Advance Illinois Statement on the 2024 Illinois Report Card

There is good news and bad news in the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)’s 2024 Illinois Report Card. It is encouraging to see improvements in student learning, growth, and achievement, with some measures exceeding pre-pandemic levels. However, recovery from the pandemic and disparities among underrepresented student groups across the K-12 continuum persist and will require ongoing attention and effort. 

“The progress we’re seeing for Illinois’ students is encouraging, but this new data reminds us that we still have real work to do to fully recover from COVID and close stubborn and unacceptable gaps,” said Robin Steans, President of Advance Illinois. 

Points of Good News 

Following setbacks in reading and math proficiency during the pandemic, student proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) has made noticeable gains. Students in grades 3-8 achieved a proficiency rate of 41.2%, the highest since 2019. Indeed, the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) ELA proficiency rates now exceed pre-pandemic levels for all race/ethnicity groups, which is wonderful to see. 

However, not all grade levels experienced this progress. The Report Card reveals that ELA proficiency on the IAR has not yet surpassed pre-pandemic levels for grades 3 and 7. Meanwhile, Math proficiency rates improved slightly from last year, but remain down – in some cases significantly – from pre-pandemic levels across groups and grade levels. Indeed, grade 3 dropped from 33% in 2023 to 27.8% in 2024, representing a significant drop from the pre-pandemic 2019 proficiency of 40.1%. These 3rd-grade students faced learning disruptions during the pandemic, impacting language, literacy, and math, and there is still work ahead to support ongoing recovery. We commend the statewide focus on improving literacy with the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan and look forward to ISBE’s forthcoming statewide math and numeracy plan. 

This year’s Report Card includes data from the 2023-2024 Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS), and we are pleased to have this important window into where children were developmentally as they entered kindergarten last school year. According to a report from the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC), KIDS scores help predict 3rd-grade proficiency in Math and English Language Arts (ELA). So it is good news that the percentage of students demonstrating readiness in all three developmental areas—social and emotional development, language and literacy development, and math—has increased statewide over the past few years, including from 29.9% in 2022 to 31.6% in 2023. That said, gaps in readiness persist across lines of race, income, language, and learning style. It is encouraging that student participation in this key critical survey is growing (from 86.7% in 2022 to 90.9% in 2023) and that readiness is gradually increasing overall; however, persistent gaps require further work and study. 

It is also wonderful to see the highest graduation rate for Illinois’ high school students 14 years at 87.7%, and to note that all groups improved here and gaps across groups narrowed slightly. Additionally, 9th-grade On Track rates, strong predictors of high school graduation, continue to improve. This key indicator increased slightly from 87.4% in SY23 to 88.2% in SY24 and remains higher than pre-pandemic, with all groups seeing improvements. That said, while they did not worsen, significant gaps between student groups persist, most notably between Black students (79.7%), English Learners (79.7%), and white students (92.7%). More work is needed to ensure all students have the supports and resources to succeed. 

The Report Card provides reasons to be hopeful about students’ academic recovery, a testament to the hard work of our educators, the important aid provided by federal stimulus dollars, and targeted initiatives ISBE and districts have put in place to accelerate learning renewal. However, we have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in every area or grade level (high school also continues to be an area of concern), and racial, ethnic, and income disparities across these and other measures require ongoing attention and investment. 

What We’re Zeroing in On 

Equity gaps continue to exist across many areas. While gaps between Black students, Latinx students, low-income students, English Learners, and students with an IEP have decreased since 2019, they persist. While Illinois’ overall high school graduation rate is historically high and has improved across the board, rates were 7% lower for Black students (80.7%), 15.2% lower for students with an IEP (72.5%), and 2.6% lower for Latinx students (85.1%). As we applaud ISBE’s efforts to accelerate student recovery, with the expiration of ESSER funds, investments in the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) formula remain key in directing resources to school districts and students that need them most. 

Finally, but critically, while all groups saw a slight improvement, chronic absenteeism remains a concern, where rates of missing 10 percent or more of school remain stubbornly and disproportionately high for some student groups. Overall rates decreased slightly to 26.3% in 2024 (still well above pre-pandemic/SY19 levels (17.5%), but Black students continue to have the highest chronic absenteeism rates (40.4%), followed by Latinx students (32.9%). Students from low-income households (36.3%), English Learners (32.1%), and students with IEPs (33.6%) also continue to have high chronic absenteeism rates. While rates are slowly improving, students are missing critical instruction time, impacting their academic success in both the short and long term. 

