SR0900 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0900 LRB102 26667 MST 37467 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Public Act 100-0465, the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, created the Professional Review Panel (PRP), a body that is responsible for continually evaluating the State's K-12 public school funding formula, the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) Formula, to ensure that it is capturing the costs of providing a high-quality education to all students and to ensure that the formula is working as intended to make progress toward adequately and equitably funding all schools; and

WHEREAS, The Professional Review Panel is tasked with studying and reviewing topics related to the implementation and effect of Evidence-Based Funding, as assigned by a joint resolution or Public Act of the General Assembly or a motion passed by the State Board of Education; and

WHEREAS, The importance of continuous improvement within education cannot be overstated, and a commitment to continually working to increasing equity, even within an already equitable funding system, is critical to close opportunity and outcome gaps for Illinois students; and

WHEREAS, Public Act 101-0654 charged the Professional Review Panel with conducting research and presenting findings to ensure that (i) the Adequacy Target calculation under subsection (b) accurately reflects the needs of students living in poverty or attending schools located in areas of high poverty, (ii) racial equity within the Evidence-Based Funding formula is explicitly explored and advanced, and (iii) the funding goals of the formula distribution system established under this Section are sufficient to provide adequate funding for every student and to fully fund every school in this State; and

WHEREAS, To consider these issues, the PRP formed an ad-hoc committee that was comprised of diverse stakeholders, including educators, school and district leaders, education advocates, and members of the State Board of Education, and that met biweekly from April through December of 2021; and

WHEREAS, The PRP Ad-Hoc Committee dedicated considerable time, capacity, and expertise to conducting a robust review of evidence and facilitating rich discussion of the issues under its charge; and

WHEREAS, The findings included in the committee's final report include potential opportunities for addressing trauma, accounting for the needs of students living in concentrated poverty, and increasing racial equity within the education funding formula, all of which require further detailed analysis and financial modeling and merit additional future discussion; and

WHEREAS, The findings of the report call for additional study and presentation of findings related to the appropriate levels for re-enrolling and graduating high-risk high school students who have been previously out of school by December 31, 2022; and

WHEREAS, The findings of the report suggest that the task of exploring the potential to increase efficiency and to find cost savings within the school system to expedite the journey to a fully funded system would require further review by a committee of diverse stakeholders convened by the Illinois State Board of Education; and

WHEREAS, The availability of publicly accessible, high-quality information about how districts allocate and utilize funding received through the EBF formula is critical for understanding how districts are working to support historically underserved student groups and to increase equity within their districts, including closing resource gaps by student race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and English-learner status; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois State Board of Education is in the process of revising EBF spending plans that districts are required to submit to the agency on an annual basis and increasing the transparency of this information by transitioning to the inclusion of these plans in the public budget process by FY23; and

WHEREAS, The Professional Review Panel has diligently and with dedication executed their task and delivered a thorough and thoughtful report and findings; and

WHEREAS, ISBE has made a concerted effort to increase the value and public transparency of the information reported through districts' EBF spending plans; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that in keeping with the spirit of the charge outlined in Public Act 101-0654, we direct the Professional Review Panel and Illinois State Board of Education to conduct the rigorous analysis and financial modeling required to evaluate the potential value, impact, and financial implications of implementing the findings in the PRP Ad-Hoc Committee's report related to adjusting the Evidence-Based Funding formula's calculations in order to more accurately reflect the costs of supporting students exposed to trauma and living in concentrated poverty (Charge B) as well as to close racial equity gaps in opportunity and outcomes (Charges C and H); this includes modeling options, including but not limited to those presented in the report for differentiating existing cost factors within and adding new cost factors to the formula's calculation of districts' Adequacy Targets in order to understand the implications for equity as well as the anticipated fiscal impact of said adjustments; this analysis is to be completed and shared by November 30, 2022; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call on the Professional Review Panel to complete the study and development of findings related to re-enrolling students who have dropped out of school by the extended deadline included within the PRP Ad-Hoc Committee report of December 31, 2022; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois State Board of Education to complete their revision of the district spending plans template and requirements and annually make all districts' spending plans publicly available on the Illinois State Board of Education's website starting with Fiscal Year 2023 by January 2023; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the State Superintendent of Education, the Chair of the Illinois State Board of Education, and members of the Professional Review Panel.