Advance Illinois Statement on Governor Pritzker’s FY27 Budget Recommendation

In the face of a tight budget year and continued uncertainty due to federal funding instability and policy changes, Illinois leaders face difficult decisions. We appreciate Governor Pritzker’s focus on fiscal responsibility, while continuing to prioritize children, students, and families. Today’s budget proposal reflects an ongoing, albeit restrained, commitment to education.   

“Governor Pritzker has consistently prioritized education, and past investments have served Illinois well,” said Advance Illinois President Robin Steans. “We hope the General Assembly can find ways to build on the Governor’s proposal to ensure that Illinois students do not lose ground.” 

Early Childhood

As Illinois fights a possible $1B loss in federal childcare funding, and navigates the transition of early childhood and care programs to the new Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC), we applaud the Governor’s continued support for the agency and a $55M increase to meet growing demand for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). And while more is needed, it is good to see an increase of $15 million in Early Intervention to support rate enhancements for providers. We hope the General Assembly can find a way to boost Smart Start Workforce Grants - a program that plays a crucial role in bolstering childcare workforce recruitment, retention and compensation, which in turn anchors the system as a whole, and can increase the Early Childhood Block Grant, kept level for a second year in a row. 

Educator Workforce  

Given the ongoing need to strengthen and diversify the educator workforce, we are pleased to see continued funding for many educator pipeline programs. At the same time, flat funding for scholarships like ECACE means that we are unable to meet the staffing crisis in early childhood. Additionally, funding was reduced for some programs, like Golden Apple Accelerators, while others were eliminated entirely from the budget, including new principal and teacher mentoring and Affinity Groups. Without funding support, these programs leave new educators, particularly educators of color, without crucial early career supports – supports that have been shown to increase both effectiveness and retention. We urge the General Assembly to restore these funds – modest investments that yield outsized benefits. 

K-12 Funding  

Despite notable progress, Illinois public schools still face a $3 billion gap to full adequacy. Accordingly, we appreciate the Governors' recommendation to increase Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) by an additional $305M – the state’s single most effective means to equitably and adequately support students. We also applaud the Governor’s proposal to address growing shortfalls in Mandated Categoricals (MCATs) by increasing this critical budget line by $51M to help keep pace with costs for legally-required services for special education facility tuition, orphanage tuition, the free and reduced meal program, and transportation. MCATS are deeply underfunded, putting a strain on local school finances and services, so we appreciate the prioritization of both of these funding streams in the Governor’s budget.

Whole Child  

It is critical that Illinois continues to invest in programs that help schools address growing student needs, as evidenced by ongoing chronic absenteeism and elevated mental health challenges. While the budget proposes $3.5M in support for Resilience-Supportive Schools Illinois (RSSI) and SEL Hubs for professional development, planning, and programming across the state, we hope the General Assembly will do all they can to find additional dollars to ensure these efforts meet the growing mental health needs across the state. 

Higher Education  

 At the postsecondary level, IBHE requested a 3% increase for public universities and community colleges. Critically, IBHE proposed that new funding be distributed equitably, rather than evenly – a recommendation they have made for the last four years and one we share.   

Sadly, the Governor’s proposed budget falls short of these requests. On the institutional side, the Governor is proposing a disappointing 1% increase for public universities and community colleges. This increase is disappointing for several reasons: It does not keep pace with inflation, and on top of the meager 1% increase from last year, it compounds already serious financial strains in higher education – strains exacerbated by federal instability. This will have the predictable effect of worsening affordability at a time when Illinois postsecondary enrollment remains a concern. This proposal underscores the need for a structural change to how Illinois funds its public universities and the need to move to a funding formula that puts the state on a stable, predictable path to adequacy, and does so in a way that takes the unique mission and enrollment of each campus into account. Absent such a change, the vicious cycle of under-funding and enrollment challenges will continue. 

We are similarly disappointed to see MAP held steady. We appreciate the significant MAP increases in years past (which the Governor has championed) and hope the General Assembly can find a way to move closer to the $70M increase recommended by stakeholders – an amount that meets growing need.   

A bright spot in the higher education space is the Governor’s proposal to address deep and serious deferred maintenance – suggesting $300M in new capital funds for universities, and $100M in new funds for community colleges. 

We appreciate the Governor’s ongoing commitment to education and the decisions he and other state leaders must make amid challenging circumstances. That said, more can and must be done for Illinois’ children and students. We now look to the General Assembly and encourage them to maintain hard-won progress and support Illinois students reaching their full potential amid a tumultuous federal landscape.   

Advance Illinois Statement on the ISBE FY27 Budget Recommendations

Today the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) approved and sent to Governor Pritzker recommendations for its FY27 Budget. Even in a tight fiscal year, our state continues to rightfully prioritize investing in students, teachers, and schools. In general, we applaud the budget recommendations, though there are some absences that will require further attention from the Governor and General Assembly. 

