How much money the federal government doles out to Illinois over the next decade for public education will depend largely on results from the upcoming 2010 census.
How much money the federal government doles out to Illinois over the next decade for public education will depend largely on results from the upcoming 2010 census.
That’s because the census helps determine federal funding needs for school districts throughout Illinois for the next 10 years. Every decade the federal government conducts a census to determine such things as populations, ages, household sizes, genders, ethnicity, etc.
According Mark Wancket, a spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Education, ISBE sought $721.1 million in spending authority for fiscal year 1992 following the 1990 census and $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2002, following the 2000 census.
At Defender press time, the exact amount Illinois actual received was not available.
The Chicago Public Schools is the third largest school district in the country with 405,000 students and any decline in federal funding would make educating its students more difficult, said CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond.
One underlying problem census officials say could hurt education funding to states is the underreporting of residents.
Historically, Blacks have been under reported by the census, so schools in Black communities are sometimes hurt by the shortage, said Arnold Jackson, chief operating officer for the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We estimate that 600,000 Blacks were not counted in the 2000 Census,” Jackson told the Defender. “However, the 2000 Census did record 33.5 million Blacks.”
And a 2000 report, Effect of Census 2000 Undercount on Federal Funding to States, which was prepared for the U.S. Census Monitoring Board, stated that Congress relies on the census for purposes of allocating funds under various federal grant programs to state governments. And inaccuracies in the census count can cause federal funds to be distributed in a way that is not fully consistent with congressional intent.
Many state-funded grant programs and local governments, such as Cook County, also rely on census results for federal grants to fund educational programs, such as GED and adult literacy programs.
“Schools are not the only ones hurt by underreporting from the census. Education programs like teaching English as a Second Language and after school tutoring is also affected,” said Tanya DePeiza, executive director of Women In Progress, a social service organization in Bronzeville that assists female ex-offenders with education, child care, housing, and employment.
Analysis by the Census Bureau estimates that the 2000 Census undercounted the actual U.S. population by a net of over 3 million individuals, representing an undercount rate of 1.18 percent. The report estimates that Cook County could lose $193 million in federal funds as a result of underreporting in large cities like Chicago.
Stanley Moore, regional director for the Census Bureau, said the Black population might not be accurate when you consider all the underreporting that takes place in Black communities. The Census Bureau estimates the total population as of 2008 was 304 million Americans and 41.1 million were Black.
“We know there are more Blacks than what we actually count and we do our best to go out and find those ‘missing in action’ but we are not always successful,” he added.
To better ensure all ethnic groups – especially minorities – are counted in the upcoming census Moore said the questionnaire has been shortened to 10 questions from the 200-plus questions it previously asked. Census forms will be mailed out beginning in March.
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