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ERS consultant frames national school‑funding squeeze as backdrop to Waukegan review
Summary
Joseph Trawick Smith of Education Resource Strategies told the board that many districts face much larger deficits than in the past, pointing to rising special‑education costs, uncertain federal revenue and lingering post‑ESSER challenges as drivers.
Joseph Trawick Smith, a leader with Education Resource Strategies, opened the workshop’s expert segment with a national overview of fiscal pressures facing K‑12 systems. Smith said that where districts once discussed modest deficits of 1–2%, many now confront gaps in the order of 10% or more, driven by rising special‑education costs, expanding diagnostic criteria, higher salaries and uncertain federal and state revenue forecasts.
"A lot of the districts I'm working with now are talking 10% or more," Smith said, stressing the complexity of the current moment and warning that repeated short‑term cuts can simply ‘‘kick the can’’ and leave structural deficits to recur. He recommended linking spending to evidence‑based strategies that move student outcomes, aligning staffing to priorities and considering structural changes — for example, master‑schedule redesigns and program consolidation — to lower recurring costs.
