IFT Sues Cook County Treasurer Pappas Over Failure to Disburse Hundreds of Millions to School Districts
- Jul 28
- 3 min read
Illinois Federation of Teachers Sues Cook County Treasurer Pappas Over Failure to Disburse Hundreds of Millions to School Districts, Shortchanging Students and Adding to Budget Shortfalls Causing Educator Layoffs, Furloughs
The suit seeks a court order to disburse all funds and compensate school districts for damages
Cook County, IL - The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) is announcing it has filed suit against Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas for her office’s repeated failure to disburse hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax funds to Cook County public school districts, as required by state law.
As a consequence of this failure, school communities across the County are facing budget shortfalls, educator layoffs, and furlough days that will shortchange students and families.
The Treasurer’s Office is currently holding approximately $400 million in property tax payments instead of distributing them as legally required. Meanwhile, Proviso Township High School District 209 is operating with only 77% of the funds needed under the state’s evidence-based formula while Morton High School District 201 is operating at 28% below adequacy and Cicero School District 99 recently laid off 50 educators. The County is past due on $250 million in funding to its largest district, Chicago Public Schools, for example, and has announced upcoming installments of education funding will be delayed as well. These delays have already caused CPS to incur nearly $40 million short-term borrowing costs – or $220,000 per day – to cover the shortfall. In other words, the County Treasurer’s failure to make timely payments to school districts is causing taxpayer dollars to be spent on interest payments to banks instead of on the education Cook County students deserve.
“The Governor and his General Assembly are shortchanging students instead of taxing the ultra-rich and it is creating an education crisis across the state of Illinois that is made worse when other officials like the Cook County Treasurer do not do their job,” explained IFT President Stacy Davis Gates. “Ten years in, the State of Illinois is flaunting compliance with its own statutory Evidence-Based Funding formula and diverting funds to other projects. What the Governor calls a balanced budget is actually a $5 billion debt past due to the state’s children. Families deserve to know that elected officials at every level of government are doing their jobs. For the Governor and members of his General Assembly, that means setting funding levels that allow for fully-staffed, well-resourced schools that set our children up for success. And for the Cook County Treasurer, that means distributing the funds her office is charged with collecting for school districts, not sitting on them. Illinois’ educators go above and beyond for their students every day. And our Union intends to compel elected leaders in Illinois to do the same. This lawsuit is part of that, and we need other stakeholders across the state to step up and join us.”
The lawsuit describes the County Treasurer’s action as leaving “school districts… in the lurch” with “families and students [not knowing] when and whether the education they pay taxes for will be provided.” It seeks a court order requiring the Cook County Treasurer's Office to disburse all funds in its possession to school districts and other units of local governments as required by law, and compensate school districts for damages incurred by their delay that have contributed to staffing and education programming cuts.
The IFT has also called upon the Governor, Speaker, and Senate President to pass policies that tax the ultra-rich, including a millionaires’ tax and the $4 billion in revenue proposals left on the table last session, and to convene a special session to fully-fund the education of Illinois’ children.
Media availability upon request.
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