The focus of our research was to gain perspective on the impact and details of funding within the state from our district administrators and staff. We believe that learning from the individuals who see the day to day impacts of the funding is the most beneficial.

North Chicago

• North Chicago 60% adequacy; Tier 1 funding
• Effects of lower funding
  • Poor funding for supplies and not enough funding to send teachers to professional developments
  • Teacher shortage throughout district due to noncompetitive pay and bad reputation
• State funding isn’t stable and isn’t evenly distributed throughout
• School funding is affected by the ⅓ of NC not being able to be taxed
• The funding policy changes have made a visible impact on NC
  • District hopes to be able to hire more teachers this coming summer due to a $1.5 million increase in budget due to added allocations from state budget

Deerfield High School

• Deerfield 171% funding; Tier 4 funding
• The budget within District 113 is $800,000 to $900,000 per school not including salaries and benefits which allows for appropriate resources and for staff to focus on teaching
• Communication about funding
  • Within the district: Deerfield High School principal feels as though there is not good communication of funding updates within the district
  • The superintendent of Deerfield feels that the superintendents of lake county stay very current on the funding policies due to monthly superintendent meetings
• Opportunities due to extra funding
  • Deerfield is able to provide survey (more personalized) classed due to excess funding which our superintendent feels to be very beneficial
  • Deerfield is very strategic with how to allocate additional funds

Bilingual Task Force

• Funding for ELL students used for different purpose: supposed to be for ELL students who need the services, but are often used for native-English-speakers who want to learn an additional foreign language (ex. through online programs)
• Language access organization: Services such as LanguageLine are discouraged from being used in schools
  • Consequence: immigrant students, students of color, and other bilingual students are pulled out of classroom and expected to translate for families on sensitive issues.
• Current example within CPS: A school with a large ELL population only hired one bilingual teacher
  • In a CPS school with a large ELL population, the school only hired one bilingual teacher. To paraphrase the teacher: I was overworked with everything the school needs to meet for language access requirements from the district and state, and I cannot believe how the students can succeed without a bilingual teacher in other core subjects.
  • This results from schools hiring to be audited, only meeting minimum requirements

• Clarify purpose of funding to avoid loopholes
  • Need: supposed to be for ELL students who need the services
  • Want: often used for native-English-speakers who want to learn an additional foreign language (ex. through online programs)
• Prioritize the problem of teacher shortage
  • Schools do not prioritize putting funding in teachers & only meet the minimum state requirements / audits.
• Organize or encourage county superintendents to meet monthly or biannually in order to increase knowledge and share successful strategies.
  • District 113 superintendent found this to be very useful.
  • Keeping all administrator informed is crucial to gaining important feedback.
• Consider adequacy percentages for grant proposals and try to be aware of the different needs

Mrs. Anderson - Principal of Deerfield High School (District 113)

John Price - Superintendent of North Chicago School District (187)

Angelica Barry - Head of English Department at NCCHS

Dr. David Brothman - Head of the Social Studies Department at NCCHS

Dr. Ben Martindale - Interm Superintendent of District 113

Ali Mehanti - Assistant Superintendent for Finance of District 113

Bilingual Task Force - Chicago Teachers Union

We would like to thank the administrators and teachers above who gave up time to speak with us about their experiences, opinions, and knowledge.

For more information on the bilingual education within CPS, please visit: https://cps.edu/About_CPS/Departments/Pages/OfficeOfLanguageAndCulturalEducation.aspx