Peoria Standard

Oak Grove SD 68 in Libertyville receives $877 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in Metro Peoria, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Bradford CUSD 1 in Bradford receives $261 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.

Oak Grove SD 68, which relies on the state for 4 percent of its revenue and spends $16,738 per student, ranks 40 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Bradford CUSD 1 relies on the state for 14 percent of its revenue and spends $8,162 per student. It ranks 847th 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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Metro Peoria 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*
Oak Grove SD 68	Peoria	Libertyville	778	4%	$653,422	$16,738	$877
Washington CHSD 308	Tazewell	Washington	1,106	16%	$394,901	$12,941	$585
Illini Central CUSD 189	Mason	Mason City	657	30%	$124,047	$11,178	$556
Henry-Senachwine CUSD 5	Marshall	Henry	527	15%	$190,941	$12,089	$553
East Peoria CHSD 309	Tazewell	East Peoria	862	12%	$517,730	$16,198	$544
Robein SD 85	Tazewell	East Peoria	144	14%	$197,474	$11,394	$530
Delavan CUSD 703	Tazewell	Delavan	439	25%	$124,537	$10,111	$510
Peoria SD 150	Peoria	Peoria	11,363	35%	$116,282	$13,533	$510
Fieldcrest CUSD 6	Woodford	Minonk	975	25%	$148,617	$11,033	$504
El Paso-Gridley CUSD 11	Woodford	El Paso	1,135	24%	$136,252	$9,696	$483
Limestone CHSD 310	Peoria	Bartonville	989	24%	$308,784	$10,814	$483
Roanoke Benson CUSD 60	Woodford	Roanoke	485	17%	$165,693	$11,020	$477
Lowpoint-Washburn CUSD 21	Woodford	Washburn	329	26%	$147,719	$11,515	$476
Pekin PSD 108	Tazewell	Pekin	3,308	32%	$142,991	$9,982	$476
Stark County CUSD 100	Stark	Wyoming	682	21%	$144,559	$10,579	$476
Creve Coeur SD 76	Tazewell	Creve Coeur	524	58%	$112,585	$11,191	$469
Morton CUSD 709	Tazewell	Morton	2,703	8%	$196,404	$10,554	$458
CUSD 3 Fulton County	Fulton	Cuba	421	36%	$96,013	$11,493	$458
East Peoria SD 86	Tazewell	East Peoria	1,507	33%	$241,959	$11,449	$449
Astoria CUSD 1	Fulton	Astoria	304	49%	$66,501	$10,142	$447
V I T CUSD 2	Fulton	Table Grove	318	22%	$104,086	$11,158	$445
Peoria Heights CUSD 325	Peoria	Peoria Heights	619	30%	$169,217	$11,238	$443
Tremont CUSD 702	Tazewell	Tremont	854	28%	$128,913	$9,812	$436
Spoon River Valley CUSD 4	Fulton	London Mills	318	23%	$126,943	$12,048	$434
Midwest Central CUSD 191	Mason	Manito	882	42%	$97,614	$9,660	$433
Brimfield CUSD 309	Peoria	Brimfield	638	19%	$164,569	$9,819	$429
N Pekin & Marquette Hght SD 102	Tazewell	Marquette Heights	544	48%	$122,432	$8,324	$428
Il Valley Central USD 321	Peoria	Chillicothe	1,946	26%	$133,893	$8,657	$425
Deer Creek-Mackinaw CUSD 701	Tazewell	Mackinaw	1,006	35%	$105,853	$9,581	$424
Eureka CUD 140	Woodford	Eureka	1,503	27%	$131,814	$8,798	$421
Pekin CSD 303	Tazewell	Pekin	1,753	17%	$355,919	$11,201	$416
Elmwood CUSD 322	Peoria	Elmwood	646	27%	$120,923	$8,001	$416
Lewistown CUSD 97	Fulton	Lewistown	633	42%	$79,701	$8,502	$414
Oak Grove E. SD 68	Peoria	Bartonville	326	35%	$152,973	$8,285	$411
Princeville CUSD 326	Peoria	Princeville	732	25%	$115,722	$9,764	$409
Havana CUSD 126	Mason	Havana	931	32%	$84,026	$9,711	$401
Spring Lake CCSD 606	Tazewell	Manito	54	34%	$222,477	$11,238	$401
Dunlap CUSD 323	Peoria	Peoria	4,176	9%	$198,699	$8,471	$400
Midland CUSD 7	Marshall	Varna	633	19%	$171,363	$10,815	$398
Hollis Cons SD 328	Peoria	Peoria	153	4%	$142,001	$8,780	$397
Canton Union SD 66	Fulton	Canton	2,338	36%	$83,922	$9,020	$394
Rankin CSD 98	Tazewell	Pekin	234	18%	$231,157	$9,823	$392
Limestone Walters CCSD 316	Peoria	Peoria	173	9%	$270,207	$8,713	$376
South Pekin SD 137	Tazewell	South Pekin	230	62%	$61,558	$8,818	$365
Germantown Hills SD 69	Woodford	Germantown Hills	834	27%	$185,277	$7,696	$363
District 50 Schools	Tazewell	Washington	723	47%	$116,323	$9,111	$360
Pleasant Hill SD 69	Peoria	Peoria	232	64%	$67,556	$8,606	$357
Illini Bluffs CUSD 327	Peoria	Glasford	810	17%	$141,399	$8,634	$354
Farmington Central CUSD 265	Peoria	Farmington	1,270	32%	$111,982	$9,311	$346
Pleasant Valley SD 62	Peoria	Peoria	483	55%	$90,757	$7,637	$345
Monroe SD 70	Peoria	Peoria	292	26%	$170,980	$7,700	$341
Norwood ESD 63	Peoria	Peoria	416	48%	$117,737	$7,944	$340
Metamora CCSD 1	Woodford	Metamora	816	28%	$192,616	$7,171	$327
Bartonville SD 66	Peoria	Bartonville	256	26%	$116,768	$7,374	$327
Central SD 51	Tazewell	Washington	1,166	23%	$191,229	$7,678	$323
Washington SD 52	Tazewell	Washington	903	39%	$147,878	$7,425	$322
Riverview CCSD 2	Woodford	East Peoria	219	24%	$204,035	$7,608	$313
Bradford CUSD 1	Stark	Bradford	232	14%	$245,189	$8,162	$261

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.