Collins: Local schools to receive over $30 million in new funding

CHICAGO – State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins announced that school districts across the 16^th District will receive over $30 million in additional funding to help address the financial challenges of recent years.

“This funding will help our local schools invest in students, who have endured much the past few years,” said Collins (D-Chicago). “As the school year kicks off, I encourage schools to use this investment for our most at-risk youth.”

The funding comes from the 2017 Illinois Senate Democrat-backed evidence-based funding formula – an overhaul of the way the state funds K-12 education. The law made school funding more equitable by calculating the needs of individual school districts and basing its state revenue on those needs. The formula takes into account a district’s total enrollment, poverty rate, the number of special education or English language learners, among other factors.

Local school districts set to receive funding include:

• Willow Springs School District 108 - $1,859,590.80
• North Palos School District 117 - $17,288,615.59
• Ridgeland School District 122 - $10,959,277.66

The Fiscal Year 23 budget invested an additional $350 million into student’s success through the evidence-based funding model.

For more information on the FY 23 evidence-based funding distribution, visit isbe.net/Pages/EvidenceBasedFunding.