Prairie State Education Coverage, Driven by Data
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Hispanic chronic absenteeism has fallen from 36.1% at its 2022 peak to 31.7%, but the gap with white students has held at about 14 points for four years.
In 11 Illinois districts, more students are chronically absent than not. Five are clustered in the Metro East region, where rates reach as high as 63.6%. East St. Louis, the hardest-hit in 2019, has since improved.
Only 23 of 822 Illinois districts have returned to pre-pandemic chronic absenteeism rates. The rest are stuck 11 points above baseline.
A pre-COVID trend line projected Illinois would have nearly 2 million students in 2025. Instead it has 1.85 million, a gap driven by outmigration, fewer births, and pandemic fallout.
Suburban Chicago districts are posting double-digit sped rate increases. TSD 113 went from 15% to 34% in six years.
Illinois identified nearly 50,000 students who are currently homeless in 2024-25, a six-year high. The steepest rates are in rural southern Illinois, not Chicago.
Only 155 of 865 Illinois districts have recovered to pre-pandemic levels. The losses are concentrated in the largest districts, where 92% remain underwater.
Four Illinois districts declined for 15 consecutive years, the longest streaks in the state. All four finally broke in 2023-2025, but three have already resumed losing students.
White students account for 92% of Illinois's enrollment decline. The south and southwest suburbs are transforming fastest.
Cook County posted back-to-back enrollment gains after losing 111,000 students. English learner growth is the engine. The rest of Illinois kept falling.
Suburban Chicago HSDs built for monolingual instruction are absorbing triple-digit EL growth. Joliet 204 went from 494 to 1,642 English learners.
Illinois has lost 229,000 students since its 2007 peak. Four in five large districts are shrinking. The outer suburbs are the only exception.
Nearly half of Illinois public school students are economically disadvantaged. The rate gap between the richest and poorest districts spans 98 points.
Yorkville CUSD 115 grew 128% in 20 years while 82% of Illinois districts shrank. Now the district is asking voters for $275 million to keep up.
307 of 860 trackable Illinois districts are at all-time enrollment lows, outnumbering those at record highs by 6 to 1. The biggest districts are hit hardest.
