It largely funds CPS.
Well, actually, it funds YOUR schools so your income taxes can be sent to CPS.
In IL CPS gets more per student than the state average.
https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/Distr...tid=15016299025
While the typical school district in the state of IL self funds spending at 67.4%, getting only 25% of their funds from the state, CPS only self funds 51.7% (and that's up, I've seen it below 50% in years past) and gets almost 34% of it's funds from the state.
CPS spends approximately 25% more than the state average per student. This is true when you look at just instructional spending, or you add all spending (operational spending.) While the typical district in the state spends $12.8k/student, CPS spends $15.3k/student.
https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/Distr...tid=15016299025
Therefore, when you combine the fact of higher spending per student and higher contributions by state and federal funds for CPS, it's hard to see where getting less for pensions from the state eats away at the greater funding from the state and federal monies pouring into CPS299. (CPS complains they are not getting pension money like downstate districts. But I don't think downstate districts are getting an extra $3K/student, going to teachers pensions.)
CPS is taking more than it's fair share of state funds for education and now it wants even more.
One other thing to consider in my analysis above. The sheer size of CPS means it distorts the numbers. CPS is 20% of all students in the state. So their sheer size drives up the state funding average and drives down the self funding figures. So with CPS as 20% of the total student population, the real state averages without CPS are:
Self Funding: 71.3%
State Funding: 22.8
Federal Funding: 5.9
Funding Per Student 12.2k
CPS really skews the numbers with about 20% of the students in the state.
392k students in CPS out of a state enrollment of 2 million. That is almost exactly 20%
When you compare CPS to the other 80% of the state, the disparity in funding is even more apparent.
Fewer funds are going to non CPS districts compared to what CPS gets and CPS spends even more per student compared to non CPS districts.
Therefore, your real estate taxes must be higher because the state is likely not sending your district the same sheer volume of money per student compared to CPS.