many communities, including Lemont, a community with individual high school and elementary districts.

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Last year, board members and superintendents of the elementary and high school districts here say while they're comfortable with both the size and efficiency of their districts.

“I think there’s something to be said about looking to be efficient," District 122 Supt. Mike Sass said last year. "But is 300 the right number? I’m not so sure. We’re probably in a good size right now for efficiency.”

officials agreed, saying the current size of the district works well, and a decentralized, regional district could burden residents.

"Say people live in a subdivision in one area and they don’t like something," District 210 Supt. Larry Wyllie said as an example. "Right now, they go to the board and get a response. Now they would go to a more regional board that could say, 'So What?' The local control is gone."

State Rep. Renee Kosel (R-New Lenox), who asked about this issue , said consolidation could work down state, but not here.

"It would be too big to be efficient," Kosel said. "I can't fathom that. I can't see how the state can mandate one size to fit all school districts across the state."

Parents also bemoaned the bill through a Facebook group that rapidly gaining support, saying districts would become a "gigantic bureaucracy" and to oppose such a plan. Some districts, , could even lose federal funding as a result of the changes.

The commission, which is formally named the School District Realignment and Consolidation Commission, is scheduled to issue draft recommendations in April and final recommendations by July 1.

According to the Associated Press, the panel's suggestions could touch on a number of topics, including small-scale consolidation and state construction money for districts that merge. Districts that don't wish to fully consolidate might also be allowed more freedom to share management and split costs.

—New Lenox Patch editor Michael Sewall contributed to this article.


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