Illinois state board of education requests $653M budget increase

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Earlier this year, the Illinois State Board of Education endorsed a budget request asking for a $653 million increase in funding for K-12 public schools.

While lawmakers may struggle to accommodate such a request, especially in a year when the state faces an expected budget deficit of $891 million, local advocacy groups believe the proposed increase is necessary.

Gerson Ramirez, Senior Government Relations Associate for Advance Illinois, had this to say during the proposal meeting “We were pleased to hear that the board, even in a tight budget year, continues to prioritize necessary investments for districts and students across the state,”, adding “the evidence-based funding formula has done a good job at directing more funds to school districts with high needs”.

Despite this praise, Mr Ramirez highlighted the lack of funding school districts have recently endured as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, stating “We, and many others, believe we should put an additional $550 million into the formula to make up for the skip budget year, to address inflation, and to meet ongoing needs,”.

Evidence-based funding

Much of the discussed budget is intended to increase the state’s share of the cost of public education. The new proposal includes a $350 million increase in evidence-based funding, with the intention to fairly manage the distribution of new funds by prioritizing the allocation of financial resources to students and schools in the most deprived areas of the state.

This $350 million figure represents the minimum required increase in state funding for public education in accordance with a law passed in 2018. Under said law, the state’s share of the cost of public education is required to increase gradually year-on-year. With new funds fairly distributed across all school districts that currently fall below funding targets.

Funding is expected to increase further in the coming years, with the aforementioned law calling for a continued increase in annual funding, at least until all districts are financed at 90% or more of their total funding targets.

When the law was first passed, around one in five school districts were being funded at or below 60% of their total funding targets. Six years later, no districts are funded below 60%, though many still fall short of the desired 90% benchmark.

Operating budget enhancements

Alongside a proposed increase in evidence based funding, the Illinois Board of Education is seeking around $300 million in new or increased funding targeted towards a selection of wider education expenses. These funds will be used to support school districts in enhancing existing operating budgets.

Of this additional $300 million in requested funding, $112 million has been earmarked for a program intended to improve transportation arrangements for students with disabilities. The funding proposal asks for a 26% increase in reimbursements for all school districts currently covering the cost of transportation for disabled students.

A further $75 million will be used to increase funding for early childhood education, intended as a continuation of Gov. JB Pritzker’s Smart Start Illinois initiative. The multi-year program looks to ensure every child in the state receives access to pre-school education, primarily via an increase in funding to child care providers and the raising of wages for child care workers.

The Smart Start Illinois program intends to considerably broaden access to early childhood and preschool education for children aged 3-4 by 2027. Officials believe the requested funds would enable state-funded preschools to enroll an additional 5000 children in the next school year. Total enrollment figures are projected to grow to almost 114,000 in 2025, representing an increase of over 17,000 since 2023.

More work to be done

While the Illinois Board of Education’s proposed budget increase would bring the state’s total General Revenue Fund spending on education to a little more than $11 billion, many officials believe more must be done to support educators, families and students in the coming years.

Alongside aforementioned issues concerning access to educational resources, school districts in the state face significant challenges with regards to violence and homelessness.

According to recent reports, firearms incidents at Illinois schools have increased significantly in the last decade, with the state experiencing the 4th highest number of incidents across the entirety of the US. Focus in the coming years may need to be placed on improving school security measures, be that through technological developments like smart security cameras in schools, or funds allocated to the training and hiring of full-time School Resource Officers.

Homelessness is another worryingly present issue. Over 58,000 students in the state were found to have experienced homelessness during the 2022/23 school year, with experts believing an additional 55,000 homeless students may not have been formally identified.

Niya K. Kelly, director of state legislative policy, equity, and transformation at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, believes future funding increases must look to address this issue, stating, “It is imperative that the state step in. I know, oftentimes, people say that if we’ve made do with funding levels that we have then we should continue on that path,” adding “For homeless families and for the folks who are supporting them, it’s not enough at this moment.”.

While the proposed budget increase seems to represent a positive step in the right direction for the state’s education system, continued commitments must be made in the coming years.