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Chicago Public Schools is further away from having enough money to meet its students鈥� needs as defined by the state, according to new data released by the Illinois State Board of Education.

released Friday, CPS is now considered a little over 70% adequately funded, compared with 73% last year. CPS isn鈥檛 alone in that shift. More than 700 school districts regressed from hitting the state鈥檚 target of 90% funding adequacy, a metric reached by assessing a district鈥檚 student population and ability to pay for a variety of common cost factors.

The backslide is due, in part, to the state changing how it counted low-income students. Officials said they decided to count students 鈥渨ho were eligible for federal social programs as of July 1,鈥� including Medicaid and .

The widening gap in funding adequacy for hundreds of districts, including Chicago, adds fuel to that the city鈥檚 schools need lawmakers to commit more money. during the fall veto session in November.

Illinois Federation of Teachers and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates called the funding distribution a 鈥渨ake-up call鈥� to the state. However, amending the state鈥檚 budget now would be hard and require a three-fifths majority vote.

Illinois鈥� way of funding schools . Adequacy targets for each district fluctuate annually based on the students being served, which is why an increase in low-income students raises the cost the formula says is necessary to reach adequacy.

Identifying low-income students for the formula is likely to change further next year. Illinois lawmakers put $200,000 in this year鈥檚 budget for the state education department to come up with which cut funding for many social programs.

There was a 43% rise in low-income students this year, according to ISBE. That coupled with lower property tax revenues and increases in teacher salaries and instructional material costs are what is driving districts away from being adequately funded, state Superintendent Tony Sanders told reporters in a webinar Friday.

Schools get at least the same amount of money they received the year prior. Districts furthest from achieving adequate funding are first in line to receive more money. Lawmakers as part of the state budget.

Despite more districts faltering in their march toward adequate funding, total state spending on K-12 schools totals over $9 billion. That鈥檚 up by since evidence-based funding was introduced in 2017.

Notably, that money is unrestricted. So districts do not have to use the money exactly in line with where the state identified heightened needs.

Zooming in on Chicago鈥檚 state funding this year

Chicago Public Schools remains one of the neediest districts in Illinois.

Overall, CPS will get about $1.9 billion from the state for the 2026-27 school year. That鈥檚 nearly $66 million 鈥� or about one-fifth 鈥� of the $350 million increase in state education funding. But it falls just short of the $2 billion the Chicago Board of Education hopes to get.

Last week, the school board passed that , from $1.9 billion to $2 billion. Additionally, it assumes $50 million more from a separate pot of state funding that鈥檚 meant to reimburse CPS for other services, such as special education and student transportation costs.

The board also as part of its new budget.

If the funding doesn鈥檛 come through, schools in the middle of the school year. While King urged the board not to assume more funding than CPS was expecting, she and board members have said they will press the state to boost its support during the Illinois legislature鈥檚 November veto session, which would require three-fifths of lawmakers in the state House and Senate to approve.

鈥淲e will be working with our government partners at both the city and the state level to secure the additional funding that our schools need, and we really hope that you stay tuned so that we can inform you how you can help us with that advocacy for additional school funding,鈥� King said Thursday evening during a webinar for the public.

If lawmakers agreed to give CPS more money, Sanders said ISBE would advocate that all districts get a funding increase.

Disbursements of funds to districts should start Monday, according to ISBE.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at

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