Fighting for Fair Funding: Our Students Deserve Better

Earlier this month, Cyndi Oberle-Dahm took the floor before the Illinois State Board of Education with a clear message: it’s time to keep the promise and fully fund our schools.

The Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, passed in 2017, promised to prioritize under-resourced districts, but that promise remains unfulfilled. The state set a goal of reaching 90% adequacy by 2027, yet funding is far from that target. Without new, sustainable state revenue, local communities will continue to shoulder the cost of educating students and maintaining safe, effective school spaces. Every student deserves the resources to thrive, and every educator deserves the tools to make that possible.

Standing alongside Cyndi, who served as IFT Secretary-Treasurer at the time, were countless educators and union members united in the fight to ensure our schools receive every dollar our students, staff, and communities deserve.

We will continue to advocate until Illinois schools are fully and fairly funded, because when we fight together, we win together.