Chicago’s Public Schools (CPS) received nearly $5,200 per student in 2015 from State of Illinois taxpayers-- more than than 260 of the 290 school districts in the Chicagoland area, according to an analysis of Illinois State Board of Education financial reports by Chicago City Wire.
The average school district in Chicagoland received $2,357 in state funding in 2015-- less than half of the $5,171 CPS received.
The analysis comes days after CPS filed a lawsuit against the state in Cook County Circuit Court, demanding more money from state taxpayers and claiming the state’s formula for distributing money to school districts “treats CPS’ schoolchildren, who are predominantly African American and Hispanic, as second-class children, relegated to the back of the State’s education funding school bus.”
The numbers on state school funding in Illinois tell a different story.
CPS spent $15,120 per student in 2015, and 51 percent of that came in subsidies from state and federal taxpayers. Only four school districts of the 290 analyzed received more federal taxpayer money than CPS.
In fact, the average Chicago area school district spent less than CPS ($13,450 per student) and paid a bigger share of that amount locally (76 percent vs. 51 percent), receiving just $2,976 in non-local subsidies to CPS’ $7,651.
Of the 50 districts in the Chicago area receiving the most state school funding, 45 of them, including CPS, are majority black and hispanic.
Majority black and hispanic school districts receive a disproportionate amount of state funding
The top four spending school districts in Illinois in 2015: Rondout in Lake Forest, Northfield and Highland Park on the North Shore-- and impoverished south suburban Ford Heights.
Ford Heights District 169 spent $24,306 per pupil, $5,639 of it from state taxpayers. The district is 95 percent black, five percent hispanic, and 96 percent low-income, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Ford Heights' school district is one of 29 that received more state funding than CPS last year. All were majority-minority, and 19 of them are in the predominantly black and hispanic south Cook County suburbs.
South Suburban Hazel Crest District 52-5, which is 86 percent black and 12 percent hispanic, received the most state funding of any school district in Illinois in 2015: $12,155 per student.
That equaled 76 percent of the $15,972 it spent in total, more than wealthy districts like Glen Ellyn’s Glenbard District 87 ($15,414), Lincolnshire-Prairieview District 103 in Lake County ($15,760), and River Forest District 90 ($14,756). The three districts received $1,372, $957 and $841 per student respectively, from the state, funding their own schools almost completely from their own property taxes.
Community Consolidated School District 168 in Sauk Village ranked second with $8,515 in state funding per student. The district, which is 75 percent black and 14 percent hispanic, spent $13,040 in total.
Seven school districts received between $7,000 and $8,000 per pupil from the state.
Six of them-- Calumet City District 155 (96 percent black and hispanic), Harvey District 152 (96 percent), Patton District 133 in Riverdale (99 percent), Burnham District 154-5 (98 percent), West Harvey-Dixmoor District 147 (98 percent) and Posen-Robbins District 143-5 (97 percent)-- are in the south Cook County suburbs.
A seventh is in Kankakee County, Pembroke Community Consolidated School District in Hopkins Park, which has a median household income of $17,778 and is one of the poorest communities in Illinois.
Twelve districts received between $6,000 and $7,000 per pupil from the state. All are majority black and/or hispanic, including Dolton District 148 (99 percent), Dolton District 149 (99 percent), Berwyn North District 98 (91 percent), Waukegan District 60 (84 percent), Chicago Heights District 170 (94 percent), Aurora East District 131 (95 percent), Lincoln District 156 in Calumet City (97 percent), Kankakee District 111 (77 percent), Cicero District 99 (93 percent), Thornton District 205 (98 percent), Park Forest District 163 (92 percent) and Country Club Hills District 160 (96 percent).
Fourteen districts, including CPS and Ford Heights, received between $5,000 and $6,000 per pupil, all majority black and/or hispanic. North Chicago District 187 (91 percent), Fairmont District 89 in Lockport (86 percent), St. Anne District 302 in Kankakee County (54 percent), Joliet District 86 (83 percent), Chaney-Monge District 88 in Will County’s Crest Hill (56 percent), Round Lake District 116 (82 percent), Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview District 89 (99 percent), Midlothian District 143 (65 percent), Berwyn South District 100 (88 percent), Bloom Township District 200 (84 percent), Sandridge District 172 in south suburban Lynwood (69 percent) and Zion District 6 (93 percent).
