WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Ill. (WIFR) – In the pool of Illinois’ education budget, the state swims toward an $8 billion drop-off.
By the end of September, $122 billion in federal pandemic-era funding dries up. That leaves stateline school districts making tough decisions, including Rockford Public Schools (RPS 205) reducing preschool transportation.
“This was always gonna be short-term money, one-time money, right?” says Rep. Dave Vella (IL-68). “Money that we couldn’t depend on long-term.”
RPS 205 received $234 million in temporary federal funding since 2020. State lawmakers like Rep. Vella appreciate the district investing in facility upgrades, including providing or upgrading air conditioning to its 45 schools.
The Democrat points to “short-term” programs like Rockford’s preschool transit as unsustainable. Yet, he maintains 205′s investment in early childhood education is a step in the right direction.
“The Rockford Public School report card was not the greatest in the entire world,” says Rep. Vella. “We need to grow it, and the best way to do it is get the kids as early as possible.”
Illinois’ budget drop-off wasn’t a surprise to state lawmakers. For this school year, public K-12 secured an extra $350 million in funding.
Rep. Joe Sosnowski (IL-69) says that increase can’t compare to the billions gone.
“The problem is several 100 million doesn’t add up to 8 billion, and so we won’t be able to fill all those gaps in,” Rep. Sosnowski said.
With budget shortfalls, the lawmakers worry what happens with early childhood programs across Illinois; Rep. John Cabello (IL-90) echoes the others – calling pre-k “one of the most important” areas of policy.
“But we continue to add and add and add,” says Rep. Cabello. “Maybe there’s things that we need to stop adding.” Instead, the Republican hopes the state can recognize and sustain what’s working.
“Put into the programs that are actually going to give us the biggest bang for our buck, which again is early childhood education,” says Rep. Cabello.
Cabello cites data revealing preschool investment building safer and smarter communities.
“You’re trying to break a cycle [of violence] for many individuals, but early childhood education builds that foundation,” Cabello said
Rep. Vella believes more funding will arrive for early childhood programs. For now, he claims school districts should learn long-term budgeting.
“What I’m hoping is we get lean and mean. We find the the resources to teach the kids that we have, better,” says the Democrat.
Each lawmaker interviewed supports a form of universal pre-k – as proposed by Governor J.B. Pritzker for Illinois to achieve by 2027. Despite unknown specifics for that aspiration, a new department takes shape out of stateline lawmaking.
In June, Gov. Pritzker signed off on a bill co-sponsored by Rep. Sosnowski – establishing the Illinois Department of Early Childhood. While the department won’t be fully active until 2027, the Cherry Valley-area representative sees the new agency as a comprehensive tool advancing Illinois’ preschoolers.
“We’ll have an entire department that’s focused around delivering those services to families in need,” says Rep. Sosnowski.
Lawmakers eye a $730 million transit system deficit as a priority for the state’s next budget. During negotiations, the representatives say they’ll push for better education and early childhood investments.
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