KANKAKEE— State Senator Patrick Joyce announced that seven school districts across the South Cook County area will receive over $2 million in additional funding to help address the financial challenges of recent years.
“Evidence-based funding helps create a fair distribution of resources among different schools and districts throughout the state,” said Joyce (D-Essex). “By using this formula, we can ensure our educators and administrators have access to the tools to promote positive learning experiences for our students.”.”
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 and number of special education or English language learners, among other factors.
Local schools set to receive funding through the formula:
- Steger School District 194: $737,039
- Chicago Heights School District 170: $383,131
- Bloom Township High School District 206: $288,286
- Flossmoor School District 161: $259,357
- Region 07 South Cook ISC School District: $178,902
- Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163: $118,847
- South Cook Intermediate Service Center: $103,648
The Fiscal Year 2024 budget invested $350 million in new funding into students’ success through the evidence-based funding model.
For more information on the FY 24 evidence-based funding distribution, visit the Illinois State Board of Education’s website.
