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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 119

 
2     WHEREAS, The Constitution of the State of Illinois gives
3 the State the primary responsibility for funding the cost of
4 public education; however, the State currently only covers
5 thirty-four percent of this cost, which ranks the State
6 forty-ninth in the nation in terms of the percentage of state
7 funding provided to schools; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Rather than fulfilling its constitutional
9 obligation, the State has shifted the primary responsibility
10 for funding the cost of public education to local property
11 taxpayers, with school districts receiving an average of sixty
12 percent of their funds from local property taxes; Illinois
13 ranks forty-ninth among the fifty states for its over-reliance
14 on local property taxes to fund education; and
 
15     WHEREAS, By relying on the property tax as the primary
16 source of funding for schools, the State has created a
17 disparity between property rich school districts and school
18 districts without substantial property wealth; the existing
19 funding disparity is unfair to the children of Illinois, who
20 all deserve an equal opportunity to a quality education
21 regardless of where they reside; and
 
22     WHEREAS, If the State is to ever assume primary
23 responsibility for funding public education and resolve the
24 current dependence on the property tax and the funding
25 disparity between school districts, the State must either
26 increase an existing source of State revenue or create a new
27 revenue stream; and
 
28     WHEREAS, Taxpayers should not be asked to provide
29 additional resources to public schools and school districts
30 without the State improving the current systems of fiscal and
31 performance accountability in such a manner as to provide a

 

 

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1 guarantee that new moneys would be well spent in ways likely to
2 improve schools and that taxpayers would be afforded
3 appropriate and understandable accountability for greater
4 investments in school improvement; therefore, be it
 
5     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
6 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
7 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Accountable
8 Schools Task Force, which shall be facilitated by the State
9 Board of Education, to review and evaluate the complex issues
10 involving the fiscal and performance accountability of the
11 State's school districts and individual schools; and be it
12 further
 
13     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall consist of twenty-five
14 members as follows: one member appointed by the Speaker of the
15 House of Representatives; one member appointed by the President
16 of the Senate; one member appointed by the Minority Leader of
17 the House of Representatives; one member appointed by the
18 Minority Leader of the Senate; one member appointed by the
19 Governor; the Chairperson of the State Board of Education or
20 his or her designee; three members who are representatives of
21 the business community appointed by the Governor; four members
22 who are representatives of the education labor community, two
23 of whom shall be appointed by an organization representing
24 teachers who participate in collective bargaining and two of
25 whom shall be appointed by a different organization
26 representing teachers who participate in collective
27 bargaining; two members who are representatives of the
28 education management community appointed by an organization
29 representing school management; two members who are
30 representatives of a statewide child advocacy organization
31 appointed by the Governor; two members who are representatives
32 of a statewide organization of parents and teachers appointed
33 by the Governor; one member who is a mayor or village president
34 from the northeastern Illinois region appointed by an

 

 

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1 organization representing mayors of northern Illinois; one
2 member who is a mayor or village president from downstate
3 Illinois appointed by an organization representing mayors of
4 southern Illinois; one member who is a representative of the
5 Mayor of the City of Chicago appointed by the Mayor of the City
6 of Chicago; and three members appointed at-large by a national
7 or regional organization with particular expertise in school
8 fiscal and performance accountability; and be it further
 
9     RESOLVED, That following the appointment of all Task Force
10 members, the Task Force shall meet and select a member to serve
11 as Chairperson and shall meet as necessary thereafter; and be
12 it further
 
13     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall have the following
14 duties and responsibilities: (1) to evaluate the State's
15 existing fiscal and performance accountability systems; (2) to
16 identify costs of mandates imposed on school districts and
17 individual schools; (3) to recommend a fiscal assessment
18 process that includes criteria for examining and evaluating the
19 current financial practices of all school districts and schools
20 and determining the adequacy and efficiency of internal
21 controls; (4) to recommend methods to improve and stabilize the
22 State's system of performance accountability; and (5) to
23 recommend methods by which the fiscal and performance
24 accountability systems are made more transparent and
25 understandable for parents of students and taxpayers; and be it
26 further
 
27     RESOLVED, That all Task Force meetings shall be open to the
28 public; the Task Force may solicit input from non-members of
29 the Task Force and any other sources deemed appropriate by the
30 State Board of Education; and be it further
 
31     RESOLVED, That that the Task Force shall report its
32 findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by January

 

 

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1 8, 2007.