Looming Teacher Pension Issues Now Compounded with Budget Concerns
The ongoing debate over teacher pensions continues after last night’s debate at Richland Community College. The event, hosted by the Illinois Policy Institute, drew a crowd of concerned teachers and citizens looking to solve the pension debacle. District 61 Board President Dan Winter was featured on the panel…
Also on the panel were Ted Dabrowsky of the Illinois Policy Institute and Suzanne Kreps of the Decatur Education Association. The General Assembly is convening August 17th to discuss pensions in a special session.
It appears that just two weeks away from the start of the school year, DPS 61 will have some restructuring to do after receiving its tentative budget for the upcoming year. The budget handed down by the state is $4 million smaller than the district had anticipated. Superintendent Gloria Davis says they are lucky to have a reserve to dip into, but with a majority of their budget attached to employees, it is not easy to move funds around…
The school district will be holding a finalized budget hearing that will be open to the public on September 25th at 5:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Kiel building downtown Decatur.
