Our Students Deserve a Quality Education. We Need Increased Investment in EBF.

We, the Advance Illinois Educator Advisory Council, believe every child across the state of Illinois deserves the opportunity to realize their full potential.

We commend Governor Pritzker for his commitment to our children, as his recommended FY24 funding request for the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) formula will continue to close the access to quality education gap between school districts.  However, as educators, we believe that greater EBF funding will better support us and our school community as we continue to meet our students’ urgent and complex needs. As school support staff and educators,  we work to ensure that every student within our schools has access to the vital resources they need to achieve their full educational potential. Unfortunately, not all schools can afford necessary services, materials, and additional support; further dividing our students’ collective access to a high-quality education.

Therefore, we urge the Illinois General Assembly to invest at least $550 million in EBF for FY24. We are at a critical juncture in our path towards recovering from the pandemic. Every student across Illinois deserves the opportunity to realize their full potential. That will not be possible without fully staffed schools with adequate resources, especially enrichment and intervention opportunities for students with the greatest need. The most significant measurable difference between schools that have adequate  resources and those that do not is funding. Due to significant education under-funding, our urban and rural students lack the support they need to thrive. At the same time, students in fully-funded districts have better support systems in place, with training for educators and school staff, full time social workers and nurses, classroom assistants, additional academic support staff, etc.. 

We cannot continue to accept the reality that some students have more resources than others simply because of where they live in Illinois. We are the 6th largest economy in the country. We can and must do better!

We believe that an investment in EBF of at least $550 million for FY24 will send a message to our students that their access to a quality education is a priority for our state’s leaders.

Advance Illinois’ Educator Advisory Council

Amanda Dunakin

Bob Chikos

Crysta Weitekamp

Evelyn Sanchez

Freeda Pirillis

Jacob Carlson

Kellyn Sirach

Laura Jordan

Lorenzo Rubio

Megan Zamora

Monica Boehle

Precious Allen

Rebecca Wattleworth

Summer Butler

Teresa Eden

William (Bill) Polasky