Equitable Funding & Resources
Prioritizing Adequacy and Equity in School Funding
The Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act (EBF) put in place a formula that accounts for differences in local resources and prioritizes adequacy and equity by allocating new state funding to school districts based on student need. In 2017, decades of advocacy efforts culminated in the passage of legislation that overhauled Illinois’ historically regressive education funding system.
EBF is already making a significant difference for school districts and students, but there is a long way to go to reach full funding. In 2020, roughly 80% of Illinois students were still in districts funded below 70% of full funding, and it will take over $5 billion to bring all schools to full funding.
An Equitably Funded Education System Bolsters Bright Futures
Students have better academic and life outcomes when public schools have sufficient or “adequate” resources to provide all students with a research-based, high-quality learning environment so they can graduate college and be career ready. Adequate levels of funding, provided in a stable and sustained manner and spent on evidence-based practices, leads to improved academic performance, especially among students of color and from low-income households, and helps to decrease income-based achievement gaps in math and reading. Adequate funding also allows schools to provide critical social-emotional supports for students and school communities, such as counselors and social workers. In the long run, increased resources for education have been tied to positive long-term life outcomes, including higher graduation rates, greater educational attainment, and higher adult earnings.
In the wake of COVID-19, fully funding the EBF with sustained state investment of at least $550 million each year is a more urgent need than ever as school communities work to support student recovery and learning.
The Advance Illinois Approach to Equitable Funding
We were a leader in designing and advocating for the passage of the Evidence-Based Funding formula. We continue the good fight to ensure the formula is funded each year, implemented with fidelity, and translated into school-level resource equity in the following ways:
Equipping, empowering, and mobilizing Funding Illinois’ Future coalition partners to advocate for at least $550 million in new state funding to be appropriated through the formula each year.
Evaluating formula implementation as a member of the Professional Review Panel (PRP) and advocating for continuous improvement to the formula based on analysis and feedback from the field.
Analyzing newly available school-level funding data – site-based expenditure reporting data required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) – to determine further equity issues and needs.