Williamsfield CUSD 210 in Williamsfield receives $539 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in Greater Galesburg, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.
At the bottom, Abingdon-Avon CUSD in Abingdon receives $364 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.
Williamsfield CUSD 210, which relies on the state for 9 percent of its revenue and spends $15,703 per student, ranks 288 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.
Abingdon-Avon CUSD 276 relies on the state for 39 percent of its revenue and spends $8,541 per student. It ranks 785th 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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Greater Galesburg 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* |
| Williamsfield CUSD 210 | Knox | Williamsfield | 262 | 9% | $288,117 | $15,703 | $539 |
| Galesburg CUSD 205 | Knox | Galesburg | 4,087 | 39% | $97,613 | $8,746 | $513 |
| R O W V A CUSD 208 | Knox | Oneida | 577 | 38% | $137,615 | $10,053 | $459 |
| United CUSD 304 | Warren | Monmouth | 916 | 19% | $159,944 | $10,179 | $428 |
| West Central CUSD 235 | Henderson | Biggsville | 792 | 27% | $148,163 | $9,344 | $426 |
| Monmouth-Roseville CUSD 238 | Warren | Monmouth | 1,532 | 49% | $78,449 | $8,298 | $367 |
| Knoxville CUSD 202 | Knox | Knoxville | 1,022 | 41% | $94,401 | $8,829 | $365 |
| Abingdon-Avon CUSD 276 | Knox | Abingdon | 854 | 39% | $101,578 | $8,541 | $364 |
*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.
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