November 5, 2026 · 13,159 words · 18 speakers · 92 segments
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Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here today. Recording in progress. With that being said, the House Appropriations for Elementary and Secondary Education Committee shall come to order, and the clerk shall call the roll. Davis.
Present.
Ortiz.
Willauer.
Favre Diaz. Present.
Friese. Present.
Hernandez. Here.
Hershauer Here McLaughlin Yangroar Here
All right. We have six members present. Okay. Thank you all very much. Thanks to members who are joining us remotely as well. With that, we have six members answering the role, so we do have a quorum, but we are having a subject matter hearing, so a quorum is not necessary for that purpose. And with that, I've been instructed that we are going to start with the IEA because one of your teachers needs to, and we understand and we appreciate that. So if you would like to come to the table, we'll get started with the IEA. WITH THAT, JUST STATE YOUR NAME. I ASSUME YOU'RE SPEAKING FIRST? OKAY, JUST STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.
GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIR DAVIS AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE. I AM UNIQUE MICKENS, LOBBYIST FOR THE ILLINOIS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, REPRESENTING 135,000 MEMBERS FROM ASPIRING EDUCATORS TO RETIRED TEACHERS. Thank you for allowing me to speak. It has been almost 10 years since evidence-based funding, EBF, passed, and I want to thank you, especially Representative Davis, for being a true leader and visionary on school funding. EBF was a necessary change to fund our K-12 public schools. Our state went from being 47th in funding our public schools to 18th, according to Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization. With the increase in funding, we are now ranked at fifth for pre-K through 12th grade education, according to the U.S. News & World Report. But there is still room to grow with more funding. Just imagine what our schools could achieve with an increase in funding. We could have enough school nurses so every student's health needs could be met. Social workers and school psychologists would be able to provide mental health services, not just for students, but also their families. This would be especially helpful in the areas of the state that have little or no access to mental health providers. Our students with special needs would have the necessary personnel, such as a special education teacher, paraprofessional, speech-language pathologist, occupational or physical therapists to meet their IEP needs so they can thrive. Our multilingual students would have the support from their teacher and paraprofessional to help them become proficient in English. And finally, our schools could expand or begin career and technical education programs to meet the needs of our ever-evolving workforce. Please remember that an investment in education is an investment in our state's future. And I'll hand this over to Elizabeth Ojeda Jimenez, who's one of our local leaders.
Thank you. I believe she's joining us remotely. Can you hear us okay, ma'am?
Yes, I can. Thank you.
Okay. Just give us your name for the record, and please feel free to speak after.
Thank you. My name is Elizabeth Ojeda Jimenez. Good afternoon, everyone. Chair Davis, Vice Chair Ortiz, and Spokesperson Willowar. My name is Elizabeth Ojeda Jimenez, and I am proud to represent the Illinois Education Association and its 135,000 members. I come before you today as a product of bilingual education a proud multilingual teacher a school board president a union leader and an advocate for public schools I have the privilege of seeing the impact of education funding from the classroom to the school board table. Thank you for allowing me to share my perspectives. It has been, again, as Yannick mentioned, almost 10 years since evidence-based funding EBF has passed, nearly a decade ago. Illinois made a commitment to transform how we fund public education. We recognize that a student's educational opportunities should not be determined by the zip code, their family's income, their language they speak, or the property wealth of the community where they live. When we invest in education, we are providing students with the tools they need to be successful, reach their full potential, and thrive in our communities. As educators, we know that all of our students come to us with different needs. Some students come to school carrying trauma and need social-emotional learning, counseling, and supports to help them feel safe and ready to learn. Some students come to school hungry, and we know that no child can fully learn on an empty stomach. Some students need additional academic support and interventions that will help them overcome barriers and achieve their potential. Other comes to us from different countries and communities around the world. They bring their languages, cultures, and experiences with them. They need multilingual educators who can support them as they learn English while continuing to develop their academic skills. These are not extras. These are essential resources that allow students to access their education and succeed and be able to be successful. However, school districts are often forced to make difficult choices about how to allocate limited resources and those choices have a direct impact on our students. As a school board president, I understand the responsibility of making decisions that affect students, families, educators, and entire communities. I understand that when resources are limited, districts must make difficult decisions about staffing programming interventions and student support services but the reality is that when a district has to choose between providing academic interventions hiring a multilingual teacher supporting students social emotional needs or maintaining essential programs our students are the ones who are who feel the impact we should not have to choose which students receive the support they need evidence-based funding was created to address these inequalities it recognizes that students have different needs and the school districts require different levels of resources to provide every child with an adequate education as we approach the 10-year anniversary of bbf we must remember that this legislation was more than a fountain formula it was a commitment to equity and to ensuring that every student regardless of where they live has access to the resources and opportunities they deserve in 2024, 2025 years. The state of Illinois was responsible for over 3,000, 2,300,442 English language learners. In 2011, the percentage of ELs was 8.8%. In 2025, 17.5%, almost doubled. Investing in public education is investing in the future of of Illinois. It is investing in the students who will become our teachers will become our nurses our engineers business owners community leaders next state representatives governor or the next generation of citizens who will strengthen our communities Our students cannot wait another decade for the resources they need today. The educators who serve them cannot continue to be asked to fill the gaps left by inadequate funding. And our schools districts should not have to make decisions that limit a student's opportunity to succeed simply because the resources are not there. Last year alone, I was serving over 150 students. This year, I'm serving 122, one person. How do I do it? I don't know because it is difficult. The promise of evidence-based funding must be more than a promise. It must be a reality for every student in Illinois. On behalf of the 135,000 members of Illinois Education Association, I urge you to continue investing in evidence-based funding and to ensure that every student has access to the resources, support, and opportunities they need to succeed and thrive. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your commitment to the Illinois Public Education and to each of our students.
Thank you very much, Jimenez. Before you go, ma'am, if I miss it, I apologize. What school district are you in?
So I work in Westmont School District 60. That's where I made my day job. I am a school board president in Berwyn South School District 100.
Great. Thank you very much. Appreciate your service, ma'am.
Thank you.
Our pleasure. Thank you very much. Anything else you need? Great. Thank you very much for joining us today. I appreciate that. Before I go any further, I certainly I'd be remiss if I did not acknowledge one of our very strong and capable senators joining us in the room today. Thank you very much, Senator Guzma, for being here today as well.
Thank you.
Moving on to our next group, IFT. Whoever is going to speak, please come have a seat at the table.
Okay.
Are all of you speaking?
All right, then.
Thank you very much. I, as I shared with Ms. Mallory, if you can, I'll give everybody an opportunity to speak. Just hopefully whatever you have to add to the conversation will be different than the person who spoke before you. That's what we want because we want to hear the breath of what all of you feel about where we are as it relates to school funding. So with that, I don't know who's going to start. So whoever it is, just state your name for the record. And then you can begin your testimony and then just one after another, please go ahead and offer your comments.
Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Crystal Mallory. We will keep these brief. I want to thank the members of the committee for their time today. I'm here on behalf of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Today, you're going to hear from the panel that is with me on how underfunding is hitting their specific districts across Illinois. As a staff of the State Federation, I want to give you a statewide picture, and that picture is simple. Illinois is losing ground on evidence-based funding. In 2017, the General Assembly did something right. It passed a formula that funds schools based on what students actually need, and it made a promise that every district would be funded at 90%. adequacy by June 30, 2027. That deadline is this fiscal year. Illinois is putting more funding overall in the K-12 than ever before, but 660 districts and 1.5 million students will still be below 90% adequacy. This year, the statewide adequacy gap is $6.83 billion, dollars and that's up from 1.24 billion dollars in a single year due to the standard 300 to 350 million dollars year after year the whole got a billion dollars deeper three out of four districts lost ground this year alone this is not only a chicago problem it's a problem in decatur it's a problem in joliet it's a problem in waukegan it's a problem in champagne springfield carmondale and even in the metro east the districts where our members work are 3.26 billion dollars short on their own and every region in the state went backwards the districts losing the most ground serve the students with the most need in those districts 53 percent of students are low income compared to 30 percent in districts that are gaining ground english language learners make up 22 percent double the share in districts gaining ground. EBF was written to close that gap. Underfunding is widening the gap. The pressure goes beyond the formula. Special ed transportation and mandated categoricals is funded at 55 cents on the dollar and that's down from 92 cents on the dollar in 2017. Our public universities, they are facing a 1.85 billion dollar adequacy gap of their own the research is clear dollars invested in students and education works and educators we're asking this committee to appropriate what makes uh what it takes to meet the deadline and the state has set for itself we stand ready to work with you on the revenue to get there and a start would be to boost funding by including a supplemental appropriation during the fall veto session thank you so much for your time and i'm happy to answer any questions we'll wait to the end for that so please whoever is next just identify yourself and speak my name is kyle stern
and i just like to say good afternoon and i appreciate the opportunity to speak today i'm a math teacher in suburban cook county and president of the west suburban teachers union local 571. I'm here today to talk about Illinois school funding crisis and what it looks like inside our schools and how our students are paying the price. At Argo Community High School, which I represent, the library is a librarian name only and has no librarian. The books have been moved to the tutoring center because the district faces a $10 million funding gap. Students need access to books, research education, and opportunities to be digitally literate for an increasingly complex world and that's hard to do without a librarian. In addition, Argo only offers one foreign language class. At Proviso Township High School District 209, a funding shortfall of more than $30 million means deteriorating buildings, overcrowded classrooms, and too few resources for a growing bilingual student population. At Morton District 201, the funding gap exceeds $50 million, limiting the district's ability to modernize technology and to prepare students for today's workforce. Cicero District faces over $40 million shortfall as well These are not just numbers They mean fewer counselors fewer opportunities and less support for students Illinois already has the evidence funding formula that identifies schools and the needs that they need The problem is not the formula. The problem is that it's not been fully funded and we're falling further behind. Full funding means librarians, qualified teachers, counselors, modern technology, and mental health supports. It means every child, regardless of zip code, has the opportunity to succeed. It's far more important than a football stadium. As you enter the veto session, I urge you to put the students first and fully fund our schools. Our children cannot wait any longer. Thank you very much for
your time. Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important issue. My name is Megan Accardo and I am a proud paraprofessional in the Grays Lake Community Consolidated School District 46 and president of the Grays Lake PSRP Council of the Lake County Federation of Teachers. I work directly with students every day, and I know what it takes to truly educate them, not simply open the school doors, turn on the lights, and put students in a classroom. We are nearly 10 years into Illinois' evidence-based funding formula. It was passed with the promise that every child, regardless of zip code, would have access to the resources they need for a quality education. But that promise remains unfulfilled. A decade later, more than 66% of schools are not adequately funded under the EBF formula. That means this is not just a Chicago problem. It is happening in the suburbs, the Quad Cities, in central Illinois, and far downstate. All across Illinois, students are paying the price for a funding system that continues to fall short. In District 46, we are funded at just 70% of adequacy. That means we are 30% below what the state itself says our students need for an adequate education. What does that look like in my school? It means too few paraprofessionals. And the paraprofessionals we have stretched thin to support students. It means fewer opportunities for one-on-one academic, behavioral, and social-emotional support for students. It means special education staff and teachers carrying heavier workloads, essential positions, competing for limited dollars, and students not always receiving the individualized attention they deserve, especially those with special needs. Paraprofessionals help students with disabilities access their education, provide personal care and mobility assistance, support students' safety, and build the relationships that help children succeed. We are not extras. We are essential. It is the same in the majority of Illinois school districts. When the schools cannot afford the people and services that students depend on, our children pay the price. Evidence-based funding was passed 10 years ago. It is time to finish what we started. You have a responsibility to put students ahead of stadium, billionaire tax breaks, and political agendas. Fully fund our schools. Close the adequacy gap. Invest in the people who make public education work. Our children should never have to compete for the resources they need to learn. Make them your top priority. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Josh Webster. I serve as president of Local 763 Madison Federation of Teachers and Support Personnel, and I am proud to serve as a security guard at the Madison Community Union School District Number 12 in Madison, Illinois, in the Metro East. I stand today because I not just a president of a local not just an employee of the district but a member of that community that sees the importance of what the school means to our staff our students, and everyone else. I'm here to say something very simple, but it's real significant. Madison School District and the community we serve deserve adequate and fair funding. During the 2025-26 school year, we had approximately 74% of what was needed for our school district. This year it's at 68%. That 6% increase is $3.5 million in loss. Now I want you to understand that $3.5 million is much more than just a number on a paper. It has real consequences for Madison. What that means is that we have students that no longer have access to art programs, the CTE programs that they deserve. That means that we have to send our students to neighboring school districts for opportunities that they should have inside of their own community. That means that we've lost our after school program where we have students at our elementary school that eat lunch at 1030, leave school at 230. And we don't know if they're going to eat again until the very next day when they see us at breakfast time. That means that we have certified and non-certified staff members that have dedicated themselves to our community and our staff that are now leaving our district to go to neighboring school districts so they can get better wages and better benefits. That means that we're asking our educators and our support staff to do more with less. That means we're expecting our students to compete and concede when they have fewer resources. I'm asking you to consider the community that we serve. Approximately 95% of the students in Madison qualify for free and reduced lunch. Those students are dependent on something that goes way more than education. Our schools provide stability, opportunity, support, and access to resources that many of them do not have if it was not for the school district. Our students should not have fewer opportunities just because of a zip code that they live in. So I'm not asking for special treatment. We're not asking for special treatment. But we're asking the state to adequately fund the schools and give the students what they are owed under its own EBF funding formula. So today I respectfully ask this committee to remember Madison Community Unit School District number 12 when making those education appropriation decisions because our students, they are an investment. Our educators and our support staff, they are an investment. Our community, they are an investment. Thank you for your time and your consideration.
