Posted on 04/16/2016 3:33:44 PM PDT by george76
Illinois' public school districts are roughly $20 billion in debt, a staggering figure fueled in part by decades of special deals in Springfield that have given districts exemptions so they can keep borrowing beyond limits set by law.
Today, that debt exceeds long-term school borrowing in most other states. It equates to about $10,000 for every Pre-K to 12th-grade public school student in Illinois...
All the borrowing is a drain on taxpayers who have to repay the debt, as well as school budgets that must steer billions of dollars annually to principal and interest payments — money that could be targeted to classrooms. In some districts, more local tax money is collected for debt payments than for teacher salaries and student instruction.
Districts throughout the Chicago area took advantage of legislative maneuvers, as did several downstate districts given leeway to amass more debt
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in the murky world of debt limits, districts can use exemptions in the law or are allowed to borrow more because some types of bonds are not applied to the limit. Taxpayers are still on the hook for the full amount, whether the debt applies to the limit or not.
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A cadre of professionals, from bond lawyers to underwriters and financial advisers, gets a cut from bond deals to pay for their services.
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Federal data on long-term debt show a figure of more than $20 billion for Illinois, based on 2012-13 data, because it includes other public school entities such as special education cooperatives.
The Tribune analyzed total debt compared with the student enrollment in each state, finding that Illinois was among the 10 states with the highest debt per student. Illinois' per-student figure is $10,128. The national average is $8,459 per pupil, according to the federal data.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Just abolish ALL Taxpayer funded Pensions and Health Insurance plans, then there will be plenty of money to pay the debt.
I’m sure this will bring a tear of pride to the eyes of Obama and Ayers who years ago pointed the way for education in Illinois as they frittered away overs hundred million in Chicago Annenburg Challenge swag and achieved bupkis for it all.
Damn Republicans refuse to fully fund education. /s
Holy Toledo. That’s a staggering debt.
And there’s an article here, recently posted, about how Illinois is losing population, which has government planners concerned. Declining population means declining tax revenues, among other things.
Good luck Illinois.......
Union thugs grab large money to re-elect their political pals. All making crazy pension and other promises that will never be kept.
At least the school district staff get summer and every government holiday paid off / great sick days off pay , too.
No wonder they push Common Core on to the students. Another reason to homeschool.
It’s pensions.
It’s criminals!
and we aint paying for that or PUERTO RICO!!! NO WAY!!
And the test scores of many of these kids haven’t budged. But the teachers have jobs & pensions.
>
Just abolish ALL Taxpayer funded Pensions and Health Insurance plans, then there will be plenty of money to pay the debt.>
Correction: Just abolish ALL 3rd-party payer, as well as taxpayer provided... Return to a service oriented economy and all will be well.
Want to send your kid to the latest/greatest schools...write the check; same as you’d do for college. IMO, fire/police/etc. should be on the same payment schedule. No more bitching from BLM, just stop paying and you’ll have all the non-PO-PO you want.
Legal Plunder Has Many Names
Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on, and so on. All these plans as a whole — with their common aim of legal plunder — constitute socialism.
The Law; Bastiat
(CAPS mine)
Repeat after me: We HAVE to give more money to the schools... it’s for the CHILDREN!
Of course, we’ll leave the debt for THEIR children’s children’s children to pay, so long as present-day administrators (the educrat class) have their drivers, their richly-appointed offices, body guards, and can afford to keep sending THEIR kids to private schools (what, you didn’t know that nationwide, in some areas of the country upwards of 30% of all public school teachers’ kids attend private schools? It’s YOUR taxes going to those private schools).
Even worse, it is impossible to revive the states with these debt problems. NJ has the same problem; anyone buying a home or opening a business here is buying a piece of a massive IOU; they will be bled dry to pay for “services” rendered years ago (and their taxes won’t provide for any current services/maintenance).
It’s in the state Constitution.
So, The US Constitution says “Involuntary Servitude” is unconstitutional. All these “Public Pensions” are Intentionally underfunded and require Future Generations to Pay for our wants Today, Public Pensions are NOT a Benefit to the Public.
The Contract claims First Rights to the fruits of labor of future generations.
That is the definition of “Involuntary Servitude”
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