Illinois schools would be allowed to stop teaching things like physical education, drivers’ ed and black history under a proposal that has cleared a state Senate committee.
The panel approved the amendment to a school funding bill and could make more changes. Illinois schools say they are underfunded at a time when they’re being forced to teach more topics.
And speaking of that, the state’s Budget Office has released a list of all Illinois districts and how much it says each would have to raise property taxes to offset the loss of state income tax, if it falls to its previous (3.75%) rate, as it’s scheduled to do in January. Here’s how it looks in our area, if the legislature doesn’t keep the rate at five percent:
In the West Central combined district…the school board would have to raise the property tax 7.8 percent.
In the Illini West high school district, 8.1 percent.
In Dallas Elementary, 17.4 percent.
In LaHarpe combined, 7.2 percent.
In the Southeastern combined district, 14.9 percent.
In Carthage Elementary, 10.3 percent.
In Hamilton combined, 8.8 percent.
In Warsaw combined, 19.4 percent.
In Nauvoo-Colusa, the property tax rate would have to be raised 3.3 percent to make up for the lower income tax rate.
In the United Township combined district, 5.1 percent.
In Monmouth-Roseville combined, 21.1 percent.
In the Mercer County district, 11.3 percent.
In the West Prairie combined district, 6.9 percent.
In Macomb combined, 5.8 percent.
In Bushnell-Prairie City combined, 19. 4 percent.
If the rate is allowed to drop to 3.75 percent, the state will lose an estimated 1.8-Billion dollars in revenue.
