By Kevin Lee 217-528-9604

SPRINGFIELD  –  The state’s superintendent of education says he sympathizes with local school administrators’ dilemma of dealing with late payments from the state.

But with the state mired in a deep budget crisis, Chris Koch said there’s not much he or the state can do.

Koch said the state is still trying to reduce a large backlog of education-related payments from as far back as October.

“Of course the State Board (of Education) issues the vouchers, the money is just not there.”

“We have over 18,000 outstanding vouchers and…almost $700 million in vouchers that are outstanding,” he said.

State Board officials say the agency can’t pay down its bills because the state is facing a budget deficit that could reach $12.2 billion. Gov. Pat Quinn will present his budget agenda before lawmakers in a speech set for March 10.

But the state’s fiscal woes are creating budget problems for school districts across the state – now.

State Rep. Mike Smith, D-Canton, said school districts have to anticipate laying off workers and finalizing their spending by the end of next month.

“School districts have to put their budgets together. If they’re going to lay off personnel or terminate personnel, they have to give …notices 60 days before the end of the school year,” he said. “So that puts them into March, and we’re just getting the budget on March 10. So they’re kind of going into the next school year kind of blindly.”

State Rep. Dave Winters, R-Rockford, said the fiscal squeeze schools are experiencing are forcing administrators to make tough decisions.

“That’s why most school districts around the state are saying, ‘Any new teachers will be given notice that there may not be a position available for them in the next academic year, starting August or September,’” he said.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said layoffs of teachers and other school workers are taking place early in the year.

“The reality is laying off teachers in my district, in school districts that I represent, vary anywhere from 20 to in excess of 40,” he said.

Schools across the state may be forced to make more spending cuts as lawmakers and Quinn negotiate the state budget. Illinois’ education system accounts for more than one-third of the state’s total expenditures.

For the current state budget, Illinois received a one-time payment of a billion dollars from the federal government to help stabilize school systems.

“But that’s just going to carry over what (schools and school districts) are owed in 2010, it’s not looking at 2011, and (the federal funding) won’t be there next year,” Brady said.

Koch says school districts will face a difficult time in the months ahead.

“We’re going to make sure that we help districts as much as possible through this recession. But it’s not going to be over in a year, it’s going to take some time. And we’ve got to get the state in a positive trajectory, or we’re going to be in trouble,” he said.