Sir, before you, one of our members wanted to make sure we captured your name correctly. Josh Webster.
Josh Webster?
Yes, sir. Okay, and what was the school district again?
Madison Community Unit School District number 12.
And that's in Madison, Illinois in the Metro East area?
Yes.
Thank you very much. Please continue.
Good afternoon. My name is Becky Rairo and I represent 1400 support office and teaching staff in East Aurora.
Oh, bring it up.
Should I start again or?
Okay. I support our 1400 support staff, office staff,
and teachers in East Aurora School District 131 in Aurora, Illinois. And I'm here today to give you a little picture of what evidence-based funding funding means to us just to give you a little background 56.2 percent of our students are english learners according to the newest report card and 70 percent of our students are considered low income and despite those challenges our students are excited to come to school our community is engaged and involved and we think that they deserve uh the the all the the opportunities that funding, adequate funding would give to them. Our district funding gap is now million and that an increase in the gap of approximately 10 million we are moving in the wrong direction and i want to talk about what that means for east aurora and their students it means difficult decisions ahead for us about staffing about programs and our building needs these decisions directly affect the support and opportunities that we are able to give our students our students need and deserve fully funded schools in order to compete with neighboring school districts so we ask that you consider everything that my colleagues have said today so thank you
hi I'm Shanice Stevens and this is my second time here for this hearing and I'm hoping that is falling on the open ears I sit before you as a mother a Chicago public schools graduate and an educator who spent 14 years serving children on the west side. Strong schools build strong communities. When our schools struggle, our communities struggle. Our children should enter schools smiling, excited to learn. Instead, many carry the weight of poverty, violence, housing instability, and trauma. Those struggles do not stop at the schoolhouse doors. And what awaits them? Deteriorating buildings, peeling paint, and concerns about a lead and a spastic exposure. I have pictures if you want to see them. Schools are forced to choose between building repairs and quality curriculum. Underfunded schools are pushed toward skyline because they cannot afford alternatives. Teachers spend countless hours rewriting lessons to make them culturally relevant and academically appropriate. But rewriting lessons cannot replace having a quality curriculum ready for our students. That time should be spent individualizing instruction, not rebuilding a curriculum that should already meet our students' needs. Last year, I had students showing signs of depression who needed counseling. I once referred a lot of students in my classroom, but I was told I had to prioritize the most severe cases. I referred seven students. Only six were accepted. I was told more funding would have allowed all seven to receive the services. But what about the children I couldn't even refer? And one of those seven students stopped coming to school altogether. How can we close achievement gaps when we're struggling just to keep children connected to school? Our students with disabilities face similar barriers. Students with IEPs, individualized education programs, that have identified the support for paraprofessionals of health, are sitting more than a year without that TA or that paraprofessional because they're saying it's not enough funding. And so principals are told to reassign the staff, leaving other students without the support they need. We're not meeting the needs. We're shifting shortages between children. Also, I've witnessed a nonverbal student wait over a year for a communication device to be repaired, and they wonder why he's freaking out in class. He can't communicate with you. He has needs and he's accustomed to having a communication device that he's not getting. Fox 32 reported on a CPS student with autism attending Akasha Academy, a school outside of CPS. His mother reported driving 79 miles daily. He missed nearly five weeks of instruction amid a transportation dispute. Why can't we adequately serve our children within our own district? Our children also need support beyond the school year. One summer, a mother called me at 1 a.m. because her child was missing. The child was outside in the community. and joining a structured summer programming our school traditionally offered. Schools should provide stability, safety, and opportunity year-round. According to the funding guide, CPS needs $2 billion to meet the needs that we're not meeting. States report that once covered 50% of CPS special education costs now cover just 28%. These aren't simply numbers that represent children whose needs are that go unmet. I call on the governor and the Illinois General Assembly to fully fund the evidence-based funding and mandated special education services. Fund safe buildings, culturally responsive curriculum, mental health services, paraprofessionals, transportation, and year-round programming. Our children's needs should determine the funding, not the funding determining our children's needs. So I say to you today, they are entitled to an education. please fully fund our schools, strengthen our communities, and our children cannot wait.
Thank you all very much, sir. No? Oh, just in case. Okay. We're going to finish our testimony before we get to any Q&A.
I did.
I'll get to it momentarily. I do have a question I need to ask, but if you don't mind, let's get our last group up. It's my understanding that they are representing CTU. Oh, I'm sorry. Not our last group, but let's finish this portion of the testimony first. CTU?
No, we were waiting for a while.
Okay.
Oh, okay.
Then we'll move on to our last group. Are you with Pierre, Illinois?
Okay.
All right. We'll move to our last group, Pierre, Illinois. Thank you for joining us. Just state your name for the record and feel free to offer your testimony. Turn your microphone on. Press the little button there in front.
Yep.
There we go.
That's better.
Okay.
Good afternoon, Chairman Davis and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. My name is Madeline Murray, and I'm the director of grassroots engagement and campaigns at Peer Illinois, a statewide school funding coalition advocating for equitable, fully funded public education. Illinois lawmakers made promises to every child when evidence-based funding was passed in 2017 that their zip code would not determine the quality of their education and that their schools would be adequately funded by 2027. Today I'm here to urge you to keep those promises but the window is closing. This year the State Board of Education's data showed that districts are 6.96 billion dollars below adequate funding, an increase of over $1 billion from last year. Based on ISBE's own data, 84% of students across Illinois are attending underfunded schools, and those numbers only grow when adjusted by demographic. 96% of black students and 90% of Latin A students are in districts funded below 100%. With minimal new investments in education annually, impacted communities have been continuously asked to accept the status quo of persistent underfunding, and the status quo is not moving the needle on equity. If we serious as a state about closing a gap of this size and impact we need to be bolder The impacts of this underfunding are not theoretical or academic We all know about the urgent crisis facing the Chicago Public Schools which serves nearly 20% of the K-12 students in Illinois. At the same time, it's vital to remember that this is and always has been a statewide issue. In many school communities that are organizing alongside Pure Illinois, gaps to adequate funding are not just persisting, but growing and real consequences are being felt. As one example, we have parent leaders here with us today from Dalton School District 148, where the percentage of adequacy dropped from 84 to 74% this year, and the district has an EBF funding gap of over $10 million. Far from theoretical, the persistent underfunding in that district has contributed to school closure and consolidation of school communities, and now resulted in students not having access to computer labs or library time and this example is not an isolated one a data visualization tool that peer Illinois has developed and is posted on our website shows that school communities within each one of your Illinois house districts face under funding and many of them have deep inequity school district you 46 has an adequacy percentage of 70% Cicero school district 99 has an adequacy percentage of 76% trico CUSD 176 has an adequacy percentage of 69% percent these districts are serving every demographic of student in urban suburban and rural areas of our state and the families in them are your constituents if we continue to accept this status quo these lost educational opportunities and pressures are only going to deepen we will look around and ask why are student income outcomes not improving why does enrollment appear to be declining why are schools closing it's because we're failing to meet the promise of even adequately funding schools, let alone genuinely working together to demand and fund excellence. And that failure is institutional. It's not a failure of our school communities. Our parents, students, and educators continue to appreciate and love their public schools and see something better, and it's your responsibility to give them the resources to get there. We look forward to working with you on how to make that possible. Thank you.
