Jeremiah made it, but 2 Illinois education reforms could help others

By Ann Miller

11/10/2021

Illinois has too much school district administration. It has too much education pension debt. There are ways to solve those problems to help students facing challenges and taxpayers facing ever-increasing demands.

TAGS: Classrooms First Act, education bureaucracy, education spending, K-12, pensions

2 ways to fix Illinois’ too-high property taxes, teacher shortage

By Ann Miller

10/21/2021

Redirecting some of Illinois’ school district administrative overhead could attract top talent to the more than 4,100 teacher openings. The savings could be $1,317 per taxpayer in one veteran teacher’s hometown. Reform pensions, and that amount grows.

TAGS: Classrooms First Act, education spending, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education, taxes, teacher shortage

2 things Waukegan can do to nurture students’ futures

By Ann Miller

09/16/2021

With rising costs and sinking test scores, school district efficiency and pension reform provide ways to put more money into Waukegan classrooms and improve student achievement.

TAGS: Classrooms First Act, education spending, pensions, Waukegan

Classrooms First Act unanimously passes Illinois House committee

By Brad Weisenstein

03/24/2021

A bill to channel education dollars from duplicate bureaucracy and into classrooms or back to property taxpayers won committee approval. It is headed for a full vote in the Illinois House.

TAGS: administrative bloat, Classrooms First Act, consolidation, Rita Mayfield, school district efficiency

Consolidating school districts could cut family’s tax bill by $1,030

By Ann Miller

03/23/2021

House Bill 7 would create a process to review and recommend consolidating school district administration, with the goal of cutting bureaucracy so the money goes to classrooms or back to taxpayers.

TAGS: administrative bloat, Classrooms First Act, consolidation, Rita Mayfield, school district efficiency

113 six-figure school district administrators oppose Classrooms First Act

By Patrick Andriesen

03/22/2021

Of the 113 school district administrators earning six-figure salaries who oppose a bill to reduce bureaucracy, 21 are above the $200,000 mark. The bill intends to put more money into classrooms or back in taxpayers’ pockets.

TAGS: administrative bloat, Classrooms First Act, consolidation, property taxes, school district efficiency

3 problems with Lightfoot’s Chicago budget, starting with an unnecessary property tax hike

Report Archive

Lucas Stangler

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students