(AP) Seventeen Illinois school districts claim in a lawsuit that the state has failed to adequately fund public education.
Superintendents for the central and southern Illinois districts said they filed a lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court Wednesday morning. They contend the state has fallen short of its constitutional duty to provide a “high quality education” for all students. The lawsuit didn’t immediately appear in online court records.
The lawsuit claims the state does not provide money necessary to help low-income students meet state-imposed learning standards. The districts say they lack property value sufficient to raise local tax revenue.
Cahokia School District Superintendent Art Ryan says schools have borrowed money and made cuts to keep going.
A judge ruled in a 1990s school-district funding lawsuit that the issue should be argued in the Legislature.