Local and state funding to train and hire more school counselors or provide support for students is increasingly crowded out by ballooning administrative costs and pension burdens. Reforms that could put more money toward students include consolidating district-level administration as well as changing the Illinois Constitution so the growth rate of public pensions can be controlled.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.