Carbondale Reporter

Carbondale ESD 95 in Carbondale receives $679 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in the Carbondale area, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Crab Orchard CUSD 3 in Marion receives $291 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.

Carbondale ESD 95, which relies on the state for 19 percent of its revenue and spends $12,937 per student, ranks 132 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Crab Orchard CUSD 3 relies on the state for 46 percent of its revenue and spends $7,793 per student. It ranks 845th 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.

--

Carbondale school 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*
Carbondale ESD 95	Jackson	Carbondale	1,336	19%	$242,079	$12,937	$679
Carbondale CHSD 165	Jackson	Carbondale	886	12%	$503,659	$15,457	$631
DeSoto Cons SD 86	Jackson	Desoto	188	42%	$98,874	$10,973	$480
Elverado CUSD 196	Jackson	Elkville	381	63%	$63,148	$10,367	$451
Giant City CCSD 130	Jackson	Carbondale	200	27%	$200,650	$9,312	$442
Unity Point CCSD 140	Jackson	Carbondale	631	52%	$113,997	$8,912	$419
Murphysboro CUSD 186	Jackson	Murphysboro	1,800	54%	$84,726	$10,875	$415
Trico CUSD 176	Jackson	Campbell Hill	835	39%	$78,879	$9,421	$397
Herrin CUSD 4	Williamson	Herrin	2,217	52%	$71,062	$8,296	$383
Marion CUSD 2	Williamson	Marion	3,890	31%	$128,656	$7,786	$360
Johnston City CUSD 1	Williamson	Johnston City	968	48%	$75,562	$8,077	$356
Carterville CUSD 5	Williamson	Carterville	2,063	43%	$86,382	$7,246	$303
Crab Orchard CUSD 3	Williamson	Marion	456	46%	$63,144	$7,793	$291

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.