Springfield schools are underfunded, and they're not alone
By Pankaj Sharma Secretary-Treasurer of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and President of the North Suburban Teachers Union IFT AFT Local 1274
Nearly 78% of Illinois school districts are below full funding. In Waukegan, Rockford, Elgin, Chicago, Aurora, Peoria, Kankakee, Urbana, Danville, Quincy, Springfield, Belleville, Carbondale and Marion, schools fell farther from full funding this year than they did last. Lawmakers wrote a target into the EBF law, 90% adequacy for every district by 2027.
Instead of closing that gap, Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly continue to lose ground on their own legal requirement to adequately fund public education by 2027.
Springfield's own budget crisis sits inside that statewide failure. The district is under a three-year state deficit reduction plan that requires a balanced budget by 2028, and this year's nearly $10 million in cuts, on top of staff displacements already underway this spring, are part of that reckoning.
The district's fund balance, its cushion for hard years, has shrunk by more than $40 million since 2023. Last year, the board cut $3 million just to keep the doors open. District documents point to rising transportation, insurance, and salary and benefit costs as key drivers of the gap, with federal dollars falling and EBF funding flat at best.
Every year Illinois underfunds EBF, District 186 loses revenue it would otherwise use to cover those rising costs. When schools do not have enough resources, students pay the price through fewer educators, larger classes and fewer support services.
