What the Geneva School Board fails to report is:

• Geneva 304 charges taxpayers almost 25% -more- per capita than Naperville/Aurora 204
• Geneva 304 charges taxpayers 15% more per 100.00 in home value than Naperville 304
• Geneva 304 spends 40% of it's revenues on Education, whereas Naperville spends 76%
• Geneva 304 spends only 27% of it's revenues on instruction Naperville spends 54%

Geneva Schools can try to take credit for their accomplishments, but Geneva is not exactly the inner city. If Dr. Mutchler's 238,000 per year salary, and our rarified environment can't deliver good results, something is wrong. Right now, spending and taxation are out of control. Geneva will raise more than 2 million in taxes this year than last, while enrollment is declining.

Just how much $ does Geneva D304 contribute to SchoolSearch (the research and consulting firm) that gave us the "Bright Red Apple Award?" Very interesting statistics provided by Mr. Drendel that D304 should consider. The Bright Red Apple Award could possibly be window dressing to deflect attention from our higher priorities that are being shorted?

According to Chicago Magazine last September, Geneva 304 spends $5,814 per pupil while Naperville 203 spends $6,697 and Naperville/Aurora 204 spends $6,028. Geneva's schools are the tops on the list in Kane, while the Naperville/Aurora schools are about 65 out of 210. The average teacher salary is $10,000 less in Geneva than 203, a little more ($2,000) than 204.

How could this be? Maybe Mr. Drendel can post the source of his numbers. Thanks.

http://iirc.niu.edu
Mr. Drendel's numbers regarding the percent of expenditures spent on instruction appear to be correct. The 27% is quite a bit lower than most other districts with similar demographics. (The 'compare districts' feature is very useful on the above link). That said, Geneva 304s numbers may be temporarily skewed due to large portion of "other" expenses which can mean construction/site expenditures or retiring bond principle.

Just go to The Source. Better known as the Illinois Interactive Report Card....
(http://iirc.niu.edu/CompareDistrictList.aspx?districtID=31045304026).

You'll find accurate numbers there.

Compare Operating Expenditure Per Pupil across districts.

I can't speak for the Chicago Magazine, and to be fair, do you know where they got their numbers? Magazines aren't always the best sources of accurate information in my experience, better to go to the source but you do have a very good memory, quoting a September 2010 Magazine :).

"Geneva 304 spends $5,814 per pupil while Naperville 203 spends $6,697"

...that ratio is misleading if you're implying the Geneva is well run or even allocates it's money in what most people would consider an education-centric manner.

For example, if two school districts take in 100 million in tax revenues, but one (Geneva) spends 30 million on students and 70 million on buildings, pensions, and busses... and the other spends 70 million on students and 30 million on buildings, pensions, and busses, which district is better managed?

If your priorities are pretty buildings, 240,000 salaries, and new busses every year then you will love the Geneva schools.

Geneva is overbuilt, over taxed, and has declining enrollment.

I thought I read somewhere its costs Geneva tax payers 10k to 12k per year to educate its students? I thought I read it in the Tribune? Does that sound high?

Per the http://iirc.niu.edu website:


Geneva - 12889.00 per student / 4% low income 

St. Charles - 11,426.00 per student / 9% low income (11% less costly than Geneva) 

Batavia - 11,296.00 per student / 10% low income. (12% less costly than Geneva)

Almost every educational benefit, and opportunity for quality education without extravagance, lines up in Geneva's favor, yet spending is significantly (11-12%) higher per capita in Geneva than Batavia or St. Charles.

Geneva if run without the waste, could save 9-10 million a year.

Instead, Geneva residents are always, because of current School Board philosophy, taxed the maximum allowable-by-law every year... the result, a $42,000,000.00 (yes million) SURPLUS of CASH, much more than required for the very best bond rating. With 42 million in excess tax cash, why be careful with the dollars!

Hence the high per capita spending in Geneva.

Teacher salaries are not higher in Geneva, in fact they are lower in many instances.

The information below is taken directly from the SchoolSearch website. There is a minimum per student cost that must be met ($10,372 for elementary and $11,197 for secondary). Guess they subscribe to the theory, the more you spend the better! This is a for profit company making up their own critera for what determines a good school.

The award is based on five, family-favored categories (Information Source: 2010 IL Report Card Data):
· Academic Performance
· Pupil/Teacher Ratio
· Operating Expenditure Per Pupil
· Educational Level of Teachers
· Average Teacher Salary
Award Criteria:
· Elementary Award Criteria: Teachers with Master's Degree or Above >= 57.4%; Pupil/Teacher Ratio <=18.2:1; Ave. Teacher Salary >= $54,229; Operating Expenditure Per Pupil >= $10,372; & Average percentage of 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th grade ISAT (Illinois Standards Achievement Test) meets or exceeds percentages of Reading & Math>= 88.94.
· Secondary Award Criteria: Teachers with Master's Degrees or Above >= 57.4%; Pupil/Teacher Ratio <=18.2:1; Ave. Teacher Salary >= $63,296; Operating Expenditure Per Pupil >= $11,197 & ACT composite score of all students tested >= 21.0.
SchoolSearch is an educational research & consulting firm that publishes rankings of school systems. SchoolSearchä provides comparative school district information for corporations, homebuilders, school districts, libraries, real estate professionals, legislators & relocating families - since 1991.

Well, since the Taxfacts website is down, I am glad they now have the Patch to Rant and Rave. Any good news that occurs is balanced with this rhetoric. From what I have seen, the surplus issue has been address several times...

Lamont, I don't know about a website or anything but I do think that the surplus issue has not been adequately vetted before the public. It seems that in this school system, there is surely an emphasis on spending wasteful amounts of taxpayer dollars on structures, and on taxing as much as legally allowed, the local citizenry to pay for those -1/2 empty- in some cases structures. Estimates are that Geneva has overbuilt and wasted tens of millions under the current school board and administration.

If you have some specific comment, a logical comment about dollars per capita or increasing taxation in the face of declining enrollment, please speak up, but to use the terms 'rant and rave' and 'rhetoric' speaks poorly to concerned citizens about your personal commitment to logical debate.

Superheroes and others beware. Patch's Terms of Use policy says no aliases are allowed. (Click on Terms of Use" at the bottom of the page.) "You may not use any aliases or other means to mask your true identity." There are many good-quality, cogent comments from people using aliases, and we'd hate to miss them, but to keep the conversation both fair and lively, it's something we'll enforce more vigilantly.

Readers should be aware, of course, that when using their true identity in the comments section they are approximately 2 Google clicks away from divulging their address (complete with streetview picture of their home), property tax assessment, phone number, names of children, spouse as well as employer. I'll respect your wishes Rick, but in the future I believe I'll refrain from weighing-in on anything more controversial than a high school basketball game.

John,

I've been writing opinion columns for 6 years now that have aggravated quite a few people, some in powerful positions, and I'm still here! Mike Royko made the bad guys shudder for years.

Don't worry, just comment!

Jeff

An interesting statistic would be to subtract the minimum amount required to be kept in reserve from what we actually have; and divide that by the number of D304 bodies. That raw info would awaken people in to thinking just how much we could still have in our pocket.

reafly - interesting but just remember, fresh blood on the school board, particularly individuals who are college educated in finance and law would lead to the intellectual environment that Geneva deserves. I'm new here on the "Patch" but I've followed the discussion on schools and to some extent school spending, but looking at the iirc website, it seems that Geneva is choosing buildings over people. just my take.