Pleasure. Thank you very much for joining us today. It's very kind of you. It looks like we've got a couple more that we've added. Next would be SCIU. Welcome to come sit at the table here. Just state your name for the record and feel free to speak. And ma'am, could you turn that microphone off, please? Just hit the little button there. Thank you very much. And be sure to turn yours on before you speak. Thank you.
pull it down a little closer there you go thank you hi my name is diane palmer and i serve as the president of seiu local 73. our members are the people who make every school day happen they include custodians who open the buildings early in the morning bus drivers food service workers special education classroom assistants, and the clerical and security staff who know each child by name. Evidence-based funding is based on a straightforward idea. Find out what it really costs to give a child a good education and then provide that funding. We still believe in this approach, but a goal only matters if we actually fund it. Right now, the state's own data shows we are not meeting our goals. The funding gap has grown for three years in a row and it's now $6.8 billion. 63% of districts still get less than 90% of what they need. The 3 of districts still I sorry State Board of Education says that if we keep adding about million in a year it will take around 14 years to close this gap A child starting kindergarten this fall will finish school long before 14 years have passed. Kids can't wait that long. These numbers represent real people. There's custodians who have to cover more space than one person can handle. There's a special education classroom assistant trying to help more students than she can reach. Some schools can't fill jobs because the pay isn't enough. When schools don't have enough funding, both the staff and the students suffer. This isn't just a problem in one area. From Carbondale to Chicago and Bloomington to Blue Island, our communities still don't have what the state's formula says their students need. This is about more than adequate funding. We need to be honest about where funding comes from. The corporate replacement tax that schools rely on is going down. Property tax is already a burden for working families, and we shouldn't expect them to carry this burden alone. Other states have shown this another way. In Massachusetts, voters passed a 4% surtax on income over $1 million, and the money goes to schools and transportation. This has brought in billions more than expected, and wealthy residents have not left. Washington has attacked the capital gains of the wealthiest people since 2022. These states decided that those who benefit most from our economy can help support the public schools that keep it strong. Illinois can do this, too. It means asking the wealthiest people, including billionaires, to pay their fair share and making sure we do it carefully and together. We need legislators, educators, school staff, parents, and business leaders to work together, and we'll need voters since our Constitution requires it. SEIU Local 73 is ready to join that conversation. Let's create a funding system that lives up to the promise we made in 2017 to every child in every Illinois school. Thank you.
Thank you, ma'am. Sir, are you speaking?
Only to answer questions.
Okay. Thank you very much. We're going to move on with our testimony. And we now have the Chicago Principals Association. Okay.
Good afternoon, Chair Davis, members of the committee. I am Kia Banks. I am president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association and a general vice president for the American Federation of School Supervisors and Administrators, representing over 25,000 school leaders here in Chicago and across this country. I came here today prepared to talk about the numbers, but then I realized that we have an even greater opportunity here today to set an example for this entire country. Today, we can actually set the bar for what a fully funded public school system in these United States can achieve when we all come together to solve the funding issue The fact that our schools in Illinois are funded at only about 70 percent of what the state itself says is needed to adequately fund our public schools and that we are almost 1.9 billion dollars short of that adequate funding for our children is a challenge. But it is one I am confident that we collectively can overcome. And I could give you many more numbers, but I imagine you will be hearing numbers all day. And when you are constantly hearing numbers and who's to blame and who should pay, I think it is easy to forget what these numbers actually mean. Because when we talk about a funding gap, what we're really talking about are resources a child isn't getting. And when a child doesn't get what they need to be successful, we have to ask ourselves, is the challenge that students aren't succeeding, or is it what critical resources are we failing to provide them? You know, it wasn't all that long ago that I was a teacher in CPS, and until recently I was a principal. I was the person in my building trying to make those numbers that you're hearing about today make sense. So I'm asking you to help me make this make sense. Before the first bill, a teacher is absent and no substitute is available. An assistant principal covers that classroom, postponing teacher coaching, supervision, supervising lunch and recess safely, and then meeting with a struggling student. A family arrives needing help to enroll at the school after losing their housing. This family needs an interpreter. The child is frightened that immigration enforcement could separate their families. Meanwhile, another student's individualized education plan requires specialized instruction, therapy, and transportation. Those are legal obligations that we're expected to provide, yet those positions remain unallocated or vacant. Those obligations cannot wait for the next appropriation cycle. When those obligations aren't met, our educators and our districts risk legal findings or forced to offer compensatory damages, and those are more numbers. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I was still supposed to be leading instruction, supporting teachers, helping families, and making sure the students were learning. That's what principals do every day. But we can't keep figuring our way out of a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place. And really, that's why I'm here today. We've been doing this for years, right? We, all the stakeholders here today, come before committees.
We explain the shortfalls. We describe what our children need. You listen. You make decisions. And we all go back to our schools and jobs and try to make it make sense. but then the next year comes and we do it all over again. Now, I appreciate that Illinois has already made significant investments in public education. I really do. And I know none of this is simple, but at some point we have to ask whether the way we are going about this is actually getting us where we need to go. My members at the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association think that your minds are already made up. They think that there's no money. . And they worry that no matter how well our schools perform, public education will always be asked to do more with less. And I don't want to believe that. I want to believe that when we elect people who promise to support public education and say that they keep students at the heart of their decisions, that when we come together in rooms like this, and when we are sharing the evidence of what our students can accomplish despite the challenges that they face, that something on your part can actually change. And I want to go back to our principals and administrators and our union and tell them that their voices really do matter, that this wasn't just another hearing where we all said what we were supposed to say and did what we always do and went back home. I want to tell them that the people in this room are prepared to do something differently, but see, I can't make that promise for them. You have to make that promise. We have an evidence-based funding formula. We know what it costs to educate children. We also know how far away from that number we are. So what is the plan to close the gap? Not just this year, not just next budget. What's the plan to get us to the place where we aren't having the same conversation the next five and ten years? And I think we need to stop allowing the fight for resources to put the very people, the resources that put the very people all in this room to get to today unified together. We got to stop using this fight for resources as a way to divide us because we're all here today unified about how much we care about the children. And we are not at odds with one another today. Parents want what's best for their children. Teachers want to teach. Principals want to lead schools where our children can thrive. And I believe the people sitting in this room want those things too. So why do we keep finding ourselves fighting over the crumbs of what's left instead of working together to make sure it's enough in the first place? We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and yet somehow we're still asking school leaders to figure out how to educate our children with less than what they've determined is just the bare minimum of what they need. And that shouldn't sit well with any of us. And yes, we're here to ask for money. We need it. But our children are obligated legally to receive it. But money alone isn't the entire conversation. We need you to accelerate evidence-based funding, fully support the services our most vulnerable students depend on and are entitled to, and finally, address the debilitating debt that's pulling resources away from our calendars, excuse me, our classrooms. Our members are the people who have to make your decisions work. Or let me say it this way, make your math math inside of our schools. Every single dollar we don't have is a vital resource our students don't have. That math represents a child in a classroom without what they need to learn and the resources they deserve to accommodate their IEPs, the nutrition they need to be healthy, and the transportation they need to access it. And that perspective is what it truly means to put students first. Our students sitting in our classrooms today cannot wait for you to come back here next year to hear us describe the same problems. We need you to put this on your agenda for this session for the spring session and to work together to solve problems now Next year I much rather come back here and talk about what we accomplished together Because here the thing Our children don't get to put educational needs on hold while the adults figure it out. Our children only get one third grade, only get one seventh grade. They only get one senior year. And whatever we fail to provide them today is an opportunity we may never be able to give back. Thank you.
Thank you, ma'am. We have, I think, as far as we know, one more left to come to the table, and that is a representative from the Chicago Public Schools. Okay.
Good afternoon, Chairman Davis and members of the committee. My name is Emmy Lozoko, Acting Chief Budget Officer for Chicago Public Schools. I'm joined here today by some of my colleagues, our Chief Financial Officer, Walter Stock, Executive Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Jamel Chambers, and Chief of College and Career Success, Megan Hogard. Thank you for holding this subject matter hearing on evidence-based funding. and for the opportunity to share our experiences and our insights into future funding considerations around EBF. Across CPS, our momentum is undeniable, mirroring the progress happening statewide, as evidenced in the most recent state report card results. Our class of 2026 reached historic academic achievements, including a record high four-year graduation rate of 83.4%, essentially a doubling of the district's graduation rate since 2001. More than 57% of our graduates leave with at least one college or career credential, including college credits through AP, IB, dual enrollment and dual credit programs, CTE certifications, seals of literacy, and more. Our graduating students earned... I haven't been keeping count. I don't know what number she's at right now. We have somebody who is unmuted.
Could you please mute your microphone, please? Thank you. Please continue, ma'am.
Our graduating students earned close to $3 billion in scholarships last year, and this number continues to grow. Most impressively, 7 out of 10 CPS graduates in 2026 enrolled in college, beating the national average of 63% and the high poverty school average of 52%. And 78% of students persist in their higher education, a figure that also beats national and high poverty school averages. We need to protect this progress and also focus on the work we know must continue in order to make sure every child in every part of our city is achieving to their fullest potential through a daily learning experience that is rigorous, joyful, and equitable. Like many large urban school districts, CPS has been facing a dual crisis where revenue and enrollment are declining, but student needs and costs are increasing. CPS is paying higher costs on maintenance for our aging facilities, labor contracts, employee pensions, and paying off the district's existing debt burden. Most significantly, the costs associated with meeting our students' wide range of needs continue to grow without dedicated revenue streams able to keep pace. CPS has faced staggering budget deficits each year since FY25 when the district used the last of its remaining COVID federal relief funding We have made an intentional effort to identify administrative efficiencies by continuously rigorously reviewing expenditures and implementing over $500 million in structural deficit reductions over the past two fiscal years. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to cut our way out of our annual budget crises without jeopardizing our key priorities, fulfilling our operational responsibilities, and most importantly, providing the services our students need and deserve. Regardless of our financial challenges, CPS has intentionally shifted resources to those investments that most directly impact students' day-to-day experience at school, and we've made it a priority to sustain those investments most critical to their success. In our FY27 budget, we continued our needs-based funding model for core teaching and support positions, which provides a minimum set of foundational positions to each school and then adds to those based on enrollment and various indicators of need. In the interest of student safety, we maintain programs like Safe Passage and Safe Haven, as well as crossing guards and school security personnel. we've continued working with partner organizations that provide proven mentoring tutoring and other supports for our students we added bilingual educators to support the needs of our english learners and in line with national trends we have increased supports for special education students in response to a growing population with growing needs these include special education teachers classroom assistants related service providers and transportation unfortunately without additional revenue, we will continue to face annual budget shortfalls that threaten these investments. CPS's fiscal challenges are due in part to longstanding resource constraints, limiting the funding we have available to meet the needs of our schools and our students. Our ability to generate local revenues is limited under state law, providing CPS minimal capacity within its control to combat state and federal funding challenges. At the federal level, key funding streams remain under threat with levels declining or stagnant over time at the municipal level cps has benefited from additional tax increment financing or tiff surplus revenue from the city but this is not a predictable or sustainable long-term practice and finally at the state level funding falls short of students needs while the ebf formula envisioned each each district reaching 90% adequacy by FY27, progress has slowed. According to the state's calculation, CPS is currently funded at just 70% of full statutory adequacy, down significantly from 81% three years ago, and well short of the promise of full funding. And CPS is not alone. Between FY26 and FY27, the number of fully funded districts, or those at or above 100% adequacy dropped from 239 to 209. Over that same period, districts reaching at least 90% adequacy fell from 335 to 312. And in FY27, out of the 624 school districts operating below the 90% adequacy threshold, 500 experienced a decrease in their adequacy percentage compared to the THE PREVIOUS YEAR. FOR CPS IN REAL DOLLAR TERMS, THIS MEANS THAT OF THE 300 MILLION DOLLARS IN NEW TIER FUNDING ALLOCATED STATEWIDE THIS YEAR OUR DISTRICT RECEIVES 65 MILLION THERE ARE MANY FEATURES OF THE EBF FORMULA THAT WE VALUE AND ARE GRATEFUL FOR INCLUDING THE guaranteed level of base funding year to year But as I described we like many entities statewide are operating under continuously increasing costs. On average, the amount of annual tier funding has not even kept up with inflation over the last five years, let alone the growth in student needs and the additional cost pressures we described earlier. When public school funding falls short statewide, it severely hampers our collective ability to invest in classroom instruction, mental health supports, specialized services, and equitable learning opportunities for all children. More than that, a fully funded education system is an essential part of a healthy economy. Good schools are essential in preparing the children of current residents for good-paying jobs right here at home. They also act as a magnet for companies seeking talented, well-educated workers and families looking to put down roots in a place that holds promise for their children's futures. Investing in our children isn't just the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do for our communities, for our economy, and for our future. We look forward to working with you to fulfill our mission of providing every student in every neighborhood with a high-quality education that prepares them for success in college, career, and their civic life. Thank you for your time.
thank you very much i know we have a couple of members who i believe are still on and we want to get to any questions uh that they may have so what i have before you leave ma'am i have six chairs looks like we had six groups testify so a representative from each group is welcome to occupy a chair and be able to answer any questions that members may have You don't have to if you don't want to, but no? Okay. All right. Just wanted to offer that to everyone. So if there are any members who are joining us in person as well as remotely, if you have any questions, please. Any questions? We'll start with Representative Favre Deis.
