On Jan. 21 the Higher Education Coalition and members from the Springfield-based Faith Coalition for the Common Good visited the Statehouse, pushing lawmakers to recognize that education funding reform and potential cuts to the Monetary Award Program, also known as the MAP grant, are getting worse as Illinois continues to function with no budget in place.

Students, business owners and college administrators created the Higher Education Coalition to deliver the message that higher education cannot afford more funding delays.

Members of the coalition addressed the currently unfunded Monetary Award Program, which provides low-income students grant money for college. Without a state budget in place, the grant money for upcoming semesters will be withheld from qualified students attending college in Illinois.

MAP grants serve as an incentive for students and families to look for colleges instate as opposed to outside of Illinois.

Mitch Dickey, a student at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, asked, “Why should students have to pay the ultimate price?” Dickey refers to the 125,000 students who are potentially at risk of having to pay back the money for MAP grants that was fronted to them by the universities for the fall semester. For most public universities in Illinois, their fiscal longevity relies on state funds.

For transfer students like Tom Lewis, a student at Illinois College in Jacksonville, attending college out of state was more expensive than attending an in-state institution. Lewis’ twin brother attended Illinois College prior to Lewis transferring there from the University of Kansas.

“It was the MAP grant that made the significant difference in what we were paying,” he said. “It made it $2,000 cheaper for me to return to Illinois to go school, so I did.”

Lewis explained that after hearing that the legislature may be cutting MAP grant funding, students like him have fewer reasons to attend college in-state.

“To students like me, this is extra encouragement for us to leave the state,” Lewis said. “For students now graduating from high school, what incentive do they have to stay?” “I’ve seen an increase in stress among students,” says Brandon Hudspeth, a political science major at University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign. “There is this uncertainty about whether or not students are going to be able to come back next year and whether or not students can apply for other loans.”

Hudspeth noted that his financial status was good for the remainder of his college career, but was speaking on behalf of those students who weren’t so secure.

According to Michael McDermott, director of higher education for the Illinois College Association, no MAP grant funding for the upcoming school year could mean widespread problems for students and their communities.

“What this means is that students may have to take out more loans, find jobs and possibly postpone college or university attendance,” he said. “This may lead to some of the brightest students dropping out.”

McDermott said communities may also lose revenue generated by colleges in their areas, due to layoffs, fewer students contributing to the local economy, less local spending by institutions and fewer opportunities for residents to participate in continuing education.

“The dominoes are beginning to fall,” he said. The same day, Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, and Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, supported the Faith Coalition for the Common Good’s call for equitable school funding. Manar explains that “equity is derived from how the state manages its money or doesn’t manage its money and directs money to school districts.” Last legislative session, Manar sponsored a bill to change the state’s school funding formula, but the bill failed.

“Based on statistics from Education Trust, if you are a young African-American or Latino student in Illinois, you will on average have $2,000 less invested in your education than your counterparts,” Manar said. “In Illinois, this is a fact. We understand that, depending on where you live in the state today, your child is either valued more or less than another child, and that’s reality.”

Celeste Dean, Springfield resident and cochair of the education task force at the Faith Coalition, said the school funding system has not changed even 18 years after she graduated from Springfield School District 186.

Dean called on lawmakers to make a change in education funding for all students.

“Governor Rauner, Illinois General Assembly: we hold you accountable today to address Illinois’ unfair funding system,” she said. “We’re asking you to help not only students of color, we’re asking you to help students of high need, giving all students a chance to succeed.”

In school districts like Pana and Chicago Public Schools, the current school funding formula creates winners and losers.

“I’ve been losing for five straight years,” says Dr. David Lett, superintendent of Pana School District, southwest of Springfield. “We’ve got to fix the equity issues.”

State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, says she is proud to support Manar’s efforts to reform education funding.

“I taught for 33 years,” Scherer said. “I know what it’s like to try to teach a classroom without textbooks, I know what it’s like to teach without paper because I had to do it. How dare a state be so pathetic in the way that they fund their students?” “We’re proposing a solution,” Manar added. “Any solution that’s put on the table that doesn’t fix this problem is a failure.”