2003 Year in Review

Run, Spot, Run

A group of concerned parents, teachers, school administrators and board of education members met in the Morrison High School cafeteria, Wednesday, January 15, for "our first referendum planning meeting." The meeting was held primarily to give interested parties an overview of the financial situation that faces the Morrison school district in the next few years. Dr. Jody Ware, Superintendent of Morrison Public Schools, chaired the meeting and presented a very comprehensive, yet concise, survey so the community would “have a clear understanding about our schools’ financial status.”

In brief, the situation is dire. According to the “Tentative Proposed Projected Budget,” a handout accompanying Dr. Ware’s presentation, the system will have a $601,210 shortfall for the 2003-04 school year – give or take a dollar here or there. Dr. Ware discussed four reasons as to “[w]here did all the money go?” The four areas of significant concern are our Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV), state funding, insurance, and our allotment of the Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax (CPPRT), a state tax on the net income of corporations.

The school districts’ portion of the EAV (property taxes) has not increased to cover the rising costs of operations. State funding to Morrison schools has declined as the student enrollment has dropped from a 1998-99 level of 1280 students to the present 1206, a significant decrease resulting in a loss of several hundred thousand dollars. District-wide insurance costs, including workers’ compensation, have risen dramatically just as they have in our corporate and private lives. To cap these three negative trends, the CPPRT has decreased because the strength or weakness of the state economy determines the amount of taxes the school district receives from capital investments, trusts, partnerships, and corporations.

Morrison can expect little or no financial help from the state and federal levels. Illinois is $1.8 billion dollars in debt, and the federal government is engaged in a multitude of dollar-consuming programs at home and abroad that threaten to take the wind out of President Bush’s sails when it comes to his education policies. Consequently, we are left to fend for ourselves, to rely on each other in order to maintain the high standards of educational leadership and to continue the broad range of education programs that benefit all our students.

On April 1 the citizens of Morrison will have the opportunity to show their solidarity. A referendum is scheduled whereby all eligible voters, whether they have children in the schools, or not, can cast a vote for the continuation of a sufficiently funded school district to insure our children receive nothing less than the best as far as their education is concerned. A good education is the greatest gift we as parents, as neighbors, and as community can give our children – it will last a lifetime, it will provide a lifetime of opportunity, and it will guarantee our survival as a community.

A well-educated public is essential to our democratic republic.

by William Driver, Guest Columnist
January 16, 2003