Hi, everyone. I may have heard. There was a lot of testimony, and thank you all so much. What is the number that would get us to adequacy? I've heard multiple numbers. Is it $3 billion? Is it a different number? Who can talk to me about what that number is that would get us to adequacy? let's say, for the FY 2027 budget. So I'll just jump in here and happy to keep the train here going because there's a lot of knowledge here. So it's $6.96 billion is what we're seeing in the most updated calculations that ISBE had put out for FY 27. That is the gap between the current level of resources and full funding. Great. Thank you. That's the only question I have. I have some comments. Do you want me to save those or do you want me to? Go ahead. Oh, okay. Sorry. Excuse me, Chair. So, first of all, thank you to everyone who testified today. And it was such a great breadth of all the people that make our schools function, from security guards to paraprofessionals, to custodial staff, to clerical administration, all of you are so important in making a school run. And it's so important that you testify on the record about the challenges that not fully funding EVF makes in your professional life. So thank you so much. Thank you for being here. Thank you for the work that you're doing for students. But then you're also taking time out and spending your own time on advocacy and doing what's best for our communities and our schools. I do want to highlight, and I can't remember who said it, but from the Chalkbeat article, I want to talk about the positives. We have moved from 47th to 18th in the amount of state funding that Illinois is. And that is thanks to the legislators who have been here longer, like Chair Davis, who came before me and my predecessors, who worked so hard to make EBF happen. And I think when we're talking about advocating for more, it doesn't mean that we're discrediting that good work that has come before us. It is vastly different. The funding formula is more equitable and significantly more than even when I was in the classroom. And so by advocating for more, we're not discrediting that work. And I think of it as being a parent like I do as a parent and a teacher. We are just raising the bar and expecting more, which is what any good educator and any good parent does. I want to take a I want to paint a picture. I am from Lake County. I'm from the center, the central area of Lake County. When you look at median income across the state, we have the third highest median income of any county in the entire state. And I say that to show that this, the lack of EBF funding and our distance from adequacy impacts everywhere. We know from Madison way down south to the suburbs of Chicago and to the city itself. And nowhere is excluded from this challenge of underfunded schools. When I look at my house district, the 62nd house district, I have 14 school districts within it. There are more schools in the tier one EBF category than in any other category. So we are 10 years in to EBF and I still have more schools that are in the lowest funded category than any other category in the third wealthiest county in this state. That's a problem. I also it is not a surprise to anyone here that the lowest income communities that I represent are also the districts that are least funded. and there is a wide gap. I have one school district. They are so lucky. They are doing amazing work. They are at 160% adequacy. That's amazing for them. But at the same time, most of the districts in my district are, like I said, at tier one. And so they are more than double. That 160 percentage district is more than double what most of the districts in my district are. And what that means, you have all painted a picture, but within my own children's district, it means that they've had to cut 14 positions for this school year across the district. It means that they are continuing to defer critical building maintenance. And we often see teachers leaving to higher paying districts. I also just want to highlight, thank you for your patience. I'm very passionate about this. I'm with you all. And I just want this to be on the record. I also think it's important to look at the economic context of 2027. I spent all fall knocking doors, talking to people in my community, and what I heard over and over and over again is that life is more expensive. But school districts, you aren't excluded from that. Classrooms and school buildings, that is the same for you. There are higher health costs for employees There is more expensive diesel to run our school buses EVERY INCREASED cost that average people are feeling everyday people are feeling also means that school districts and classrooms are facing those costs And I did, okay, I didn't do the calculation. I looked it up. We talk about $350 million being an increase every year. When you adjust that for inflation, that was set in 2018, 2017. When you adjust that for inflation today, that should be $465 million in today's terms. And we are simply asking for more closer to hit to what we need. Finally, I also want to talk about this at every opportunity that we have. The other huge impact that schools are going to see are the impacts of H.R.1 in the children that they face. Illinois has already had 305,000 people who have lost access to their SNAP. And we know that half of Illinois children are on Medicaid. And so what does that mean? That means when they walk into our schools and they walk into our classrooms, they are going to be even hungrier than they already are. And they're going to be even sicker and have less access to health care. And that impacts learning in our classroom. Our school report card, we did have good news this year. 17% of schools, there was an increase in exemplary schools by 17%. That means that teachers and educators are doing all of that with less while our students need more. I think that's all I have to say. Thank you all so much for being here. Please continue your advocacy.
Thank you, Representative. Are there any other members who are joining us virtually that would like to ask any questions or offer any commentary? please feel free to unmute yourselves and do so at this time. Okay. Good one. I'm sorry.
Go ahead, Representative Freeze. Go right ahead. Yeah, sure. So I hear everybody's talking about we're not meeting the funding goals. it looks like we spend anywhere from 22 to 27 thousand dollars per student there's other states that do this more economically and they have better test results so has anybody who has testified today looked into and just instead of asking for more money how how are other states doing this and can we can we follow their lead on this yeah um i can speak to that so when we look at the states that do the best sir give us your name
sure uh my name is pavlin jankov director of research at the chicago teachers union so um massachusetts is one of the exemplary states and we know that they've actually decided to invest more in education and they did so several years ago by passing a statewide constitutional amendment to have a millionaire's tax. And they're currently bringing in billions of dollars for education, transportation, the kinds of services our students rely on. And so when we look at the model for the best educational results and practices, it's the states that are deciding to invest in their students because resources matter. So you mentioned Massachusetts, but to
my understanding, Mississippi, they've got what's called the Mississippi Miracle, and they only spend an average, I believe it's sitting from $12,000 to $13,000 per student. That considerably less than what we spending And you guys are asking again for more money I don mind spending money if we getting our money worth I concerned that we not getting our money worth right now Illinois, speaking of that, Illinois has one of the largest economies in the entire world.
