Meridian CUSD 101 in Mounds receives $568 per student from the state to fund pensions for public school teachers and administrators – the most in Southern Illiois, according to a Wirepoints analysis of Teacher Retirement System data.
At the bottom, Hardin County CUSD 1 in Elizabethtown receives $321 per student.
Wirepoints examined the system in which school districts pay salaries to teachers and administrators, but not pensions, which are funded by state tax dollars.
"It’s a scheme that allows districts to spend more money on salaries and perks than they otherwise would," Wirepoints reported. "Wealthy districts – like those on the North Shore – benefit far more from the state’s pension payments than poor districts do."
Almost 50 percent of what the state pays toward education has gone to teacher pensions in recent years, according to Wirepoints. Bigger pensions in wealthy districts means there’s less money to adequately fund districts with less property wealth.
Meridian CUSD 101, which relies on the state for 66 percent of its revenue and spends $18,147 per student, ranks 243 out of 848 districts for how much the state provides per student toward pensions.
Hardin County CUSD 1 relies on the state for 63 percent of its revenue and spends $8,424 per student. It ranks 836th in the state.
The analysis shows Rondout SD 72 in Lake County received the biggest subsidy in the state and Earlville CUSD 9 in LaSalle County received the smallest subsidy.
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Southern Illinois districts receiving state-provided pension subsidies
| District | County | City | Average daily attendance | Percent of district revenue provided by the state | EAV (taxable property) per student | District spending per student | State-provided pension subsidy per student* |
| Meridian CUSD 101 | Pulaski | Mounds | 422 | 66% | $49,024 | $18,147 | $568 |
| Cairo USD 1 | Alexander | Cairo | 390 | 57% | $42,233 | $14,534 | $501 |
| Joppa-Maple Grove UD 38 | Massac | Joppa | 261 | 16% | $111,323 | $11,750 | $462 |
| Massac UD 1 | Massac | Metropolis | 1,921 | 50% | $72,078 | $10,062 | $452 |
| Goreville CUD 1 | Johnson | Goreville | 528 | 41% | $101,921 | $9,286 | $447 |
| Cobden SUD 17 | Union | Cobden | 511 | 64% | $69,530 | $9,280 | $438 |
| Anna Jonesboro CHSD 81 | Union | Anna | 492 | 36% | $252,577 | $8,553 | $413 |
| Egyptian CUSD 5 | Alexander | Tamms | 446 | 66% | $38,111 | $9,560 | $412 |
| Shawnee CUSD 84 | Union | Wolf Lake | 334 | 23% | $168,335 | $10,904 | $407 |
| New Simpson Hill SD 32 | Johnson | Tunnel Hill | 207 | 62% | $81,472 | $9,530 | $404 |
| Buncombe Cons SD 43 | Johnson | Buncombe | 59 | 47% | $94,234 | $9,995 | $401 |
| Vienna HSD 133 | Johnson | Vienna | 333 | 43% | $176,564 | $9,327 | $395 |
| Pope Co CUD 1 | Pope | Golconda | 496 | 53% | $87,738 | $8,582 | $394 |
| Cypress SD 64 | Johnson | Cypress | 119 | 64% | $48,260 | $8,796 | $394 |
| Anna CCSD 37 | Union | Anna | 650 | 55% | $125,255 | $7,824 | $394 |
| Dongola USD 66 | Union | Dongola | 239 | 60% | $65,292 | $9,680 | $380 |
| Century CUSD 100 | Pulaski | Ullin | 348 | 66% | $42,104 | $10,081 | $376 |
| Vienna SD 55 | Johnson | Vienna | 400 | 55% | $76,980 | $8,301 | $367 |
| County of Union Sch Dist No43 | Union | Jonesboro | 375 | 61% | $70,412 | $7,441 | $350 |
| Lick Creek
CCSD 16 | Union | Buncombe | 128 | 49% | $127,834 | $7,207 | $350 |
| Hardin County CUSD 1 | Hardin | Elizabethtown | 527 | 63% | $55,735 | $8,424 | $321 |
*Proxy of the pension subsidy provided to each school district. District subsidy is calculated by taking the TRS employer normal cost in 2017 ($871 million) and multiplying it by each district's share of TRS total employee earnings. To calculate the subsidy per student, each district's share is divided by their average daily attendance.
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