A message from State Rep. Mike Tryon:

Mike Tryon

A controversial and dangerous bill has cleared the Illinois Senate and was delivered to the House of Representatives this morning.

Senate Bill 16 seeks to fundamentally change the school funding formula for Illinois schools.

If passed by the House and signed by the Governor, it would divert millions of District 66 tax dollars away from our local schools and toward downstate schools.

This diversion of funds would all but guarantee drastic school district budget cuts and tax rate increases for suburban taxpayers.

The most recent information about SB16 shows the following impact for General State Aid (GSA) in District 66 school districts:

• Crystal Lake High School District 155: 17.2% loss in GSA ($1.45 million reduction)
• Huntley School District 158: 11.2% loss in GSA ($2.1 million reduction)
• Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47: 72.6% loss in GSA ($5.67 million reduction)
• School District 300: 9.9% loss in GSA ($2.05 million reduction)

In an effort to bring the many legislators who represent the City of Chicago on board, SB16 has been amended to include “sweetners” for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that are not made available to other districts in Illinois.

This is a call to action.

As this is the final week of the spring legislative session, it is possible that SB16 may be called for a vote. Please use this list to contact State Representatives by phone and/or email and let them know you would like them to vote against SB16.

Suburban taxpayers already shoulder a disproportionate share of the cost for educating students.

SB16 would take away a significant amount of what little state funding remains. It would take resources away from students and place an unfair additional tax burden on local taxpayers.

This radical rewrite of the school funding formula would devastate our schools, so please help me in defeating this bill by contacting State Representatives and urging a “no” vote.