It's the amount of the GDP in Illinois, we're essentially a trillion dollar economy, and we are not putting enough of that money into our classrooms. So you're comparing us to a state where, you know, frankly, the economic activity in Illinois is substantially higher. And so what we need to do is make sure that the resources that we're generating, the billions of dollars, the profits that are being made by corporations, that that's going into the classroom. And to do that, you know, we have to realign our tax structure. That's why we had several people speaking about efforts to change our tax structure, tax capital gains, tax income. And I think what we're seeing across this nation, also here in the state of Illinois, this was spoken to earlier as well, is that voters, frankly, they want to see those changes made so that we're taxing the rich, taxing the corporations that are making the money right now. And, you know, speaking, continuing on the point made by the representative favor-diaz here about H.R. 1, those cuts that are impacting our classroom are also being supplemented by the tax breaks that corporations are getting by that same bill. And so there's a real urgency in Illinois to both invest in our communities that are feeling the impacts of HR1, but also make right by taxing the corporations that are benefiting from that same bill.
Okay. Sorry, not a single word that you said addresses my question is how Mississippi can do it for $12,000 to $13,000 per student. We're now spending $22,000 to $27,000, and you're asking for more. So tax the rich, great. But that doesn't answer the question of how and why they can do it for substantially less than what we're doing. I don't care that we've got a great economy or economic here in the state of Illinois. Again, every dime that we spend, we need to be getting our money's worth, and we're not.
May I answer? Oh, please. So I'm not here to speak to what they're doing in Mississippi. I'm not sure what circumstances are included or are involved with educating the individual child in Mississippi. What I know about here in Illinois and in Chicago is that students in Mississippi didn't have ICE and immigration enforcement creating trauma and experiences and fear in students who arrive in our schools every day. What I also know is that in, I don't know if in Mississippi they have the ability to put buses in every district so that the students can get to the services that they need. I don't know if COVID impacted students in Mississippi the way that they did here in Illinois, increasing the needs, increasing the specialized services, increasing the nutritional demands that our students are asking for and parents are expecting when they come to school. and is those services that are necessary for a child to show up in school every day ready, healthy, and feeling safe so that they can actually approach the idea of learning. Our teachers, our students, our parents, and our administrators have overwhelmingly showed that even when we have less, we are still producing more and more outcomes for our students represented by the increased graduation rates, increased number of students moving into exemplary status But that is not keeping up with the pace of the resources that are needed to produce those outcomes So I don know what they do in Mississippi I think you could go down there and ask them, but since you're here in Illinois with us, I want you to consider that our students are facing overwhelming challenges that we have the ability to address, and then we can be accountable for the outcomes that you're looking for, But you can't expect outcomes when we can't provide the students the resources, not only that they need, but that they're legally entitled to.
Again, the fact that nobody is inquisitive of how we can save money instead of just spending money is troubling. But, yeah, thanks for your comments.
You know, I just want to add, I agree with the president of the Principals Union. Being from Mississippi, I want to say you're comparing apples to oranges. Chicago is quite different from Mississippi in cost of living.
Illinois just isn't Chicago, though. Well, Illinois, it's different. It's very, very different. The certain areas of Mississippi, and it being the poorest state in the United States, have less costs than what Chicago or Illinois has. The salaries are very different. The way they educate the kids are very different. And they've just come off of a time of not providing a very good education to its students. So I would say, again, that this is comparing apples to oranges.
And if I may also just add, again, I'll speak for Chicago Public Schools. I'm sure my colleagues across the state are doing similar due diligence, but we are actually really interested in identifying ways where we can bring costs down where we can and also being very rigorous about making decisions about where we are making investments and making sure that the expenditures are going to the places where we know are going to have the biggest impact. So I can say in the, you know, at least the last two budget cycles that I've been leading, that this is something that we have been really rigorous about at the time that we are producing our department-level budgets, so our central administrative budgets, and our school-based budgets, and reviewing each year to make sure that there aren't any opportunities for cost savings. Our procurement office is continuously looking at contracts and looking at where they can reevaluate those types of agreements. We are engaging in ongoing review throughout the year, so it's not just something that happens during the budget development cycle. We are constantly reviewing school budgets, department budgets for savings opportunities. And the other thing that I would just like to quickly mention is that we are also open to suggestions and to ideas. And I think that's one of the reasons why our CEO, Superintendent, Dr. King, has called for a funding working group this year. I think we're trying to have one meeting before the end of the calendar year, but really is to bring everyone from around the city that is invested in and that cares about and that's informed about the educational system within the city and all of its different elements to come together. together and understand kind of what the options are and what really as a collective where we should go in order to, like I said in my remarks, get out from under annual budget crises and also understanding that there is an expense side to the equation as well as the revenue side.
Okay. On the Chicago school issue, I mean, is anybody looking at consolidating schools? I mean, look, my understanding, there's several schools that are at a fraction of the capacity to what they could be. And they've enrollment is down again this year, from what I understand. And again, I know nobody wants to close a school. Nobody wants to consolidate. We're going through that in my district right now with the school. But it's I mean, if economics warrant it, I mean, a school should be closed. And that'll save money because you no longer have to, you know, have that building pay custodians and everything else that goes with that.
I'm sure you're aware that there's currently a moratorium on school closings in Chicago. I'm aware of that. Yes. Yeah, and so I think that once that lifted, again, in the forums that I've mentioned, and, you know, that conversation may arise. I know from our point of view, under the moratorium, we've been really focused on making sure that every school in every one of our buildings, so every child in our care, has access to all of the resources that they need in order to have a full complement of courses and a really well-rounded experience during the day. We feel like that's our responsibility and our charge. But Kia, please.
I'd like to add to the fact that while CPS may have lost a significant number of students this school year, the students that are sitting in our buildings today, right now, actually have more needs than what we had before we lost these students. So the declining enrollment and the empty buildings don't automatically mean that the needs our students have are disappearing. Regardless of enrollment, our job today is to focus on the students that are sitting in the classrooms right now, not the ones who left. Every child remaining in a Chicago public school, whether they are in a full building or an overcrowded building or a building that has seats that are vacant, they still need a clean, healthy environment. They still need transportation two and four. They also need a nutritious meal every day. And so we cannot continue to meet their needs, again, prescribing legally required services for students and not keep pace with the funding that those services require. And then the only other thing that I would say, we have to look at other alternatives than just closing schools. Data shows that closing schools doesn't improve test scores. However, providing interventions, resources, safety nets, all of those things are what increase students' achievement. And when we really want to deal with the issue, we've got to talk about the fact that the majority of our budget in CPS is saddled with debt burden, debt that we did not create. And I never hear a conversation about how we are going to address, refinance, repurpose, or find other ways so that we are not starting from behind the eight ball every single year just to get to a foundation and then move academic achievement forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Representative Friese. Anyone else on Zoom that want to ask any questions or make any commentary If not I know we have another question from Representative Favre Diaz
Thank you. I just wanted to point out, while I do think we should, of course, be looking at other states and how they're doing things and what we can learn from them and what we can do better here, I did a quick Google. So a U.S. News and World Report, which just released their 2026 rankings. Illinois is number five in pre-K through 12 education, which is exactly the system that we're talking about here, funding here. And Mississippi was number 29. And while I think it's important that we, of course, that we look at the dollars and we are as prudent with those dollars as we can be, as someone mentioned, we also have to look at like the whole financial picture, including the return on investment. And I did not have time to look this up, but I was thinking about some factors. I bet quality of life, economic output of individuals, life expectancy, maternal mortality, all indicators of a quality of life. I would bet a lot of money Illinois is faring much better in those categories than in Mississippi.
