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Friday, March 29, 2024

Which South Suburbs school districts benefit most from state pension subsidies?

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CHSD 218 in Oak Lawn receives $898 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in South Suburbs, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Calumet Public SD 132 in Calumet Park receives $352 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.

CHSD 218, which relies on the state for 13 percent of its revenue and spends $22,430 per student, ranks 36 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Calumet Public SD 132 relies on the state for 56 percent of its revenue and spends $10,926 per student. It ranks 807th 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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South Suburbs districts receiving state-provided pension subsidies

DistrictCountyCityAverage daily attendancePercent of district revenue provided by the stateEAV (taxable property) per studentDistrict spending per student  State-provided pension subsidy per student* 
CHSD 218CookOak Lawn4,79513%$421,769$22,430$898
Argo CHSD 217CookSummit1,61817%$385,701$19,138$876
Oak Lawn CHSD 229CookOak Lawn1,45712%$524,463$17,890$821
Reavis Twp HSD 220CookBurbank1,68910%$486,475$16,278$790
Bremen CHSD 228CookMidlothian4,51327%$256,722$15,765$781
Pleasantdale SD 107CookBurr Ridge7756%$654,032$14,559$767
Homewood Flossmoor CHSD 233CookFlossmoor2,56020%$247,627$17,840$756
Lemont Twp HSD 210CookLemont1,2746%$771,309$19,519$749
Cons HSD 230CookOrland Park7,0769%$602,444$16,204$748
Rich Twp HSD 227CookMatteson2,83314%$319,893$20,958$745
Thornton Twp HSD 205CookSouth Holland5,03830%$232,243$18,470$742
Evergreen Park CHSD 231CookEvergreen Park82011%$440,085$16,529$741
Thornton Fractional Twp HSD 215CookLansing3,17533%$197,203$15,693$724
Orland SD 135CookOrland Park4,5149%$423,118$15,451$716
Dolton SD 148CookRiverdale1,93551%$78,097$15,724$688
CCSD 146CookTinley Park2,1469%$266,401$15,214$680
Bloom Twp HSD 206CookChicago Heights2,74830%$253,542$17,907$676
Evergreen Park ESD 124CookEvergreen Park1,63412%$220,691$13,659$670
Ford Heights SD 169CookFord Heights40421%$74,804$25,082$663
ESD 159CookMatteson1,62913%$235,213$17,699$653
Thornton SD 154CookThornton21712%$211,396$12,546$638
Gen George Patton SD 133CookRiverdale27339%$90,028$16,085$629
Oak Lawn-Hometown SD 123CookOak Lawn2,94813%$206,551$11,862$619
Kirby SD 140CookTinley Park3,28812%$227,670$12,026$612
Palos CCSD 118CookPalos Park1,7349%$418,182$13,181$610
Matteson ESD 162CookRichton Park2,49831%$143,550$14,746$588
Dolton SD 149CookCalumet City2,60453%$91,497$13,791$582
CCSD 168CookSauk Village1,23762%$56,285$12,768$573
Park Forest SD 163CookPark Forest1,77151%$45,788$13,660$562
Alsip-Hazlgrn-Oaklwn SD 126CookAlsip1,47211%$304,194$12,153$559
North Palos SD 117CookPalos Hills2,85621%$196,294$11,637$555
Willow Springs SD 108CookWillow Springs36219%$172,723$12,551$554
Country Club Hills SD 160CookCountry Club Hills1,10145%$121,155$14,276$553
Calumet City SD 155CookCalumet City1,02041%$94,125$14,745$553
Homewood SD 153CookHomewood1,77424%$154,803$12,233$552
Flossmoor SD 161CookChicago Heights2,16621%$168,903$12,560$549
Chicago Heights

SD 170

CookChicago Heights2,81755%$83,826$13,797$541
Chicago Ridge SD 127-5CookChicago Ridge1,24147%$106,540$11,304$541
Palos Heights SD 128CookPalos Heights6879%$399,375$11,156$536
South Holland SD 151CookSouth Holland1,48037%$131,803$12,869$529
Ridgeland SD 122CookOak Lawn1,93620%$243,521$13,349$526
Sandridge SD 172CookChicago Heights31845%$138,183$12,377$525
Summit SD 104CookSummit1,67234%$128,233$13,103$523
South Holland SD 150CookSouth Holland87720%$203,108$10,324$520
Midlothian SD 143CookMidlothian1,65448%$107,745$10,511$519
Worth SD 127CookWorth98628%$151,293$11,399$519
Cook County SD 130CookBlue Island3,48436%$132,283$12,509$513
Hoover-Schrum Memorial SD 157CookCalumet City85330%$139,800$12,405$512
Hazel Crest SD 152-5CookHazel Crest83942%$113,031$14,768$509
Brookwood SD 167CookGlenwood1,06635%$131,353$13,124$487
Steger SD 194CookSteger1,32837%$132,766$11,566$483
Indian Springs SD 109CookJustice2,63638%$140,640$10,912$477
Burbank SD 111CookBurbank3,15520%$207,671$10,580$477
Prairie-Hills ESD 144CookMarkham2,35746%$99,865$12,497$469
Sunnybrook SD 171CookLansing92436%$133,087$11,317$467
W Harvey-Dixmoor PSD 147CookHarvey1,14359%$71,080$13,875$465
Lemont-Bromberek CSD 113ACookLemont1,9417%$500,535$11,716$452
Harvey SD 152CookHarvey2,20768%$51,739$12,447$452
Lansing SD 158CookLansing2,36033%$118,803$10,693$439
Atwood Heights SD 125CookAlsip69530%$150,377$9,783$422
Lincoln ESD 156CookCalumet City92965%$46,940$9,671$421
Posen-Robbins

ESD 143-5

CookPosen1,57369%$63,405$9,877$416
Arbor Park SD 145CookOak Forest1,28031%$138,541$11,279$408
Forest Ridge SD 142CookOak Forest1,47527%$159,438$8,454$397
Burnham SD 154-5CookBurnham20750%$78,223$10,915$388
Calumet Public SD 132CookCalumet Park1,01756%$89,760$10,926$352
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.

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