In Galva School District, educating children is our business. Like every business, however, we need to remain solvent to stay in the business of teaching kids.

Schools in Illinois are funded by three main sources: local property taxes, state aid, and federal aid. Of the $5.6 million needed to run District 224 last year, only about 30 percent came from local property taxes. The bulk of the money required to educate our children in Galva comes from the state of Illinois, at 55 percent. The third source, the federal government, is not a large player in funding education but it does provide about 15 percent of our budget.

Since most of the money needed to run our schools comes from the state of Illinois, we are, unfortunately, at the mercy of our legislators and all the political games that happen in Springfield. I am sure that you are aware of the fiscal problems that the state government finds itself in, and they are not good. To make matters worse, I am not sure anyone in Springfield has the courage to make the difficult decisions that need to be made.

It is safe to say, however, that school districts across Illinois are facing a reduction in that state aid that we so desperately need. How much, no one knows.

For the rest of Dr. Minick's column, see the Feb. 4 Galva News.