A measure that would change the way in which education dollars are distributed in the state advanced in the Illinois Senate Tuesday.

The Senate's Subcommittee on Special Issues signed off on SB 16, which looks to set up a single school-funding formula that places more of a focus on the needs of school districts. Tuesday's subcommittee vote, which fell along party lines, means the legislation can now be considered by a full Senate committee.

State Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) sponsored the measure, which piggybacks off of suggestions in the Senate Education Funding Advisory Committee's recent report on education funding reform.  

It is not yet clear what the proposed changes to the school-funding formula would mean for individual school districts. The Illinois State Board of Education is working on the funding-level data and plans to make it available by mid-May.

Among other provisions, the measure would get rid of the Chicago Block Grant and not permit proration of general state aid funds. Over the past several years, the state has provided all school districts with 89 percent of the funding they would normally be entitled to under current law. 

“The bottom line is that the bill is a path forward that would reform our school-funding formula for the first time in 17 years,” Manar told the State Journal-Register.

Stay tuned.