Post by title1parent on Aug 3, 2010 5:55:03 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/2559762,2_1_AU03_WESTBOARD_S1-100803.article
West Aurora backs school funding lawsuit
August 3, 2010
By STEPHANIE LULAY slulay@stmedianetwork.com
AURORA -- The West Aurora School District has filed a brief in support of a lawsuit challenging school funding in Illinois.
The suit, Paul Carr and Ron Newell vs. Dr. Christopher Koch, the state superintendent of education, the Illinois State Board of Education and Gov. Pat Quinn, claims that Illinois' education funding system discriminates against taxpayers based on where they live, and that it works against local control.
Two homeowners, Carr of Chicago Heights and Newell of Cairo, filed the suit in March in Sangamon County Circuit Court.
In the brief, West Aurora opposes the defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint, officials said at the School Board meeting Monday. The district contends the lawsuit deserves to be heard in court.
"We don't want to see it dismissed," Rydland said. "We believe (the suit) has merit."
The suit alleges that the state is not properly funding education, but instead relies heavily on local property taxes as a funding mechanism.
The lawsuit also alleges that homeowners in poorer districts face higher property taxes than those who live in affluent districts in order to meet the minimum cost of education per student.
Board President Neal Ormond said that the intention of the brief is to show support for all Illinois students to get fair opportunities to learn.
Ormond said that in West Aurora, where the state provides about 35 percent of school funding, it is not fair in comparison to school districts that may only get 5 percent based on need.
He added that the problem is compounded by the fact that the state creates mandates for education and then fails to fund them.
"If local control was a 'goal' (of education funding), the actions of the state and federal governments have consistently undermined, rather than promoted it," the district's brief reads.
"The state has a responsibility to fund school for all children," Rydland said. "The discrepancy between the have and have-not school districts continues to grow."
West Aurora backs school funding lawsuit
August 3, 2010
By STEPHANIE LULAY slulay@stmedianetwork.com
AURORA -- The West Aurora School District has filed a brief in support of a lawsuit challenging school funding in Illinois.
The suit, Paul Carr and Ron Newell vs. Dr. Christopher Koch, the state superintendent of education, the Illinois State Board of Education and Gov. Pat Quinn, claims that Illinois' education funding system discriminates against taxpayers based on where they live, and that it works against local control.
Two homeowners, Carr of Chicago Heights and Newell of Cairo, filed the suit in March in Sangamon County Circuit Court.
In the brief, West Aurora opposes the defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint, officials said at the School Board meeting Monday. The district contends the lawsuit deserves to be heard in court.
"We don't want to see it dismissed," Rydland said. "We believe (the suit) has merit."
The suit alleges that the state is not properly funding education, but instead relies heavily on local property taxes as a funding mechanism.
The lawsuit also alleges that homeowners in poorer districts face higher property taxes than those who live in affluent districts in order to meet the minimum cost of education per student.
Board President Neal Ormond said that the intention of the brief is to show support for all Illinois students to get fair opportunities to learn.
Ormond said that in West Aurora, where the state provides about 35 percent of school funding, it is not fair in comparison to school districts that may only get 5 percent based on need.
He added that the problem is compounded by the fact that the state creates mandates for education and then fails to fund them.
"If local control was a 'goal' (of education funding), the actions of the state and federal governments have consistently undermined, rather than promoted it," the district's brief reads.
"The state has a responsibility to fund school for all children," Rydland said. "The discrepancy between the have and have-not school districts continues to grow."
