To address both its inadequate and inequitable approach to school funding, Illinois should move to a funding system based on the Evidenced Based Model. Designed to identify the level of funding needed to deliver an adequate education to every student in a state and sensitive to each child’s needs, the Evidenced Based Model ensures that the distribution of education funding is equitable, and accounts for the cost of overcoming “at risk” factors.

The Evidenced Based Model determines per-pupil expenditures by identifying how much research-based “best practices” cost, given a state’s overall and regional labor market and other cost factors. Finally, the Evidenced Based Model identifies and costs-out those educational practices which the research shows to boost student achievement.

This Report explains Illinois' basic school funding formula, and the consequences that formula has had for school districts across the state in areas of significant concern, including student achievement and teacher quality.