School Funding Proposal in the Illinois Senate

School funding is to my thinking the single most important issue facing communities across the state. Our downstate legislators appear to be incapable of the tough decisions required to change the way we fund education in the state. However a proposal by Senator James Meeks and Senator Rick Winkel has some legs with the support of Senate President Emil Jones.

The proposal raises income tax to 5% from 3%, it also raises corporate income tax to 8% from 4.8%. However while it raises taxes, it also gives a 33% property tax rebate to homeowners. Based on what you paid to the schools in 2002. The plan could save homeowners $3.5 billion, and the income tax increase could raise nearly $5 billion.

The tentative plan would raise the bar of per student funding from the state and its existing amount of $4,900 to $6,100. All this sounds positive, in fact it would help nearly 90% of all the counties in Illinois and more importantly to us it will help Lake County schools.

So lets stay tuned and see what happens.