South Central Reporter

Central CHSD 71 in Breese receives $583 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in South Central Illinois, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.

At the bottom, Central City SD 133 in Centralia receives $297 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.

Central CHSD 71, which relies on the state for 10 percent of its revenue and spends $12,456 per student, ranks 217 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.

Central City SD 133 relies on the state for 61 percent of its revenue and spends $6,735 per student. It ranks 844th 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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South Central Illinois 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*
Central CHSD 71	Clinton	Breese	524	10%	$541,571	$12,456	$583
Nashville CHSD 99	Washington	Nashville	365	26%	$362,177	$11,576	$565
Irvington CCSD 11	Washington	Irvington	56	32%	$189,694	$11,985	$550
Kell Cons SD 2	Marion	Kell	94	53%	$80,110	$9,722	$524
Centralia HSD 200	Marion	Centralia	820	44%	$215,856	$13,933	$514
Patoka CUSD 100	Marion	Patoka	232	18%	$149,984	$10,978	$510
Northwestern CUSD 2	Macoupin	Palmyra	345	42%	$105,639	$10,368	$494
Sandoval CUSD 501	Marion	Sandoval	425	56%	$41,045	$9,752	$494
St Elmo CUSD 202	Fayette	St Elmo	414	49%	$72,056	$9,137	$481
St Rose SD 14-15	Clinton	St  Rose	155	28%	$175,681	$8,157	$477
Mount Olive CUSD 5	Macoupin	Mt Olive	447	49%	$76,073	$10,263	$474
Vandalia CUSD 203	Fayette	Vandalia	1,394	44%	$77,343	$9,826	$474
Damiansville SD 62	Clinton	Damiansville	93	26%	$172,121	$8,647	$466
Brownstown CUSD 201	Fayette	Brownstown	306	62%	$60,407	$10,276	$463
Panhandle CUSD 2	Montgomery	Raymond	444	28%	$136,825	$10,383	$461
Wesclin CUSD 3	Clinton	Trenton	1,235	37%	$108,447	$8,649	$455
South Central CUD 401	Marion	Kinmundy	568	45%	$92,810	$10,372	$455
West Washington Co CUD 10	Washington	Okawville	514	29%	$76,485	$11,487	$454
Centralia SD 135	Marion	Centralia	1,237	57%	$90,044	$10,498	$453
Ramsey CUSD 204	Fayette	Ramsey	381	61%	$60,599	$9,866	$446
Iuka CCSD 7	Marion	Iuka	203	56%	$82,955	$10,179	$444
Nashville CCSD 49	Washington	Nashville	531	25%	$199,935	$8,928	$442
Salem CHSD 600	Marion	Salem	639	37%	$260,007	$10,802	$438
Mulberry Grove CUSD 1	Bond	Mulberry Grove	361	52%	$69,370	$9,542	$433
Willow Grove SD 46	Clinton	Centralia	137	57%	$90,258	$9,341	$432
Pana CUSD 8	Christian	Pana	1,188	46%	$82,599	$9,009	$424
Bond County CUSD 2	Bond	Greenville	1,757	42%	$87,613	$8,685	$422
Oakdale CCSD 1	Washington	Oakdale	73	46%	$131,916	$9,487	$422
Carlyle CUSD 1	Clinton	Carlyle	1,068	31%	$121,390	$9,255	$420
Raccoon Cons SD 1	Marion	Centralia	216	45%	$152,997	$9,205	$416
Gillespie CUSD 7	Macoupin	Gillespie	1,196	60%	$56,960	$8,933	$416
Hillsboro CUSD 3	Montgomery	Hillsboro	1,556	31%	$114,546	$8,910	$413
Bunker Hill CUSD 8	Macoupin	Bunker Hill	571	52%	$90,446	$8,162	$409
Salem SD 111	Marion	Salem	937	55%	$93,866	$7,943	$409
Southwestern CUSD 9	Macoupin	Brighton	1,396	45%	$90,730	$8,768	$407
Morrisonville CUSD 1	Christian	Morrisonville	303	29%	$128,648	$8,781	$403
Litchfield CUSD 12	Montgomery	Litchfield	1,317	47%	$95,485	$8,714	$400
Odin PSD 722	Marion	Odin	266	62%	$46,852	$8,582	$394
Staunton CUSD 6	Macoupin	Staunton	1,169	47%	$90,602	$7,393	$373
Selmaville CCSD 10	Marion	Salem	237	35%	$137,661	$7,863	$372
Carlinville CUSD 1	Macoupin	Carlinville	1,305	40%	$113,104	$7,874	$362
North Wamac SD 186	Clinton	Centralia	140	60%	$61,093	$8,002	$362
Nokomis CUSD 22	Montgomery	Nokomis	575	50%	$81,596	$8,210	$359
Germantown SD 60	Clinton	Germantown	240	39%	$142,302	$6,194	$352
Ashley CCSD 15	Washington	Ashley	134	41%	$160,676	$8,517	$351
Albers SD 63	Clinton	Albers	175	39%	$132,915	$6,992	$350
North Mac CUSD 34	Macoupin	Girard	1,307	44%	$91,076	$7,918	$345
Bartelso SD 57	Clinton	Bartelso	164	29%	$134,864	$6,439	$345
South Fork SD 14	Christian	Kincaid	308	56%	$62,619	$8,005	$336
Aviston SD 21	Clinton	Aviston	359	42%	$137,073	$6,555	$332
Taylorville CUSD 3	Christian	Taylorville	2,316	40%	$120,498	$7,419	$331
Edinburg CUSD 4	Christian	Edinburg	272	24%	$160,476	$7,213	$313
Breese ESD 12	Clinton	Breese	580	28%	$192,597	$6,345	$304
Central City SD 133	Marion	Centralia	288	61%	$56,569	$6,735	$297

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.