Illinois School Board Weighs Increased Funding Requests Ahead of Budg…

Illinois Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders listens to public comments during the Illinois State Board of Education’s monthly meeting in Chicago on Nov. 16, 2023. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)

SPRINGFIELD – Officials at the Illinois State Board of Education say they’re receiving more requests for increased funding for next year than the state could possibly afford, and they’re bracing for the possibility that budgets will start to tighten in the near future.

“It does appear that revenue will be a little bit tighter in the next four to five years,” ISBE’s chief financial officer Matt Seaton told the board at its monthly meeting Thursday. “And with other state pressures, whether that be pension payments or what have you, it would be our anticipation that the budgets are going to start to restrict a little bit.”

Seaton delivered a summary of the funding increase requests that ISBE received from districts and members of the public during a series of…