Page 8 - Superintendents Toolkit 2013

Unfunded Mandates
Background:
Between 1991 and 1999, Illinois imposed 12 unfunded mandates on
public schools. Between 2000 and 2012, 110 unfunded mandates
were required. Since the 2007-08 school year, schools have to
comply with 63 more mandates.
Issue:
Despite unprecedented cuts to the state’s public education budget that
saw General State Aid funded only at 89 percent of the foundation level in
FY13 – and is projected to go as low as 80 percent in FY14 -- the list of
unfunded mandates continues to grow and now tops more than 100. The
mandates are costly and, in many cases, exceed federal mandates.
Some of the major categories of unfunded mandates include special
education, school transportation, Response to Intervention, and No Child
Left Behind.
Resources:
 School Management
Alliance unfunded
mandates letter to
legislators
 Instructional Mandates
Task Force Report --
2011
 Mandates enacted since
1992
 Sample letter to editor
– A Look at State
Mandates (Dr. James T.
Rosborg)
 Sample spreadsheet
showing cost of
unfunded mandate (Dr.
James T. Rosborg)
 While the intent of most
mandates is laudable, school
districts have no funding with
which to implement them.
 The end result of the budget
cuts and the unfunded
mandates is that many school
districts have had to cut
teachers and programs in order
to comply with the mandates.
 Many state mandates exceed
federal mandates.
 For example, in 2009 Illinois
imposed its own mandate
regarding a smaller class size
for special education students.
The state mandate was more
stringent than the longstanding
federal mandate. It cost our
district $XXX,XXX a year.
 The bottom line is that the
unfunded mandates end up
competing with one another.
All of the unfunded mandates
coupled with shrinking budgets
will mean larger general
education class sizes at a time
when the NCLB and Common
Core Standards mandates
require more individual
instruction for students who
need extra help to meet those
standards.
Talking points: