CHICAGO – State Senator Bill Cunningham announced that 12 school districts across the Southwest Suburbs will receive nearly $8 million in evidence-based funding, in addition to the base funding that the state provides.
“Additional funding to our public schools will lead to improved student outcomes,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. “This evidence-based funding is critical for helping our local school districts provide a high-quality education that students and families deserve.”
The funding comes from the 2017 Illinois Senate Democrat-backed evidence-based funding formula — an overhaul of the way the state funds K-12 education. The law made school funding more equitable by calculating the needs of individual school districts and basing state revenue on those needs. The formula takes into account a district’s total enrollment, poverty rate and number of special education or English language learners, among other factors.
School districts across the Southwest Suburbs set to receive funding through the formula include:
- Alsip-Hazelgreen-OakLawn School District 126: $32,573
- Atwood Heights District 125: $230,706
- Chicago Ridge School District 127-5: $1,015,711
- Community High School District 218: $1,986,189
- Evergreen Park Community High School District 231: $23,881
- Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124: $69,843
- North Palos School District 117: $1,019,269
- Oak Lawn Community High School District 229: $1,457,089
- Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123: $1,872,453
- Palos Community School District 118: $52,663
- Palos Heights School District 128: $13,973
- Worth School District 127: $23,281
The Fiscal Year 2026 budget invested $300 million in new funding into students’ success through the evidence-based funding model.
For more information on the FY 26 evidence-based funding distribution, visit the Illinois State Board of Education’s website.
