Illinois enacted a new school funding formulain August 2017. Known as the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) model, it calculates what adequate funding for a district would be and directs the majority of additional state funds to those districts furthest from adequacy. The legislature has committed to providing an additional $350 million per year for the next ten years. The first year of additional funding began last year, and last month the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) has released a special issue of their newsletter focused on how 50 districts from across the state are spending this new funding.
The report features stories from districts large and small located all over the state. The diversity of the districts still share one common theme—the additional funding has been a “godsend.” For too many years, Illinois has underfunded its schools (and continues to do so even with the EBF model), resulting in districts relying on property taxes to try and fill the gaps where they can, but in many cases having to cut funding for critical programs. With new funds coming to districts for the past two years, here’s a sampling of what’s been happening:
- Adding reading supports in elementary schools in East Moline SD #37
- Reducing the size of elementary classrooms, adding instructional coaches, and taking steps to address the teacher shortage in Galesburg CUSD #205
- Maintaining class sizes, updating instructional materials, and providing additional mental health resources for students in Belleville TWP HSD #201
- Addressing the social-emotional needs of students, especially those of at-risk students, in Quincy SD #172
- Creating “innovation zones” at the elementary level in collaboration with its teachers to improve student achievement and lengthen the elementary day by 45 minutes in Rockford Public Schools #205
- Hiring full-time art and music teachers and creating three STEM labs with smart boards, a 3-D printer, robotics, and computers for students to learn coding in Chicago Ridge SC #127.5
There are many more stories in the reportshowing how the new funding is making a difference for the students of Illinois. If the General Assembly stays committed to its promise to increase funding by $350 million years, all Illinois school districts will not reach 90% of their adequate funding level for another 30 years. It is essential that PTA advocates continue to ask legislators to increase the growth in education funding to bring our schools to adequate funding faster.
Our children are often referred to as digital natives—people growing up immersed in a digital world. And while they may be comfortable with technology and online activities, they are not born knowing how to be safe in that digital world. Just like our parents taught us how to be safe running around unsupervised in our neighborhoods growing up, we now need to teach our children those skills for the digital world. We may not be digital natives and may not necessarily know all the ins and outs of online safety, but there are many resources available to help us teach our kids to be safe online.
This spring has seen a significant number of tornadoes across Illinois and the country. Today’s guest post comes from 
As school lets out for the summer, families’ thoughts turn to vacations, outdoor activities, and picnics, but for some, there is also thoughts of how to feed their family. For those families taking part in the free and reduced lunch program, the end of the school year means the end of the ten meals per week that their child had at school. 