Illinois Charter Schools

Illinois charter schools are authorized by charters for an initial 5-year term, and may be renewed for periods of up to 10 years. There are 137 charter schools in Illinois as of 2022, and only 1 south of Springfield, in East St. Louis. Springfield and Decatur each have one K-8 charter school, and next charter school north of them is in Bloomington.^[1]

There is a cap on the number of these schools allowed, but there is plenty of room under the cap and the total number of charter schools in Illinois is actually declining. There is a separate cap for Chicago, where one of every four public high school students attends a charter school. Chicago has a cap of 75 charter schools but there are fewer than 50 operating today (some having multiple campuses), while the cap outside of Chicago is 25 and there are only 15 in operation,^[2] including only one downstate (in East St. Louis).

The start-up procedure is estimated to take about two years before a charter school may open in Illinois. Approval by the local school district is suggested, but there is a bypass procedure to obtain approval by the state if the local district is opposed.

For the first time in 2023, the Illinois legislature allocated funds to charter schools, but only a paltry $35 million for 60,000 students (only about $500 per student).^[3] Nearly all of the charter school students (97%) are of color, and 85% qualify for a free lunch.^[3]

Statutory authorization[edit]

• 105 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. § 5/27A-1 et seq.
• 105 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. § 5/27A-9

See also[edit]

• Analysis of history
• Illinois schools

References[edit]