Study: Illinois’ spending per student is one of highest in the country – Center Square

The Reason Foundation found that Illinois’ inflation-adjusted education revenue grew from just over $13,000 per K-12 student in 2002 to over $20,000 per student in 2020, a growth rate that ranked third highest in the U.S. “A lot of it is driven by teacher pension debt and Illinois is a pretty good example of this trend,” said Aaron Smith, co-author of the study. “During the time period we examined, their per student spending on benefits went up nearly 200%.”