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Education Desk
The Education Desk is our education blog focusing on key areas of news coverage important to the state and its improvement. Evidence of public policy performance and impact will be reported and analyzed. We encourage you to engage in commenting and discussing the coverage of education from pre-natal to Higher Ed.Dusty Rhodes curates this blog that will provide follow-up to full-length stories, links to other reports of interest, statistics, and conversations with you about the issues and stories.About - Additional Education Coverage00000179-2419-d250-a579-e41d385d0000

ISBE Asks For $15 Billion "Equitable" Funding

White board with, "School Funding" written on it
Carter Staley
/
NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS

The Illinois State Board of Education today voted unanimously to ask the General Assembly to practically double state funding for public schools.

Last summer, the legislature voted to change the way Illinois funds schools by adopting what's called an “evidence-based model.” That model weighs what each district needs against its local resources. As it turns out, some districts can't achieve even 50 percent of adequate funding, while others have almost three times what they need.

Citing the state constitution's requirement to be the primary provider of education, and their own role as an “advocacy organization,” ISBE approved a $15.7 billion budget request.

Board member Kevin Settle makes it sound reasonable.

“I think it's our responsibility to ask for what it takes to fund each school in the state so each child gets the education they need and deserve,” he says.

The problem with inequitable funding is that — despite that wide variance in resources — students are treated exactly the same in one crucial way:

"Everyone takes the same tests in Illinois that are approved by the State Board of Education,” Settle says. “So all schools and all students are held accountable for, well, for the same standardized tests or assessments."

But he admits it will be difficult for lawmakers to cough up that kind of dough.

"I think it will be difficult for the legislature to find the extra $7.2 billion. But again, we're asking for what we need to fund the schools adequately," he says.

He said the board members were persuaded after holding hearings over the past three months, and hearing educators talk about the challenges they face with inadequate funding.

"And when we heard all of the statements throughout the hearings — in Springfield, Chicago and Mt. Vernon — we decided that we would ask for what was needed," he says. “And there was no collusion. We all read what we read, and we voted the way we wanted to vote. So there was nothing that was pre-determined about it.”

 

After a long career in newspapers (Dallas Observer, The Dallas Morning News, Anchorage Daily News, Illinois Times), Dusty returned to school to get a master's degree in multimedia journalism. She began work as Education Desk reporter at NPR Illinois in September 2014.
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