Supporting Our Teachers to Support Our Students 

Research underscores the importance of teacher attendance and diversity on student outcomes. Regrettably, this latest Report Card indicates no significant improvement in teacher attendance (the percent of teachers missing 10 days or less of school), which remains at a worrisome 66%. However, we are pleased to see that the total number of teachers increased by about 2,100 in 2024—hiring that reflects the longstanding understaffing most schools have endured due to chronic underfunding. But as we know, a shortage exists, especially in bilingual and special education, and in rural and urban areas. Therefore, we must continue to invest in our educator pipeline and we commend ISBE for programs like CTE Education Career Pathways Grants, which prepare high school students for teaching careers, and the state’s new teacher recruitment marketing campaign, ‘The Answer Is Teaching,’ which has garnered high interest and activity. While teacher diversity continues to increase slowly, with growing Black (6.4%), Asian (2%), and Latinx (8.9%) representation, supporting a diverse teacher workforce is crucial. Programs like CTE Education Career Pathway Grants, Illinois Virtual Coach and Building Mentor Program, affinity groups, and the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship are in place to recruit and retain excellent teachers that represent student diversity. [NOTE: The MTI Scholarship program, which helps support candidates of color, is now the subject of a lawsuit. This is disheartening, as research makes clear that students of color do better—academically and otherwise—when they are taught by educators of color. MTI has helped the state increase the diversity of its pipeline, rounding out a wide array of state programs designed to strengthen the overall pipeline.] 

New Additions for the Report 

Recognizing the unique experiences and identities of individuals of Middle Eastern or North African descent, ISBE is beginning to incorporate a new race/ethnicity category to capture these students and educators, abbreviated MENA. 

Also new is the Support Personnel Full-Time Equivalence (FTE), defined as employees with one or more active employment records, working during the regular school year (not summer school), and holding one of the approved Support Personnel position codes (School Counselor, School Nurse, School Psychologist, and School Social Worker). For this year, the state is reporting 494 students per counselor; 1,520 students per nurse; 885 students per psychologist; and 432 students per social worker. While these are higher than recommended ratios, they indicate marked improvement. In 2018, the state had 667 students per counselor, 1,201 students per psychologist, and 697 students per social worker. Advance Illinois has been reporting on these ratios for many years in our biennial “State We’re In” report on public education. We are elated to see this important data now included in the state report card, as we believe it will and should help spur conversation and action at both the local and state levels to ensure all schools have an adequate support personnel workforce to meet student needs. 

In Closing 

While there are encouraging signs and areas of improvement, it is going to take more support and investment to achieve academic outcomes that exceed pre-pandemic levels. We recognize the tough budget climate and appreciate past increases in funding (which have helped drive student recovery), but we must keep working to ensure that all Illinois students have what they need to thrive. 

Advance Illinois’ Statement on Governor Pritzker’s FY25 Budget Proposal

Today, Governor Pritzker presented his budget proposal for FY25, recommending over $13.2 billion in education spending—a 1.5% increase. Amid what is projected to be a challenging budget year, the Governor’s proposal provides both reason for applause, as well as opportunities for urgent attention and investment by the General Assembly to ensure Illinois students across the full continuum of our education system have equitable access to sufficient high-quality resources and support.  

“We all knew this wasn’t going to be an easy year for the budget,” said Robin Steans, President of Advance Illinois. “Illinois school districts are facing unprecedented need on multiple fronts: Students continue to recover from the impact of COVID, but they need support to do so. Federal dollars that have been instrumental in learning renewal and in growing and diversifying the teacher pipeline are drying up. Newly arrived students coming into the state and its education system need help,” she said. “We know the Governor is committed to young people, and what he has proposed is responsible and pointed in the right direction, but simply isn’t enough.” 

If approved by the General Assembly, the budget recommendation released today would further advance the Governor’s key early childhood initiative, Smart Start, and set aside funds to establish a new Department of Early Childhood. It would keep K-12 schools on a steady, but slow, path toward full funding. And it would continue slowly expanding access to higher education for Illinois students. But the budget leaves out critical work set to expire along with federal dollars. Highly-successful efforts to rapidly expand the pipeline into early childhood (Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE)) would get a small fraction of what is required to maintain this program. Efforts to create systemic mental health support are eliminated entirely, without dollars for the Resilience Education to Advance Community Healing (REACH) pilot and social and emotional learning (SEL) hubs. And while teacher vacancy grants are maintained, dollars for new teacher and principal mentoring and induction are nowhere to be found.  

