Johnson: Area schools to receive $6M in evidence-based funding

BUFFALO GROVE – State Sen. Adriane Johnson said 12 school districts throughout the area will receive more than $6 million in funding to help address the financial challenges of recent years.

“Illinois’ previous approach to funding education contributed to racial and socioeconomic inequities in access to resources and educational outcomes,” said Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove. “It is our hope to continue to bridge the educational gaps so children are afforded equitable education opportunities.”

The funding comes from the 2017 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:

• Safe School-Lake County ROE: $57,573

• Gurnee School District 56: $108,081

• Waukegan Community Unit School District 60: $4,642,698

• Oak Grove School District 68: $759

• Hawthorn Community Consolidated School District 73: $60,048

• Mundelein Elementary School District 75: $859,865

• Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96: $2,965

• Aptakisic-Tripp Community Consolidated School District 102: $39,318

• Lincolnshire-Prairieview School District 103: $1,568

• Adlai E. Stevenson District 125: $4,168

• Libertyville Community High School District 128: $3,076

• North Chicago School District 187: $388,442

The fiscal 2024 budget invested $350 million in funding into students’ success through the evidence-based funding model.

For more information on the fiscal 2024 evidence-based funding distribution, visit the Illinois State Board of Education’s website, isbe.net.