The Illinois Legislature could vote on a proposal that would shift the full cost of teacher retirement onto the local school districts, impacting not only schools, but the Quad City community.
Community leaders expressed their concerns today over a piece of legislation. It’s a proposal that could shift the cost of teacher’s retirement onto the school districts.
"We just feel it's very important that people in the community understand that impact that that would have on school districts and the local economy as a whole,” says Dr. David Moyer, superintendent for the Moline School District.
For example Moline School District would have to come up with half a million dollars that use to be covered by the state.
"I don’t know, you tell me where we're going to get a half a million dollars a year from,” says Dr.Moyer.
In just the four districts in the Illinois Quad Cities alone, that would mean losing 140 teachers, “What that ultimately means is larger class sizes and it means continuing to do more with less,” says Superintendent for the East Moline School District, Kristin Humphries.
"Who wants to live in a community that doesn’t have extracurricular programs, who wants to live in a community where you know your elementary classes are over 40,” says Dr.Moyer.
The alternative plan is passing the cost onto the taxpayers.
"They're going to open up another levee source, in other words they're going to give us the power to tax our own communities more,” says Humphries.
It’s up to lawmakers in Illinois to decide who will end up footing the bill.
School district leaders encourage the public to be active and contact their local lawmakers.
