There is an odd development in Illinois education. The youngest children, the three and four-year-olds sitting cross-legged on alphabet rugs in underfunded classrooms, don’t seem to care that the state keeps writing larger checks for its schools and lawmakers keep discussing priorities. The National Institute for Early Education Research recently released a report that put it simply: despite an increase in overall education spending, Illinois’ efforts to increase preschool access have stagnated. It’s the kind of disconnect that, until you look at the numbers, seems unthinkable.
With sincere aspirations, Governor JB Pritzker established Smart Start Illinois in 2023 with the goal of providing low-income families with high-quality, publicly funded preschool seats. The initiative added more than 5,000 seats by January 2025, bringing the total number of seats since the program’s start to about 11,000. That is not insignificant. However, the image becomes less attractive when you zoom out a little. When you consider that Illinois placed 22nd in state funding and 20th in 4-year-old enrollment during the 2024–2025 school year, it seems impressive that the state ranked fourth nationally for 3-year-old enrollment. It’s not exactly a trophy worth showcasing to be fourth in one category primarily because other states aren’t trying.
Over a five-year period, enrollment for three-year-olds gradually increased to 26%. It reached a plateau at 35 percent for 4-year-olds. Illinois isn’t even keeping up with the national average of 37% of 4-year-olds attending state-funded programs. In 2024–2025, there were about 83,000 kids enrolled, up slightly more than 1,000 from the previous year. modest, gradual improvements in the face of growing demand.
The funding trajectory is a narrative unto itself. Spending per child increased to $6,641, reversing a concerning decline from 2021 to 2023. After accounting for inflation, total state spending increased by 7% between 2023–2024 and 2024–2025. However, the General Assembly immediately kept the budget unchanged for the current year after allocating an extra $75 million for Early Childhood Block Grants in fiscal year 2025. There is no need to explain the contradiction of flat funding for a program that is supposed to be universal. In the words of one of the report’s authors, Steve Barnett, “if you have a universal pre-K program and you’re flat funding it, you’re never going to get there.”
Illinois’ reluctance is more apparent in light of the larger national context. Last year, state spending on preschool reached an all-time high of almost $14.4 billion, with nearly half coming from California, New Jersey, and New York. Despite its own budget deficit, New Jersey managed to raise $100 million for the expansion of preschools. With that kind of dedication, Illinois’ flat line appears more like a decision to not prioritize than fiscal caution.
Another question that is not raised enough is quality. While Illinois did not meet the requirements for assistant teacher degrees and staff professional development, it did meet eight of the ten benchmarks set by the institute. Just six states passed all ten. Although the benchmarks themselves are undoubtedly blunt tools—pass or fail, no partial credit—they provide insight into where focus shifts as budgets become more constrained. The things that are subtly put off are hiring competent assistants and making continuous training investments.
Preschool grant programs will relocate to the new Department of Early Childhood starting in July. This structural change may result in improved coordination or simply more bureaucracy consuming resources. Which result is more likely is still up for debate. In the meantime, legislators were working feverishly to balance conflicting demands across the whole spectrum of education in order to complete the fiscal year 2027 budget by the end of May.
It’s difficult not to wonder where the money goes when it doesn’t go here when you pass a preschool classroom in Rochester, Illinois, with tiny chairs, crayon drawings taped to cinderblock walls, and a teacher handling fifteen faces at once. There is no longer a serious argument against early childhood education because the research is sufficiently established. The first five years are crucial. Everyone is in agreement. However, in Springfield, the verbs “agreeing” and “funding” seem to be very different. Illinois possesses the stated political will, the framework, and the data infrastructure through programs like IECAM. The follow-through is something it doesn’t appear to have, at least not yet.
