Ideas for education funding reforms sparked heated debate when state legislative members met with local school representatives and an outside tax adviser Tuesday night at the Hopkins Park Community Center, 1403 Sycamore Road.

Sen. Brad Burzynski (R-Sycamore), State Rep. David Wirsing (R-Sycamore) and local school superintendents sparred with Ralph Martire, Chicago Sun-Times columnist and director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, about proposed ideas to change how public schools are funded.

While no one argued there was not a problem in the funding of education in the state, the six panelists each had their own views on the problems plaguing the state and what needs to be done to fix them.

Martire described the plan developed by his not-for-profit center that would be applicable statewide. His plan involves relying less on property taxes to fund education locally by raising income taxes and expanding the sales tax base to include consumer services. The plan also entails an abatement of property taxes, by having the state foot a portion of each family’s property tax bill.

Martire said this would ensure schools still would get the same amount of funding, but the state would be paying for 51 percent of education costs – the national average – instead of the current 37 percent.

There is never a politically convenient time to do this, Martire said.

Burzynski and Wirsing each presented the views from the Springfield perspective about how difficult it is to pass legislation of this sort because of regionalism. Wirsing pointed out that while each representative in the House represents the same amount of people, to each representative, his or her district comes first.

Both Sycamore Superintendent Robert Hammon and DeKalb Superintendent Brian Ali addressed concerns apparent in the local school districts and elsewhere.

Ali said 80 percent of school districts statewide are operating in deficit budgets. Hammon painted a picture for the crowd, illustrating that these districts are financially close to the edge of the cliff with no return in sight.

Hammon complimented the sixth panelist, Luke Glowiak, assistant superintendent for business in the Sycamore School District, for maintaining a balanced budget to keep Sycamore out of that 80 percent. The DeKalb School District also passed a balanced budget for the next fiscal year.

Moderator Herbert Rubin, from NIU’s sociology department, maintained order as questions from the crowd ignited a rapid-fire debate between Glowiak and Martire over the payment of pensions from state retirement funds, until the argument was settled by Burzynski. That didn’t keep Wirsing from rolling his eyes at Martire when the columnist challenged the representative’s earlier points when responding to audience questions.

This discussion was presented by the DeKalb County League of Women Voters to start a grassroots movement to make a change in how education is funded.