K-12 Funding 

In its FY27 budget proposal, ISBE recommends increasing the appropriation for the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) Formula by an additional $350M, which affirms the state’s commitment to making good on its promise to fully fund schools by growing EBF. We applaud the continued commitment to EBF, even as we urge legislators to recognize that our current level of funding is not sufficient to bring schools to adequacy within the next 15 years. That means an entire generation of students will continue to learn in underfunded schools. The state’s commitment to schoolchildren needs to be more than what is legislatively mandated. Instead, we must focus on what is required to close the gap for underfunded schools and the students they serve. 

Along with the passage of EBF in 2017, the Property Tax Relief Grant (PTRG) was established to provide districts with high property tax rates an opportunity to lower the property tax burden on local taxpayers by having the state replace a portion of foregone tax revenue with state funds. PTRG was funded at nearly $50M per year until it went unfunded in FY2026 due to the tight fiscal environment. The Professional Review Panel continues to develop its recommendations around this program, awaiting a forthcoming analysis that examines whether the tax relief program performed as intended. If for any reason the Governor or General Assembly choose to again withhold PTRG funds, we would hope and expect state leaders to redirect that $50M into EBF tier funding to make up for lost EBF funding from 2021, and to help close ongoing gaps to adequacy.  

At the same time districts face rising costs due to inflation, costs are also rising for Mandated Categoricals (MCATs), which cover special education facility tuition, orphanage tuition, the free and reduced meal program, and transportation (a vital cost center). These rising costs, combined with persistent underfunding, have driven MCAT reimbursements to an unacceptable level - one that is putting additional financial pressure on districts. Indeed, some MCAT proration rates have fallen as low as 60%. ISBE’s recommendation to increase funding for MCATs by $151.5M represents the investment needed simply to maintain current pro-ration levels for another fiscal year. Significant, continued investments are needed for FY27 and beyond to ensure schools can provide the essential services covered by MCATs, and can do so without cannibalizing EBF dollars needed elsewhere. The bottom line is that MCATs make learning possible—and support the equity-focused dollars going out to districts through Evidence-Based Funding. We appreciate the prioritization of these funding streams in ISBE budget recommendations and support increased funding for MCATs. 

Student Well-Being 

At a time when student well-being continues to be a clear issue, as evidenced by ongoing, serious chronic absenteeism and elevated mental health issues, it is critical that Illinois continues to support systems that help schools address growing needs. We are thankful that ISBE is asking to maintain support for Resilience-Supportive Schools Illinois (RSSI) and SEL Hubs, programs that provide key professional development and training for schools, as well as access to outside resources. Illinois has invested in building and piloting these systems, and they are making a difference in schools across the state; maintaining them reflects ISBE’s commitment to building a more systemic approach to this work. That said, increased state support for RSSI is needed: The Center for Childhood Resilience, which built RSSI and the tools that it is based on, is preparing to scale RSSI across the state. An additional investment of $1 million is necessary to build the infrastructure to support that worthy and timely goal. Finally, we were pleased last year to see the General Assembly pass and Governor Pritzker sign into law SB1560, requiring all Illinois public school districts to offer mental health screenings. However, with no funding requested for this initiative in ISBE’s FY27 proposal, we hope the agency has a plan to smoothly prepare for and launch universal mental health screenings in 2027. 

Teacher Pipeline 

Like other states, Illinois confronts challenges across the educator pipeline, from recruiting to retaining diverse, excellent teachers. As schools continue to wrestle with teacher vacancies—Illinois had 1,970 unfilled positions in the 2024-2025 school year —ISBE has recommended that the Teacher Vacancy Grant (TVG) be transitioned from a pilot to a permanent program with a $30M annual appropriation. This program, aimed at addressing acute shortages across the state through targeted, flexible grant funding, would be the largest investment in the educator workforce in the state. We appreciate ISBE’s focus on this critical area, even as we hope legislators will consider whether such ongoing investment is best made by enhancing EBF, or by continuing this fund (both positive options).  

Importantly, ISBE’s proposal to maintain funding for key programs across the educator pipeline, including Teach for America, Affinity Groups, and Principal Recruitment recognizes the critical nature of attracting future educators to the profession, supporting educators of color, and providing opportunities for growth and leadership in the profession. These are small investments with an outsized impact. 

While we applaud many of ISBE’s recommendations, we are concerned that the budget proposal does not include dollars for either new teacher or new principal mentoring and induction. Both programs have track records of improving retention rates – a critical piece of the puzzle in lowering vacancy rates and strengthening the profession. While we recognize the growing pains in re-establishing these programs (after statewide disruption in years past), it is imperative that we maintain them. Stopping and starting this work undermines its impact and our long-term goals. We strongly encourage the Governor and General Assembly to maintain this funding. 

We recognize the tough fiscal reality that leaders face in planning Illinois’ FY27 budget and commend ISBE for making student-centered recommendations in light of them. The agency’s budget proposal is a strong start, and we look to the Governor and General Assembly to address a few remaining, critical gaps. Never has the need for strong, steady state funding been more essential.