Theodora Kourvaris and Danny Connolly
7 minutes ago
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Gov. JB Pritzker plans to put more money into overall education, from kindergarten to college.
Pritzker delivered his State of the Union address in Springfield on Wednesday and laid out his priorities in next year's budget, including additional investments in education.
“Every year since I've been governor, we've increased our investment in education because a quality education is the foundation of a good life and a strong society,” Pritzker said in his speech.
But advocates remain concerned about whether these investments are enough.
The budget will set aside $400 million for the second year of Smart Start Illinois, starting with early childhood education. This multi-year plan aims to provide every child in the state with access to preschool programs.
In the plan's first year, the state surpassed its goal of creating 5,000 additional preschool seats by 15 percent.
“I will maintain my plan and increase Smart Start funding by $150 million in year two to secure 5,000 more preschool seats, continue to expand child care, and add more critical early childhood services. We are proposing to provide this to families,” Pritzker said.
The Governor plans to make preschool universal in Illinois by 2027.
“I think the goals and objectives are great,” said Mark Kreizner, past president of the Illinois School Superintendents Association. “I think there’s really a lot to be done in terms of providing pre-school education and making it accessible to all children, and not just opening the doors, but providing high quality, It has to be. That's why it's a little difficult to imagine.”
For funding for K-12 education, evidence-based funding models for schools will continue to provide $350 million this year. This is the recommended contribution for the year under state law.
“It's unrealistic to think that Illinois is going to come up with billions of dollars to close that gap all at once,” Kreizner said. “It's been a long, slow journey, but we're making progress. And we're seeing the evidence of that in our schools.”
The Illinois State Board of Education praised the budget in a statement after Pritzker's speech.
“His 2025 budget proposal includes significant and important increases in funding for education, while balancing the challenging fiscal environment,” said State Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Tony Sanders. Ta. “The Governor's advocacy and leadership on education in 2025 will move Illinois closer to our goal of being the easiest state to raise a family in the nation.”
For higher education, Mr. Pritzker proposed a much smaller increase. The amount of the MAP subsidy he will increase by $10 million. These grants help low-income students cover the costs of attending college.
Illinois' public universities and community colleges will receive a 2% increase overall, which is smaller than the increase some lawmakers had hoped for.
“They're cutting other places in the university budget to support the general operations budget and making it look like there's an increase, but there's no increase,” said state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-S.C. Muhammad) said.
Only the University of Illinois requested a 12% increase in its budget, but based on the governor's proposal, salaries would only increase by 2%.
“I don't think we've ever seen a 12% increase since I've been in the General Assembly,” said state Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana). “What we want to do is create a functional and achievable increase for all colleges that helps students who can't afford to go to college.”