The Illinois State Board of Education approved a nearly $11.4 billion budget request this week for the upcoming fiscal year, amounting to a 4.6% increase from this year, as the state prepares to face a substantial budget deficit. While the proposal includes a $350 million increase in “Evidence-Based Funding” — designed to deliver equitable funding for school districts in low-income communities — some advocates and politicians believe more should be allotted, as the boost is the minimum mandated annually by a 2017 state law. The budget request also includes an additional $75 million in funding for early childhood education, and a $142 million increase for “mandatory categorical” expenses such as special education, transportation and the state’s free lunch and breakfast program. “This year’s budget recommendation recognizes the tight fiscal projections faced by the state of Illinois while continuing to invest in things that we know that are critical for school districts and that have a direct impact on student learning,” State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders told the board at a Wednesday meeting, as reported in Capitol News Illinois. In all, the education budget would rise from about $10.9 billion this year to $11.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 if the Illinois General Assembly approves this request. However, it remains uncertain what funding will look like for public education in Illinois by the end of May, when the General Assembly will be tasked with passing a state budget that already faces a potential deficit of about $3.2 billion. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is scheduled to unveil his budget proposal for the next fiscal year on Feb. 19. Last May, the Democrats’ legislative dominance was put to the test as House lawmakers struggled to pass a tax hike package of about $750 million. It took three attempts to pass and a series of procedural maneuvers in the overnight hours to balance a $53.1 billion spending plan for this current fiscal year. But those tax hikes were passed after a projected budget shortfall of close to $900 million, far less than what the state faces this year. Aside from determining whether Chicago’s public schools, as well as others across Illinois, should get a boost in funding, other budget-related questions facing legislators include how to fix the state’s pension system and whether the Chicago area’s transit agencies should be consolidated. In Chicago, ever since federal COVID relief money began dwindling last year, the city’s public school system and union leaders have highlighted the yet-to-be-fulfilled promise of “Evidence-Based Funding,” which pledged to provide all public schools enough state funding by 2027 to implement proven best practices, such as class sizes associated with the best academic outcomes by grade level. Among criticisms of the current budget proposal from Democrats was the $350 million annual increase in funding for elementary and secondary education, the minimum amount under the state’s school funding formula. The 2017 reform mandated lawmakers to increase funding for public schools across the state by a minimum $350 million per year, which has occurred with the exception of 2021. But, by contributing no more than the minimum, the state won’t achieve adequate funding for all schools for another decade, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank, has said. The Chicago Teachers Union and Mayor Brandon Johnson have sought more than $1 billion for Chicago Public Schools alone based on the 2017 funding reform. Democratic state Rep. Will Davis of Homewood, who was one of the sponsors of the 2017 school funding overhaul, has repeatedly suggested that increasing the school funding formula to about $550 million statewide would be more adequate and politically feasible. Other advocates have also pushed for at least $550 million, including Claiborne Wade, the chair of Kids First Chicago’s Equitable Funding Task Force. Wade is also the parent of four Chicago Public Schools students and a staff member at DePriest Elementary School in the Austin neighborhood. Wade called the board’s decision to ask for the $350 minimum amount “heartbreaking” and “troubling.” Properly funding schools should be a top priority for the state, Wade said. With inflation and the cutoff of federal COVID-19 relief funding more money to shore up public education in Illinois is necessary. “It seems like our kids are always getting the short end of the budget each (fiscal year),” he said. “When are we ever going to live in a world where money isn’t the tell all of how successful our schools are.”