Who gets the least state funding?
The 50 Chicago area school districts receiving the least state funding are all overwhelmingly white; 19 of them received less than $750 per student.
Northbrook/Glenview District 30 ($539), Channahon District 17 ($545), Lake Forest District 17 ($556), Glencoe District 35 ($571) and Butler District 53 in Oak Brook ($580) receive the least. State funding makes up less than three percent of total school funding in each of the districts.
| School District | Total Spending 2015 | State Subsidy |
| Hazel Crest 152-5 | $15,972 | $12,155 |
| CCSD 168/Sauk Village | $13,040 | $8,515 |
| Calumet City 155 | $14,062 | $7,804 |
| Harvey 152 | $12,109 | $7,617 |
| General George Patton 133/Riverdale | $17,652 | $7,502 |
| Burnham 154-5 | $12,220 | $7,405 |
| West Harvey-Dixmoor 147 | $12,247 | $7,250 |
| Pembroke CCSD 259/Hopkins Park | $11,639 | $7,228 |
| Posen-Robbins 143-5 | $10,106 | $7,094 |
| Dolton 148/Riverdale | $13,759 | $6,880 |
| Berwyn North 98 | $10,266 | $6,734 |
| Waukegan CUSD 60 | $12,600 | $6,691 |
| Chicago Heights 170 | $13,361 | $6,681 |
| Aurora East USD 131 | $10,866 | $6,672 |
| Lincoln 156/Calumet City | $9,938 | $6,390 |
| Dolton 149/Calumet City | $12,949 | $6,306 |
| Kankakee 111 | $12,200 | $6,295 |
| Cicero 99 | $9,506 | $6,274 |
| Thornton Township 205 | $19,584 | $6,189 |
| Park Forest 163 | $12,189 | $6,143 |
| Country Club Hills 160 | $12,575 | $6,137 |
| North Chicago 187 | $12,926 | $5,985 |
| Fairmont 89/Lockport | $14,931 | $5,823 |
| St. Anne CHSD 302 | $14,397 | $5,788 |
| Joliet PSD 86 | $10,254 | $5,701 |
| Chaney-Monge 88/Crest Hill | $10,668 | $5,654 |
| Ford Heights 169 | $24,306 | $5,639 |
| Round Lake CUSD 116 | $10,881 | $5,517 |
| Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview 89 | $9,144 | $5,432 |
| Chicago 299 | $15,120 | $5,171 |
| Midlothian 143 | $9,879 | $5,117 |
| Berwyn South 100 | $10,894 | $5,098 |
| Bloom Township 206 | $15,200 | $5,046 |
| Sandridge 172/Lynwood | $11,163 | $5,046 |
| Zion 6 | $10,767 | $5,039 |
| Riverside-Brookfield Township 208 | $16,605 | $4,882 |
| St. Anne CCSD 256 | $10,115 | $4,825 |
| Bellwood 88 | $10,857 | $4,821 |
| Morton 201 | $11,722 | $4,818 |
| Emmons 33/Antioch | $15,259 | $4,761 |
| South Holland 151 | $12,220 | $4,656 |
| Thornton Fractional Township 215/Calumet City | $13,718 | $4,513 |
| Prairie-Hills 144/Markham | $11,444 | $4,372 |
| Hoover-Schrum Memorial 157/Calumet City | $12,403 | $4,267 |
| Pleasantdale 107/Burr Ridge | $15,157 | $4,108 |
| Bremen 228 | $14,622 | $4,065 |
| Cook County 130/Blue Island | $11,365 | $3,978 |
| Wauconda CUSD 118 | $10,728 | $3,905 |
| Manteno 5 | $10,115 | $3,874 |
| Momence 1 | $9,313 | $3,809 |
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