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Lake County Gazette

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Which Lake County school districts benefit most from state pension subsidies?

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Rondout SD 72 in Lake Forest receives $1,579 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in Lake County, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Big Hollow SD 38 in Ingleside receives $390 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.

Rondout SD 72, which relies on the state for 3 percent of its revenue and spends $32,278 per student, ranks No. 1 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Big Hollow SD 38 relies on the state for 24 percent of its revenue and spends $8,542 per student. It ranks 721th in the state.

Statewide, Earlville CUSD 9 in LaSalle County received the smallest subsidy.

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Lake County school 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* 
Rondout SD 72LakeLake Forest1343%$2,138,256$32,278$1,579
Twp HSD 113LakeHighland Park3,1693%$1,181,960$24,762$1,158
Lake Forest CHSD 115LakeLake Forest1,5263%$1,788,747$24,392$1,103
CHSD 128LakeVernon Hills3,0534%$871,200$22,420$1,096
Bannockburn SD 106LakeBannockburn1614%$1,228,580$23,340$1,025
Lake Forest SD 67LakeLake Forest1,6463%$1,317,990$18,267$973
Lake Bluff ESD 65LakeLake Bluff8223%$681,772$18,354$865
North Shore SD 112LakeHighland Park3,7916%$555,895$16,581$859
Adlai E Stevenson HSD 125LakeLincolnshire3,8605%$796,868$18,918$852
Lincolnshire-Prairieview SD 103LakeLincolnshire1,6105%$545,810$16,671$796
Deerfield SD 109LakeDeerfield2,8264%$509,582$16,200$790
Aptakisic-Tripp CCSD 102LakeBuffalo Grove2,0797%$379,838$14,514$734
Grayslake CHSD 127LakeGrayslake2,74918%$300,188$17,652$726
Barrington CUSD 220LakeBarrington8,0017%$328,672$16,102$722
Mundelein Cons HSD 120LakeMundelein1,9438%$596,814$15,200$718
Kildeer Countryside CCSD 96LakeBuffalo Grove2,9088%$391,323$14,862$715
Lake Zurich CUSD 95LakeLake Zurich5,1868%$280,878$14,442$693
Grass Lake SD 36LakeAntioch1675%$476,795$18,753$691
Libertyville SD 70LakeLibertyville2,2898%$397,696$13,467$681
Diamond Lake SD 76LakeMundelein93014%$270,924$13,125$678
Emmons SD 33LakeAntioch2707%$370,202$15,971$631
Warren Twp HSD 121LakeGurnee3,95014%$475,469$14,486$615
Grant CHSD 124LakeFox Lake1,71715%$415,640$13,209$612
Zion-Benton Twp HSD 126LakeZion2,23926%$241,076$14,486$606
CHSD 117LakeLake Villa2,55615%$413,593$16,779$586
Round Lake CUSD 116LakeRound Lake6,61553%$50,699$12,681$577
Hawthorn CCSD 73LakeVernon Hills3,86710%$296,989$12,763$574
Woodland CCSD 50LakeGurnee5,54611%$256,458$13,091$572
Gurnee SD 56LakeGurnee1,97312%$240,589$12,821$569
Wauconda CUSD 118LakeWauconda4,46219%$143,914$11,882$567
Grayslake CCSD 46LakeGrayslake3,38925%$157,976$12,841$564
Fremont SD 79LakeMundelein1,9496%$372,813$13,417$553
Waukegan CUSD 60LakeWaukegan14,23355%$39,355$13,333$541
Mundelein ESD 75LakeMundelein1,57919%$187,661$11,498$535
Beach Park CCSD 3LakeZion2,14031%$139,972$11,703$519
Gavin SD 37LakeIngleside71723%$207,388$13,387$519
Zion ESD 6LakeZion2,60648%$52,808$11,314$510
Millburn CCSD 24LakeWadsworth1,21522%$168,063$12,391$509
Antioch CCSD 34LakeAntioch2,74018%$194,195$10,549$504
Fox Lake GSD 114LakeSpring Grove71516%$272,689$12,981$502
Winthrop Harbor

SD 1

LakeWinthrop Harbor54817%$187,720$8,846$492
North Chicago SD 187LakeNorth Chicago3,19854%$52,111$14,795$447
Lake Villa CCSD 41LakeLake Villa2,53227%$181,888$9,707$441
Big Hollow SD 38LakeIngleside1,66124%$170,612$8,542$390
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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