COVID StimulusBudget & finance

How should Illinois spend its share of another $5.1 billion in federal stimulus funding for schools? Tell us.

By 
Caroline Bauman
and
Cassie Walker Burke
 | March 18, 2021, 3:15pm UTC
Mayor Lori Lightfoot gestures as public officials tour classrooms at Hawthorne Scholastic Academy on March 1. Chicago Public Schools expects to receive nearly $1.8 billion from the new round of COVID-19 stimulus funding. What advice would you give Lightfoot and school leaders on how to spend it? (Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago)

Illinois is set to receive more than $5 billion in federal stimulus funding for schools, and most of that will go directly to districts. Chicago, the state’s largest district, will receive about $1.8 billion of that — money leaders have said will go toward mounting costs of reopening campuses and addressing learning disruptions from the pandemic.

Superintendents and school boards will have a lot of flexibility to determine where to direct the money, though the federal government has said they must use at least 20% to address learning gaps. 

How would you like to see your district spend the money? What priorities should superintendents and school boards keep in mind? Tell us in the survey below. 

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