(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker celebrated the “best of the best” in Illinois education Tuesday, awarding 24 schools the Governor’s Blue Ribbon award amid a backdrop of widening state funding gaps and lagging math and reading scores.
The state award, now in its second year, replaced the federal Blue Ribbon program discontinued in 2025. It honors schools for performance and academic improvement.
“Students, teachers, and faculty are raising the bar and showing what is possible when we invest in our kids and help them to reach their full potential. The results are in. U.S. News and World Report ranks K-12 education in Illinois the fifth best in the country,” Pritzker said.
But the state’s funding for public schools hasn’t met its own marks, based on goals set by the General Assembly.
Under the Evidence Based Funding Model, the state aims to fund districts at 90% of adequate operating levels.
State Board of Education data shows only 36.85% of districts met that threshold this year – a percentage that has declined for three consecutive years.
Pritzker said the increased state spending each year has improved the quality of education, while not addressing that the program’s funding gap is increasing.
“A 37% increase since 2019, that those investments are paying off. And having more teachers working in our schools than ever before makes a real difference in the quality of our educational system,” Pritzker said.
Even with a $350 million increase in spending for the program this year – bringing total program spending to $9.3 billion – the cost of adequate funding continues to outpace state allocations.
Pritzker touted the investments as improving education quality, but did not address the widening funding gap.
Despite outcomes highlighted by the governor, the state’s 2025 data of student proficiency found 53.1% of third- to eighth-graders in Illinois reached the level of proficiency in English, and 38.5% were proficient in math.
Another part of the funding program are Property Tax Relief Grants given to districts with some of the highest property taxes in the state.
After Pritzker called for the grants to go unfunded in the FY2026 state budget, the program was funded again for the current school year as a result of a study that found property taxes increase by a smaller margin year-over-year when a school district receives the funds to abate such increases.
Pritzker said the 24 schools that were awarded the governor’s Blue Ribbon award will not get any monetary award for the district’s results.
“There aren’t any special monetary awards that are associated with it, but I think one of the things that bestowing this kind of award does is it really raises up a community. Not just the school itself, but an entire community. Families want to move to a community that has one of the best schools in the entire state,” Pritzker said.
