School funding coalition grows
To my surprise, a recent announcement on MPC’s site indicates that mayors from even the region’s wealthier suburbs are willing to talk about school funding reform. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and its nine member Councils of Government, which have traditionally stuck to extreme moderation, endorsed a proposal to raise the state “foundation level” (the cash funding the state provides to local school districts) and to fund all state mandates.
Those who supported the proposal directly include not just the Metropolitics coalition (city, distressed near suburbs, and booming but cash-strapped exurbs) but also mayors and councils of government from the prosperous northwest and southwest suburbs: Barrington, Northlake, Oakbrook Terrace (with the region’s healthiest property tax base), and Palos Hills.
