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Thursday, September 19, 2013
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District 428 reduces budget deficit By CHRIS BURROWS cburrows@shawmedia.com DeKALB – DeKalb School District 428 plans to save $1.2 million this year thanks to savings in the new teachers union contract and a decline in insurance premiums. The savings were detailed to school board members Tuesday before they unanimously approved the 2013-14 budget, which began in July.
The revised budget narrowed the district’s $2.7 million budget deficit to about $1.5 million. “To have that down to a $1.5 million deficit in today’s world is no small feat,” said Tracy Williams, the board’s vice president. The district’s new contract with its teachers’ union, the DeKalb Classroom Teachers’ Association, included a hard freeze on teacher salaries for
the fiscal year. That resulted in a savings of $752,000 for the district. “We want to make sure that we’re appreciative to our teachers for doing that,” board President Tom Matya said. Additionally, a 4.8 percent decrease in health insurance premiums in the district added another $511,000 in savings. However, since the board
last reviewed the proposed 2013-14 budget at its Aug. 6 meeting, state funding projections had decreased slightly to work against the district’s cost-saving measures. Now, instead of the full 89 percent that the district had expected to receive for the year, it expects to receive 88.7 percent – a loss of about $39,000. “Yet again the state changed our general state aid,” said Andrea Gorla, the
assistant superintendent for business and finance. “... This could be a moving target, but at this time this is the best [number] that we have.” Illinois has been prorating general state aid to schools for years as it struggles to pay its own bills. Gorla said that if the state paid District 428 the full 100 percent – an increase of about $1.5 million – the district would be in the black. The district plans to pull
from its operating fund balance to cover its deficit. Including the $21 million construction grant that it received in 2011, the district projects to have $22.5 million remaining in its operating fund at the end of fiscal 2014. Because the district has more than three times the amount of its deficit available in its operating fund, it doesn’t have to submit a budget reduction plan to the state.
Fed to keep bond buying pace steady
Making college affordable
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER The Associated Press
Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Emily Tsai pauses for a laugh while taking notes during her journalism class Monday at Kishwaukee College in Malta. Tsai is a sophomore majoring in biology. BELOW: Instructor Anthony Thomas speaks to his students during a philosophy class Monday at Kishwaukee College in Malta. By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com Gladys Sanchez knows that some people’s top concern about attending college is the large amount of debt they might take on. The 24-year-old Oak Park resident is a student at both Kishwaukee College and Northern Illinois University. She’s been a student trustee on the Kishwaukee College Board, and has confronted many of the issues facing college students today. One issue she hopes colleges and universities will help students with is financial awareness. “A lot of students go into debt because they’re not aware of the financial aspects [of college],” she said. Making colleges and universities more affordable and
Obama proposal would link financial aid to ranking system
accessible for students has become one of President Barack
Obama’s priorities for higher education. In 2015, he plans for
the federal government to establish a ranking system that will judge schools based on how affordable and accessible they make education. Schools would also be judged on outcomes such as graduation rates and earnings. Students would be able to use the list to make choices about which school they want to attend, and a school’s ranking also could determine how much federal aid students receive. Sedgwick Harris, vice president of student services for Kishwaukee College, said the proposal seems as if it would hold higher education institutions accountable for the education they offer students. He said there is a need for people to have a college education so
WASHINGTON – In a surprise that sent the stock market soaring, the Federal Reserve concluded Wednesday that the U.S. economy isn’t yet healthy enough for the central bank to ease its stimulus even slightly. The Fed’s cautious message pleased investors, who had expected a slight cut in the bond purchases that have kept long-term interest rates low as the nation recovers from the Great Recession. Wall Street celebrated the prospect of continued low interest rates by lifting stocks to a record high. In a statement after a policy meeting, the Fed signaled it has no set timetable for reducing the stimulus, which has stood at $85 billion a month for the last year. Chairman Ben Bernanke explained later at a news conference that there are good reasons to be cautious: • The Fed has yet to see conclusive evidence that the job market and economy are approaching full health. • Mortgage rates have surged, and the bond purchases are needed to hold those rates down and keep home buying affordable for ordinary people. • A budget stalemate in Congress and the threat of a government shutdown as soon as next month are holding back growth and putting the economy at risk. “Conditions in the job market today are still far from what all of us would like to see,” Bernanke said. Stocks spiked immediately after the Fed released its statement at the end of its two-day policy meeting. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 147 points, or 1 percent.
“Conditions in the job market today are still far from what all of us would like to see.” Ben Bernanke Federal Reserve chairman said Wednesday after announcing the Federal Reserve would continue with its stimulus
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