State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes announced that seven school districts across the area will receive more than $6 million in additional funding to help address the financial challenges of recent years. “Our students deserve a commitment from Illinois to continue to fund schools fairly and equitably,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “By using the evidence-based funding formula, we are giving back to the students who need our help the most.” 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 are set to receive a total of $6,358,116 through the formula:

* Sterling Morton High School District 201 – $4,376,195

* Brookfield-LaGrange Park School District 95 – $877,061

* Cicero School District 99 – $654,844

* Berwyn South School District 100 – $335,429

* Lyons School District 103 – $112,770

* Riverside School District 96 – $1,483

* Central Stickney School District 110 – $334

The Fiscal Year 2025 budget invested $350 million in new funding into students’ success through the evidence-based funding model. For more information on the FY 25 evidence-based funding distribution, visit the Illinois State Board of Education’s website.