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
District | County | City | Average daily attendance | Percent of district revenue provided by the state | EAV (taxable property) per student | District spending per student | State-provided pension subsidy per student* |
Rondout SD 72 | Lake | Lake Forest | 134 | 3% | $2,138,256 | $32,278 | $1,579 |
Twp HSD 113 | Lake | Highland Park | 3,169 | 3% | $1,181,960 | $24,762 | $1,158 |
Lake Forest CHSD 115 | Lake | Lake Forest | 1,526 | 3% | $1,788,747 | $24,392 | $1,103 |
CHSD 128 | Lake | Vernon Hills | 3,053 | 4% | $871,200 | $22,420 | $1,096 |
Bannockburn SD 106 | Lake | Bannockburn | 161 | 4% | $1,228,580 | $23,340 | $1,025 |
Lake Forest SD 67 | Lake | Lake Forest | 1,646 | 3% | $1,317,990 | $18,267 | $973 |
Lake Bluff ESD 65 | Lake | Lake Bluff | 822 | 3% | $681,772 | $18,354 | $865 |
North Shore SD 112 | Lake | Highland Park | 3,791 | 6% | $555,895 | $16,581 | $859 |
Adlai E Stevenson HSD 125 | Lake | Lincolnshire | 3,860 | 5% | $796,868 | $18,918 | $852 |
Lincolnshire-Prairieview SD 103 | Lake | Lincolnshire | 1,610 | 5% | $545,810 | $16,671 | $796 |
Deerfield SD 109 | Lake | Deerfield | 2,826 | 4% | $509,582 | $16,200 | $790 |
Aptakisic-Tripp CCSD 102 | Lake | Buffalo Grove | 2,079 | 7% | $379,838 | $14,514 | $734 |
Grayslake CHSD 127 | Lake | Grayslake | 2,749 | 18% | $300,188 | $17,652 | $726 |
Barrington CUSD 220 | Lake | Barrington | 8,001 | 7% | $328,672 | $16,102 | $722 |
Mundelein Cons HSD 120 | Lake | Mundelein | 1,943 | 8% | $596,814 | $15,200 | $718 |
Kildeer Countryside CCSD 96 | Lake | Buffalo Grove | 2,908 | 8% | $391,323 | $14,862 | $715 |
Lake Zurich CUSD 95 | Lake | Lake Zurich | 5,186 | 8% | $280,878 | $14,442 | $693 |
Grass Lake SD 36 | Lake | Antioch | 167 | 5% | $476,795 | $18,753 | $691 |
Libertyville SD 70 | Lake | Libertyville | 2,289 | 8% | $397,696 | $13,467 | $681 |
Diamond Lake SD 76 | Lake | Mundelein | 930 | 14% | $270,924 | $13,125 | $678 |
Emmons SD 33 | Lake | Antioch | 270 | 7% | $370,202 | $15,971 | $631 |
Warren Twp HSD 121 | Lake | Gurnee | 3,950 | 14% | $475,469 | $14,486 | $615 |
Grant CHSD 124 | Lake | Fox Lake | 1,717 | 15% | $415,640 | $13,209 | $612 |
Zion-Benton Twp HSD 126 | Lake | Zion | 2,239 | 26% | $241,076 | $14,486 | $606 |
CHSD 117 | Lake | Lake Villa | 2,556 | 15% | $413,593 | $16,779 | $586 |
Round Lake CUSD 116 | Lake | Round Lake | 6,615 | 53% | $50,699 | $12,681 | $577 |
Hawthorn CCSD 73 | Lake | Vernon Hills | 3,867 | 10% | $296,989 | $12,763 | $574 |
Woodland CCSD 50 | Lake | Gurnee | 5,546 | 11% | $256,458 | $13,091 | $572 |
Gurnee SD 56 | Lake | Gurnee | 1,973 | 12% | $240,589 | $12,821 | $569 |
Wauconda CUSD 118 | Lake | Wauconda | 4,462 | 19% | $143,914 | $11,882 | $567 |
Grayslake CCSD 46 | Lake | Grayslake | 3,389 | 25% | $157,976 | $12,841 | $564 |
Fremont SD 79 | Lake | Mundelein | 1,949 | 6% | $372,813 | $13,417 | $553 |
Waukegan CUSD 60 | Lake | Waukegan | 14,233 | 55% | $39,355 | $13,333 | $541 |
Mundelein ESD 75 | Lake | Mundelein | 1,579 | 19% | $187,661 | $11,498 | $535 |
Beach Park CCSD 3 | Lake | Zion | 2,140 | 31% | $139,972 | $11,703 | $519 |
Gavin SD 37 | Lake | Ingleside | 717 | 23% | $207,388 | $13,387 | $519 |
Zion ESD 6 | Lake | Zion | 2,606 | 48% | $52,808 | $11,314 | $510 |
Millburn CCSD 24 | Lake | Wadsworth | 1,215 | 22% | $168,063 | $12,391 | $509 |
Antioch CCSD 34 | Lake | Antioch | 2,740 | 18% | $194,195 | $10,549 | $504 |
Fox Lake GSD 114 | Lake | Spring Grove | 715 | 16% | $272,689 | $12,981 | $502 |
Winthrop Harbor
SD 1 | Lake | Winthrop Harbor | 548 | 17% | $187,720 | $8,846 | $492 |
North Chicago SD 187 | Lake | North Chicago | 3,198 | 54% | $52,111 | $14,795 | $447 |
Lake Villa CCSD 41 | Lake | Lake Villa | 2,532 | 27% | $181,888 | $9,707 | $441 |
Big Hollow SD 38 | Lake | Ingleside | 1,661 | 24% | $170,612 | $8,542 | $390 |
*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.