The current method of financing education in Illinois is explained and reasons are advanced for changing it to afford property tax relief by a more equitable formula. The proposed plan and the arguments supporting it are then offered. The plan increases the state basic support level per student to $1,400, and the state assumes the full cost of the previous year's inflation on the basic $1,400 program. When school districts exceed the state-used rate in step one, the state assures those districts that their tax rate will at least get the dollars that the average of all like districts in the state would receive. Property tax relief would be achieved by replacing part of a property tax with alternative tax sources. It is suggested that the law authorizing this require the local collection form to calculate the tax bill, reduce any taxes that the bill reflects between 2 percent and 3 percent, and show on the form that the levy made by the board of education has been paid to the local district and that the taxpayer's bill was reduced by the amount of such taxes levied, but paid by the state. The tax reduction would be obvious and the prerogative of the local board would remain. (Author/MLF)