On the early childhood front, the Governor pledged additional investments that would expand access to and deepen investments in early childhood education and care through the Smart Start initiative. These investments come after the Governor announced plans to unite early childhood services into a single early childhood agency to make it easier for families to access services.  We support the Governor’s proposal of $13 million for the new agency, a $75 million proposed increase for the Early Childhood Block Grant, which would help state-funded preschool reach an additional 5,000 children and narrow access gaps across the state, and $158.5 million for Smart Start Workforce Compensation Grants that includes funds to accommodate higher participation in the Child Care Assistance Program. Further, the Governor’s budget includes $5 million for increased expansion of Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS)’ Home Visiting Program, $6 million for Early Intervention, and $3.5 million for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to support early childhood literacy. While these are important steps in the right direction, we feel obliged to point out that these investments require many more trained early childhood educators and staff. Accordingly, the modest $5 million allocated for the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) represents a significant missed opportunity. Since 2020, ECACE has been supporting upwards of 3,900 students and incumbent workers to earn early childhood credentials. The governor’s proposed budget reduces funding to just 17% of what was spent this year on scholarships alone, and far below what every agency involved has requested. We hope to see the General Assembly do more to sustain this effort and push for the full $60 million needed to maintain funding for scholarships, mentors, and navigators to support students to enroll, persist, and complete credentials and degrees in early childhood. 

As a number of recent reports highlight, educator shortages persist in specific geographies and subject areas in our state, alongside a significant gap in diversity between teachers and students. In the past few years, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has done a commendable job in targeting areas of need through programs such as the Teacher Vacancy Grant, Affinity Groups, Teacher Mentoring, and Principal Mentoring and Recruitment. Many of these programs were launched using federal stimulus Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, but must continue if we want to see real, long-term progress in expanding, strengthening, and diversifying the pipeline. As it is, the governor is proposing to end teacher mentoring, principal mentoring, and affinity group programs, rather than sustain them with state dollars. We urge the General Assembly to heed ISBE’s recommendations and prioritize continued funding for these programs. 

On a positive note, we are pleased to see that the governor proposes to continue vital investments in scholarships and supports for future teachers, such as the Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship, Golden Apple and Golden Apple Accelerators—programs that are critical to making the profession more accessible and diverse.  

Like others, we await the March release of recommendations from the Illinois Commission on Equitably Funding Public Universities for reimagining how the state can ensure every student has the opportunity to pursue a degree, and that every college has the resources they need to support students to graduate. We appreciate the Governor’s efforts to build on historic investments in the Monetary Award Program (MAP) to make college more affordable. The proposed addition of $10M to the (MAP) is a step in the right direction, however we hope legislators will work hard to improve upon this recommended allocation.  The payoff for making college more affordable extends beyond the students earning a degree and to their families and communities.  Importantly, as we look forward to the Commission’s recommendations, we echo the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s (IBHE) call for an equitable distribution of any new funding for public four-year universities. Another year of the status quo will only further bake historic inequities into the higher education system.  

The Governor’s recommendation for a $350 million increase for the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) formula for Illinois’ K-12 represents a much-needed investment in our public education system and the students it serves. Having said that, we join others in the field in urging the state to push hard to allocate more than what amounts to a floor for investments into EBF. More than 1.3 million students in Illinois remain in underfunded districts; and they are disproportionately students from low-income households and students of color. EBF continues to be the most powerful tool we have to equip schools to sufficiently support students, and we urge our legislators to do everything in their power to push for more than the minimal level of $350 million to account for ongoing inflationary pressures while responding to ongoing, increased, and complex student need.  

While data shows students are starting to rebound academically from the pandemic’s disruptions, there is still a long way to go, and investments in healing-centered, trauma-informed practices are essential. We were therefore disappointed to see that the Governor did not recommend the funds needed to support the REACH pilot and SEL Hubs, and did not to commit resources to develop a Childhood Adversity Index and fulfill the recommendations put forward by the Whole Child Taskforce. The REACH Pilot and SEL Hubs have been key to supporting hundreds of thousands of students’ social-emotional health, and have put Illinois on a path to systemic mental health and well-being for students and families. As the last round of federal stimulus funds totaling over $4 billion is set to run out this fall, and with widely disparate mental health resources available at schools across the state, local leaders will have to make difficult decisions on what critical programs and resources to keep for students. It is imperative that the General Assembly find a way to sustain funding for REACH and SEL hubs with state dollars in FY25, as proposed by ISBE.  

