How does IL fund the schools - big ? re: Downers Grove? (Chicago: house, neighborhoods)

[AuDiBelle]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

Then why don't I see residents of Naperville, Hinsdale, and the New Trier districts fighting to reduce their property taxes going to the schools? After all if the amount of money doesn't matter, and what really matters is the parents, then Naperville, Hinsdale, et al should pay relatively little to their schools, right?

When I see one single upper-middle or wealthy district reduce the amount of money it gives to its schools, then I will believe that statement about "per student spending doesn't equal better schools."

Ehh, not quite. Western Springs school district is excellent, ranked 9th in the state, just won the coveted Blue Ribbon award and guess what? It has a VERY low per student expenditure which is "19.3% below state average spending per pupil". Guess that blows some holes in your theory.

Finally, our School District report cards have recently been sent
home. ese are prepared independently by the State of Illinois.
District 101 continues to be a top 10 performing district.

Almost as important as the outstanding results is the fact that the
District continues to see these increasing scores and national recognition
while spending well below the state average per pupil, and
considerably below those districts that are very similar to District
101 demographically.

http://d101.org/htdocs/StaffMedia/mr..._nov._2010.pdf

is year’s budget calls for a 5.9% DECREASE in
overall revenues, due primarily to three factors

e FY 2011 budget also calls for
an overall expenditure DECREASE of 2.4%.

[oldhousegirl]

Originally Posted by cohdane

As for parental involvement, the biggest/easiest piece to address would be teaching ignorant parents to get the kids to bed earlier. Seriously. Having lived in many urban areas, I have no doubt that some of the behavior issues are influenced by the fact that the 1st graders are up till 10-11pm.

At least that way, they'd have a fighting chance with an 8 hour school day plus homework.

I feel the same. I'll go out on a limb and state the glaring - Kids need sleep!! Heck, we all need sleep!

[momsuz123]

Where is district 101 and which high school does it feed into? I seem to be able to find plenty elementary schools and even some middle schools that score well, but then they tank into the 60/70% at the high school level. Someone on here suggested it was because the pre-high school test were watered down, then they struggle at high school with the standardized tests.

[AuDiBelle]

Originally Posted by momsuz123

Where is district 101 and which high school does it feed into? I seem to be able to find plenty elementary schools and even some middle schools that score well, but then they tank into the 60/70% at the high school level. Someone on here suggested it was because the pre-high school test were watered down, then they struggle at high school with the standardized tests.

It feeds into Lyons Township High School. From direct talks with the principal at the Jr. High in d101 (regarding English class specifically), he said that over half of the graduates will move into Honors courses at the high school level... which represents a far greater percentage than any other feeder school because they are better prepared overall in comparison to the kids from other Jr. High's.

I'm not sure what pre-highschool tests you are referring to since they are all standardized. D101 uses ISAT's which all Illinois students take, and MAP testing which is normed nationally and gives out of level test results as well (which the ISAT's don't).

[momsuz123]

See, this is what I am saying. Lyons Township highschool composite score is 75%. That in my books is not good. That is what I have been asking about all along. There seem to be decent grade schools and even middle schools, then you get into high schools, and the scores are bottoming out into the 60/70%. That is just not good enough. I am coming from a public school district that was just ranked in the top 3% of all public schools, so this is hard for me to "step down" to other high schools if we have to move.

[chet everett]

If you want "top tier" that includes New Trier, Hinsdale Central, Stevnenson, and very few others, all of which are surrounded by exclusive, pricey real estate.

As soon as you "dial in" a bit more range of housing you are going to pick up some folks that got fed up with worse schools and decided to move into better areas. Some of those kids will do fine, as they and their kids are driven to succeed, but others are stretched so thin working to cover higher rent that their familoes fall behind / and or kids fall into the traps that happen to lots of people that forget even good kifpds need guidance / supervision.

If you are looking for a town where "everyone is above average" you are probably looking at prices which make the "floor" seem most everyone else's ceiling. (or you could move to Lake Woebegone...).

In reality there are some well priced homes in even Hinsdale or Wilmette or Long Grove, but finding them will be maddening -- you will see places that are sited right next some very undesirable negative and probably in poor condition to boot.

Diversity is a funny thing -- the range of what people feel "enhances" things vs the cut off of what crosses over to 'unacceptable' is a sliding scale. What one person considers "too homogneified" another considers "uniformly desirable"...

[AuDiBelle]

Well, LT is still an excellent school if you look at their ACT and SAT scores in comparison to other districts. I'm sure there is a website that gives that data so you can compare across districts, but I don't feel LT is a step down. There are lower performing districts that feed into it as well which brings down the overall scores, but the options for the above average kids are numerous.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by momsuz123

How does IL fund the schools

Property taxes,Cigarette taxes,Illinois Lottery.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by tonythetuna

Property taxes,Cigarette taxes,Illinois Lottery.

The way the liars in Springfield and the County promote things it is easy to see how one could be confused.

Property taxes are the primary means of funding for mos districts.

Because some money from cigarette taxes flows into both the General Fund of the State one might think that does something to fund expenses, but it would impossible to trace any money to that source.

The BIG FAT LYING politicians have tried to make people believe lottery funds support schools but in reality EACH DOLLAR that comes in from the lottery displaces an equal dollar-for-dollar of already allocated states moneys (like from corporate and personal income taxes) that the lying scum can then re- earmark to some initiative that benefits their politcal donors. Don't see how anyone could say that "funds" schools...

[momsuz123]

Again, the reason for the question on funding the schools was because in looking at scores and real estate I realized the funding is different than in the state I live in. Here the funding is spread out across the state as I mentioned earlier. It is not just the rich neighborhoods have the best schools thing. I am not saying one is bad over the other, not trying to argue, just makes it tricky with finding the right community to live in. Thanks for all your help.