North Egypt News

Akin CCSD 91 in Akin receives $681 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in North Egypt, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Farrington CCSD 99 in Bluford receives $290 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.

Akin CCSD 91, which relies on the state for 14 percent of its revenue and spends $13,185 per student, ranks 129 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Farrington CCSD 99 relies on the state for 57 percent of its revenue and spends $7,236 per student. It ranks 846th 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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North Egypt 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*
Akin CCSD 91	Franklin	Akin	85	14%	$532,265	$13,185	$681
Benton Cons HSD 103	Franklin	Benton	514	37%	$175,908	$12,533	$584
Mt Vernon Twp HSD 201	Jefferson	Mount Vernon	890	72%	$375,521	$14,784	$561
Zeigler-Royalton CUSD 188	Franklin	Zeigler	538	68%	$42,522	$11,086	$536
Ewing Northern CCSD 115	Franklin	Ewing	179	47%	$112,172	$10,558	$504
Woodlawn Unit School District 209	Jefferson	Woodlawn	465	43%	$72,603	$9,921	$484
Mount Vernon SD 80	Jefferson	Mt Vernon	1,440	43%	$120,809	$11,720	$484
Christopher USD 99	Franklin	Christopher	722	62%	$41,472	$9,999	$483
Frankfort CUSD 168	Franklin	West Frankfort	1,548	62%	$56,491	$10,367	$466
Sesser-Valier CUSD 196	Franklin	Sesser	611	58%	$48,159	$9,427	$452
Opdyke-Belle-Rive CCSD 5	Jefferson	Opdyke	167	51%	$99,862	$9,979	$417
Thompsonville CUSD 174	Franklin	Thompsonville	293	55%	$63,884	$8,306	$411
Summersville SD 79	Jefferson	Mt Vernon	239	52%	$98,955	$8,050	$410
Bethel SD 82	Jefferson	Mt Vernon	157	40%	$124,068	$9,170	$405
Rome CCSD 2	Jefferson	Dix	304	61%	$98,324	$7,973	$401
McClellan CCSD 12	Jefferson	Mt Vernon	66	44%	$194,607	$8,108	$400
Benton CCSD 47	Franklin	Benton	1,081	54%	$89,385	$8,103	$397
Waltonville CUSD 1	Jefferson	Waltonville	326	45%	$85,111	$9,454	$395
Spring Garden CCSD 178	Jefferson	Mt Vernon	231	55%	$98,484	$9,165	$384
Field CCSD 3	Jefferson	Texico	248	65%	$105,610	$7,996	$379
Grand Prairie CCSD 6	Jefferson	Centralia	84	54%	$110,830	$8,261	$355
Bluford Unit School District 318	Jefferson	Bluford	367	56%	$73,075	$8,280	$304
Farrington CCSD 99	Jefferson	Bluford	72	57%	$89,981	$7,236	$290

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.