Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is calling on Illinois’ downstate and suburban taxpayers to bail out its financially beleaguered public school district. Yet an analysis of Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) data shows Metro East property taxpayers are already subsidizing a Chicago school system that spends considerably more than their own.
Chicago spent $15,120 per student in 2014, or more than 36 of 38 school districts in Madison and St. Clair counties. And more than half of that money -- $7,560 (51 percent) -- came from state and federal subsidies.
Chicago property taxpayers currently pay for just 49 percent of Chicago’s public school spending.
Roxana District 1 spent $11,940 per student in 2014. Local taxpayers covered 84 percent of the bill, or $10,940.
Central School District 104 in O’Fallon and Pontiac-West Holliday District 105 in Fairview Heights each covered 80 percent of their own public school bill.
East Alton-Wood River District 14 spent $14,327 per student, according to the ISBE; 73 percent came from local taxpayers.
Belleville Township District 201 spent $11,574 per student; local taxpayers paid 69 percent of the total.
Edwardsville District 7 covered 78 percent -- and spent only $9,064 per-pupil. State funding to District 7 amounted to $1,523 per student.
Chicago received $5,141 per-student from the state in 2014.
Emanuel and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) are asking for another $1,250 per student, for a total of nearly $6,500 from the state. They have sought to justify the bailout, decrying the city’s school funding levels as “unfair” and “inequitable.”
Metro East School Districts Ranked by % Locally Funded
| District | Community | % Local Funding | Per Pupil Spending | |
| 1 | Roxana 1 | Roxana | 84.1% | $11,940 |
| 2 | Pontiac-West Holliday 105 | Fairview Heights | 80.1% | $11,243 |
| 3 | Wolf Branch 113 | Swansea | 80.0% | $8,673 |
| 4 | Central 104 | O’Fallon | 80.0% | $9,750 |
| 5 | Edwardsville 7 | Edwardsville | 78.3% | $9,064 |
| 6 | Millstadt 160 | Millstadt | 76.5% | $9,363 |
| 7 | Freeburg 70 | Freeburg | 74.4% | $7,669 |
| 8 | East Alton-Wood River 14 | East Alton | 72.6% | $14,327 |
| 9 | Smithton 130 | Smithton | 69.0% | $8,117 |
| 10 | Belleville Twp. 201 | Belleville | 68.6% | $11,574 |
| 11 | New Athens 60 | New Athens | 68.3% | $9,384 |
| 12 | O’Fallon 90 | O’Fallon | 68.2% | $8,316 |
| 13 | Harmony Emge 175 | Belleville | 66.1% | $10,227 |
| 14 | Lebanon 9 | Lebanon | 65.7% | $10,753 |
| 15 | Highland 5 | Highland | 65.1% | $8,888 |
| 16 | Triad 2 | Troy | 64.1% | $8,698 |
| 17 | Whiteside 115 | Belleville | 63.0% | $7,933 |
| 18 | Grant 110 | Fairview Heights | 62.5% | $10,173 |
| 19 | Shiloh Village 85 | Shiloh | 59.6% | $8,520 |
| 20 | Wood River-Hartford 15 | Wood River | 56.6% | $8,798 |
| 21 | Venice 3 | Venice | 54.8% | $20,503 |
| 22 | Alton 11 | Alton | 54.0% | $10,981 |
| 23 | Collinsville 10 | Collinsville | 53.2% | $9,881 |
| 24 | Signal Hill 181 | Signal Hill | 49.5% | $9,605 |
| 25 | Belle Valley 119 | Belleville | 49.3% | $9,669 |
| 26 | Chicago | Chicago | 49.0% | $15,120 |
| 27 | High Mount 116 | Swansea | 47.7% | $8,955 |
| 28 | Granite City 9 | Granite City | 47.2% | $10,287 |
| 29 | Belleville 118 | Belleville | 45.1% | $10,284 |
| 30 | Marissa 40 | Marissa | 43.5% | $10,036 |
| 31 | Bethalto 8 | Bethalto | 43.5% | $9,943 |
| 32 | East Alton 13 | East Alton | 39.0% | $9,659 |
| 33 | Dupo 196 | Dupo | 38.9% | $8,846 |
| 34 | St. Libory 39 | St. Libory | 38.5% | $7,092 |
| 35 | Mascoutah 19 | Mascoutah | 37.4% | $10,209 |
| 36 | Brooklyn 188 | Brooklyn | 33.6% | $15,270 |
| 37 | Madison 12 | Madison | 26.5% | $13,117 |
| 38 | Cahokia 187 | Cahokia | 19.5% | $14,722 |
| 39 | East St. Louis 189 | East St. Louis | 14.6% | $13,198 |