PEER Illinois Responds to Governor Pritzker’s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Address

Illinois Students Deserve More Than the Minimum, PEER Illinois calls for Full Funding of Evidence-Based Funding Formula

(SPRINGFIELD, IL - February 18, 2026) With only a year left for Illinois to make good on its promise to students, it's past time for state leaders to fully fund our public schools. Governor Pritzker just gave his annual budget address to announce the state’s budget for the upcoming 2027 fiscal year. The outlined proposal allocates an additional $305 million for the Evidence-Based Funding Formula (EBF), the state’s progressive funding formula to ensure an adequate education for all students.

“Governor Pritzker’s budget address represents continued complacency when it comes to public education funding in Illinois,” said Maddy Wheelock, PEER Illinois Coalition Coordinator. “Given the uncertainty at the federal level, our public schools deserve to be met with urgency and full investment of Evidence-Based Funding, so every child across the state can succeed in their classroom, regardless of race, family income, or neighborhood.”

This legislative session is critical because we are only one year away from the original goal of fully funding EBF by 2027 - the clock is running out. Nine years ago, the state and lawmakers made a promise to its public school students. Coming up on year ten, the state still has not made good on that promise. In order to close the funding gap by 2027, outlined in the original EBF legislation, Illinois must invest an additional $5.7 billion in EBF.

There is numerous research and data to suggest the dire need for full funding of the formula. This past year PEER Illinois launched a new interactive funding tool showing how far Illinois school districts are from adequate funding, and how much is needed to make up that funding under the EBF formula. Despite continued incremental investments, the numbers paint a grim picture for many districts. And Budget materials continue to reference “fully funded districts” as those “at or above 90 percent adequacy” and tout growth from 194 districts funded at or above this level in FY 2018 to 313 in FY 2026 - it’s important to note this means over 500 school districts in Illinois remain below this target as we approach 2027.

While some school districts can depend on property taxes to fill the gaps and meet their adequacy needs, other schools do not have the same luxury. Schools in lower-income districts are disproportionately impacted by the underfunding of EBF because they are unable to rely on local property taxes to make up the difference. Students of color are impacted the most and EBF was created to help remedy this exact situation. We cannot continue to position our state as a champion of public education while placing full funding of EBF on the back burner.

Instead of minimum increases, we should be creating progressive revenue solutions that benefit all public schools and families. One of our coalition partner organizers, Gabriela Aguiñaga-Martínez, puts it best:

“When school funding is put on the back burner, our children are the ones who go without essential programs and opportunities. What we invest in them now will shape their futures. Both school districts my children have attended here in Illinois have been underfunded, and because of that, they’ve missed out on programs that could nurture their passions and help them grow into confident, productive members of society.”

Now more than ever, we need everyone, from Rockford to Dolton to Peoria and East St. Louis to ensure that our children can attend well-resourced, well-funded, schools where they feel safe and welcomed. Waiting until 2045 is too late for our students to receive the funding they are owed.