The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) last Wednesday approved its fiscal year 2021 budget recommendation for public education statewide. ISBE recommends a $760 million increase in General Funds for public education for a total investment of $9.64 billion. The request includes a $100 million increase for early childhood programs to build on the historic investments in last year’s budget and help advance the goal of making Illinois the best state in the nation for families raising young children. The $43.75 million that ISBE recommends for investments in the teaching profession includes:  

• $15 million – Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois, which provides tuition assistance for academically talented students, especially students of color, to earn teaching degrees; and Golden Apple Accelerators, which provides a path to teaching for career-changers with a bachelor’s degrees.   

• $9 million – High-quality teacher and principal mentoring programs, which can reduce turnover by 50 percent.  

• $50,000 – Illinois School Psychologist Internship Consortium, which connects districts and other entities to students who are preparing to serve as school psychologists. 

View ISBE’s full budget recommendation at www.isbe.net/budget.