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LM Month 2019
In addition to this article, IASA will produce a podcast,
host a webinar and schedule a series of workshops to
better educate superintendents about how to effectively
use data to communicate with legislators, and your
stakeholders, that the investment into your school district
is worth it.
What EBFCanDo
While the Evidence-Based Funding Model was seen by
many as a tool to help funnel more money to the neediest
school districts, it also provided districts with a strategic
communication tool in detailing what it actually costs to
provide students with access to a high-quality education.
That figure is what’s known as a district’s Adequacy
Target. Every superintendent needs to be aware
of it. And so too should your local legislators and
stakeholders.
That’s not all the formula can do. EBF can be used by
superintendents to determine what your local property
tax rate should be based upon need, access to property
wealth, location in the state and relative ability of all other
school districts.
Odds are, what your local tax rate currently is, and what
the EBF formula says it should be, is different. That’s
OK. Stakeholders in your community might demand
a higher level of service. Or, perhaps, your district
doesn’t have the resources to meet the staffing levels
the formula suggests.
What’s important is superintendents are able to articulate
what and why and build a data-driven narrative to
support that decision. In other words, be able to use data
and explain the return on investment.
However, EBF is not the only tool available to
superintendents. The Illinois State Board of Education
also has produced a FY 20 Adequacy Target Gap
Analysis. This resource can help superintendents determine
staffing levels for your district and individual buildings.
By understanding how to use both resources effectively,
superintendents will be much better suited to effectively
communicate when it comes time to have conversations with
legislators, and stakeholders, about property tax rates.
If all this sounds confusing, that’s OK. This article is intended as
an introduction to this new initiative and to get superintendents
thinking about this important issue. In the podcast, webinar
and workshops we will dive deeper into better understanding
how EBF can be used as a tool for strategic planning, strategic
communication and help superintendents win the important
debate that is coming around property taxes in Illinois.
AnsweringThreeQuestions
What we want to leave you with is three questions. You don’t
need to have an answer to these now, but you should be able
to answer them by the time the General Assembly convenes in
Springfield for the spring legislative session.
The three questions are:
1. Is my adequacy target sufficient to meet the demand for
service in my district?
2. How does my staffing and services compare to the research-
based design for the students that we serve?
3. What is the fiscal responsibility for the state and our district,
and how can we rightly design our tax rate?
We hope everyone can start thinking about these questions and
then take part in the podcast, webinar and one of the workshops.
We will be sharing dates in the future on when those will be.
Doing so will help superintendents be prepared for the debate
that is coming around property taxes.
Trust us, it’s not one superintendents want to lose.
The Evidence-Based Funding Formula can provide
superintendents with a figure of what it actually costs
to provide students with a high-quality education. That
figure is known as a district’s Adequacy Target. To find
out what your district’s adequacy target is
download/save, then open the Excel spreadsheet and
click its “Base Calc” tab.
The Illinois State Board of Education also provides school
districts with an extremely helpful tool to determine if school
districts are overstaffed, understaffed or properly staffed.
The tool is called the FY 20 Adequacy Target Gap Analysis.
To download this Excel Spreadsheet,
What toolsareavailable tosuperintendents?