Thank you again. Any members who are joining us virtually would like to have any commentary your questions. And we will let them, if they chime in. But as I listen to all of you speak, obviously we know that state, whether we agree constitutionally, should be the majority of the money, and however you define majority, 50.1 or 51, at least that's what's constitutionally called for, if you will. But we know that we are one-third of the leg in terms of funding. So some of my challenge to those of you who represent particularly suburban districts is how often do you go to your local school board meetings? What challenges are you making in your communities about economic development through your municipalities? Because they bear part of this burden as well. Because the better they do in terms of bringing in businesses, those businesses presumably paying property taxes obviously school districts get a portion of those property taxes so so so i say that to say that advocacy for school funding is not just here it exists in other spaces that you have to be willing to engage in your school board members have to be willing to go to their local municipalities and talk about and engage how do they help support creating opportunities
for businesses to come into their respective areas so they can be a part of paying property taxes. I think that's extremely important because this is a continuum. I understand we're here to talk about the state piece of it and what the state contributes to that. And I am an advocate for adding more resources and increasing the amount of EBF that exists. I am definitely an advocate for, but I'm also an advocate for communities to do better as well so they can contribute more into this conversation because if we're talking about the families that live in those communities again that's a responsibility that i think we all all bear and all have some say into and as far as that how that money goes and again this is just how i look at it the state gives then it's up to the school districts to spend so some of what you are talking about in terms of the challenges that exist You know how are you challenging your school boards to make sure that they are doing the right thing with resources that come to them whether it state money or local dollars or whatever the case may be. I mean, this is a shared responsibility, in my opinion. So we all have to play a part in trying to shore our communities that our school districts are a part of to make sure that we can indeed do better by our young people. Again, I am an advocate for more resources. Obviously, there have been conversations that members have engaged in about ways to generate more revenue here in the state. But, you know, to the point of Representative Freeze, let's not forget the accountability that goes along with that. You know, and right now, however we collect that information, it's reported that school districts are doing X, if you will. So when we see that school districts are not doing as well, again, let's make sure that we are also being a part of the solution to make sure that school districts do better and are more accountable to the resources that they get so that they are truly examining how they're spending money and making sure that it is being put into the right places. And that's the conversation that I had with superintendents earlier today at the South Cook region meeting for IASA. And then a couple weeks ago at the South Cook Regional Meeting for the School Board Association. Similar conversation about all of us doing better. So yes, there should be more coming, in my opinion, coming from the state. But again, once it leaves us and it lands in those districts, who's making sure that the districts are doing the right thing by that? And not just saying teacher negotiations or, you know, custodial negotiations, but if we're talking about dollars in the classrooms and making sure that school districts are doing the right thing, we all have to make sure that everybody across the board is being held accountable. So this was your opportunity to say that we have some accountability. And I appreciate that. But the opportunities for you to also go to your local school board meetings and say they have some accountability. To go to your local community or village board meetings or city meetings to say they have some accountability in this as well. It is so, so very important. And again, if I can also talk about what I think the continuum of this, and I'll pick on this in particular, we know that there's an Illinois conversation about data centers right now. Big conversation about data centers. And those are potential businesses that could add property tax revenue to a community. Now, should those conversations be out in the south suburbs where I am? They are, and there are not enough of them. give us the opportunity to truly be able to examine whether or not they are worth the effort and then make a decision. But again, data centers, I think, could be a viable business entity paying property taxes in a community. So our municipalities have to engage them the right way. And it's not a matter of saying whether they're good or bad, whether they should happen or not happen, but our local mayors and local village boards have to be good about bringing in the right folks to talk about it. Because again, if we're talking about business development in our communities that lends itself to more money to put into the schools that all of you are advocating for and talking about, it's just a broader shared responsibility than sometimes I hear folks talk about. And I think that is extremely important. We can debate how much more we need to put into EBF and what that means and yes we are behind We are behind at least where we started but I would argue that we have made significant progress in putting resources in creating some stability for school districts to know at least what's coming. And we have to continue that. And yes, there is a conversation about more resources. And again, I'm a part of that conversation, and I do believe that we should be adding more resources to it. The more money we put into EBF, at the very least, everybody benefits from those resources. So again, that's just kind of my take on it, but encouraging you to engage in other parts of this conversation. Now, we just had, you know, an election day. Some things are changing in Washington, D.C., so let's not forget about that responsibility and what that means and talking to those folks who are now going to D.C. and what that could mean for the state of Illinois as you advocate for that as well. So again, let's get out of our little boxes and start thinking about what advocacy means in bigger ways probably than you thought you may need to. So brother, I know you in Metro East. There's no reason why you shouldn't be in D.C. advocating for resources from D.C. to help in that way. And for all of you in whatever part of the state you are currently in, visiting other parts of the state and helping others to understand the dynamics that happen in your part of the state. As chair of this committee, I travel the state, listening to school districts, listening to and seeing what's happening in other parts of the state. I challenge all of you to do the same. Your counterparts, however you identify them in other parts of the state, if you haven't taken a trip to travel to see what they're doing as well, please, by all means, go do that and see what is happening across the state. What my colleague here just talked about, go visit her school districts and see them. Go down to District 205, who would arguably say, based on the funding form, that they are in much better shape than they've ever been. You know, does it need to get better? Absolutely. But if you've not visited the Thornton Township Schools and District 205, go see Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Doss and talk to them about how they are managing with the resources that they have as well. I think that is a shared responsibility that we all have. Unless we are willing to get out of our proverbial boxes and go see what's happening in other parts of the state, your advocacy is great, but it gets stronger when we figure out how to pull everybody together, particularly in communities that don't look like who you are sitting at this table. Go see them. Go check them out and see what's happening in those respective areas. Okay, I'll stop my rant at that point. Again, members, if you are online and still with us. If you would like to have something to say or a question, please feel free to do so. Okay. Don't see anyone. Anything else, Representative?
Thank you very much for being here today.
I appreciate it. Am I missing anything?
Nope, we're all good.
Okay. Well, thank you. And with that being said, and seeing no further testimony in front of this committee, this committee, the house appropriations committee for elementary and secondary education shall be recessed to the call of the chair thank you all very much for joining us today enjoy your afternoon Thank you. Recording stopped Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you.