We know the Governor is a champion for education, and we commend him for again making clear that he understands the value of a strong, well-resourced public education system. This budget works to grow investments in young people within the confines of a more challenging forecast. That said, it has some notable gaps – gaps we cannot afford to ignore.  We now look to the General Assembly to support the Governor’s education proposal, and then fill in critical gaps to make sure we have the workforce and mental health services our students need. 

Advance Illinois Statement on the Illinois State Board of Education FY25 Budget Recommendation

Today the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) approved and sent to Governor Pritzker recommendations for the FY25 Budget. In the face of budget constraints, Advance Illinois commends ISBE's proposal, which underscores its dedication to enhancing K-12 and early education in Illinois. This proposal serves as a solid road map for investments Illinois must undertake to meet the comprehensive needs of every child and student in the state generally, and in the ongoing aftermath of COVID disruptions.  

Ensuring Illinois’ educator pipeline is well supported from recruitment to preparation and retention is crucial to student learning, so we are thrilled to see ISBE’s continued support for state-funded programs and appreciate the agency’s interest in leveraging state dollars to sustain key programs that were launched with federal stimulus dollars (ESSER III). These include the state’s teacher and principal mentoring programs and affinity groups for teachers of color. Such targeted and ongoing investments are critical to help ensure all children and students have access to diverse, well-prepared, and well-qualified educators. Furthermore, ISBE has proposed a $35M allocation to support newcomers, support badly needed at the local level. Illinois continues to struggle to fill bilingual and ESL teaching positions – an issue only heightened by the increase in English learners coming into the state. We appreciate ISBE’s proposal and hope to see the state continue to strengthen and grow its bilingual workforce. 

We applaud the state’s goal of expanding access to high-quality early childhood education and care for all Illinois children. Through the Smart Start initiative announced this time last year, along with the ongoing work to move to a single early childhood agency, Illinois is working to achieve its vision of quality, equitable, and easy-to-navigate early learning and care. We support ISBE’s recommendation of an additional $75 million for the Early Childhood Block Grant – funding that would help state-funded preschool reach an additional 5,000 children and narrow access gaps across the state.  

We are also pleased to see ISBE’s response to recommendations from the Whole Child Task Force and its commitment to addressing the impact the past four years have had on students academically, socially, and emotionally. We applaud the Board for proposing an investment of $18M in state dollars for the REACH program and Social & Emotional Learning hubs – programs at risk of closing in the absence of federal funding.  And we appreciate ISBE setting aside additional funds to craft a strong Childhood Adversity Index – a tool that can help identify community and student needs, and that we expect other states will replicate. 

Finally, ISBE’s proposal of a $350 million increase for Evidence-Based Funding for Illinois’ K-12 represents a much-needed investment in our public education system and the students it serves.  That said, our state must go further. More than 1.3 million students in Illinois remain in underfunded districts; and they are disproportionately students from low-income households and students of color. While data shows our students are rebounding, our schools are still clearly recovering from the impacts of the pandemic. Chronic absenteeism numbers remain too high, proficiency rates are still too low, and the disparities in progress and outcomes remain across lines of poverty and race. As the expiration of the last round of federal stimulus funds is imminent, we applaud ISBE for stepping up to continue many federally-funded programs with state resources. But make no mistake, the loss of over $4 billion in ESSER III funding is stark—meaning local leaders will have to make hard decisions on whether and how to continue critical post-COVID supports. EBF represents the most powerful tool we have to equip schools to address these needs. So while we appreciate ISBE making good on the state’s commitment to add at least $350M a year into EBF, we hope the Governor and legislators will do everything in their power to push for up to $550M – an increase that reflects the skipped budget year in FY21, real and ongoing inflationary pressures, and ongoing and serious student needs.  

We thank ISBE for its work and its commitment in pushing for important investments in Illinois’ students and children through its budget recommendation in a tight budget year. As we look to Governor Pritzker’s budget address in late February, we urge him to keep front of mind the diverse complexities and possibilities of every Illinois student and child, and the investment they need to succeed and thrive. He has proven himself a champion of children and education. In lean budget times, our students need that leadership even more keenly.