Provide schools with more funding

New school funding is working, but it’s only a first step. We are grateful for the legislators who voted last year to fix Illinois’ broken school funding formula. After years of inequitable funding, dollars are now going to schools equitably, meaning more money is flowing to English learners and low- income students — some of the most vulnerable students in the state. Schools are telling us they are now able to hire more staff to serve the unique instructional needs of English learners, who make up nearly 10 percent of Illinois public school students. The new formula is functioning as it should be.

Yet we can see that, on average, schools statewide are funded at only 74 percent of the resources needed to provide the best education to kids. That’s why we and other organizations are asking that an additional $ 400 million be allocated to K- 12 education. With further investment, the equity gap will close even further and the quality of education will continue to improve, which benefits the entire state. We urge our legislators to support an investment of $ 400 million in K- 12 education in the Fiscal Year 2019 state budget. Caroline Sanchez Crozier, founding president, League of United Latin American Citizens,

Illinois Education Council 5238