If you live long enough, you might get to see something remarkable, like a solar eclipse, or possibly even Halley’s Comet. But if you’re really fortunate, you’ll get to witness a truly rare event—like enactment of major, bi-partisan legislation that actually does what its supporters promised. For once, the good people of Illinois officially fall into the “really fortunate” category. That’s because the state’s new school funding formula, the “Evidence Based Formula for Student Success” or “EBF,” which passed with strong bi-partisan support, is in fact delivering the goods.
Before the EBF, Illinois had one of the worst school funding formulas in the nation. It was so bad, the respected Education Trust ripped Illinois’ formula for creating “by far the largest [funding] gap” in America between districts with the greatest and lowest concentrations of poverty. It also resulted in significant funding gaps along racial and ethnic lines.
