Over $3.3 million coming to Champaign County schools

CHAMPAIGN – State Senator Paul Faraci announced that eight Champaign County school districts will receive over $3.3 million in additional funding to help students. 

“It is important that we fully fund our local schools in order to give students the best possible learning outcomes,” said Faraci (D-Champaign). “Everyone has the right to a high-quality education, and funding from the evidence-based model helps us reach that goal.”

The funding comes from the 2017 Illinois Senate Democrat-backed evidence-based funding formula — an overhaul of the way the state funds K-12 education. The law made school funding more equitable by calculating the needs of individual school districts and basing its state revenue on those needs. The formula takes into account a district’s total enrollment, poverty rate and number of special education or English language learners, among other factors.

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Faraci announces over $700,000 for Vermilion County schools

DANVILLE – State Senator Paul Faraci announced that four Vermilion County school districts will receive over $700,000 in evidence-based funding to help students. 

“The evidence-based funding model works, as it helps school districts and students across the state succeed,” said Faraci (D-Champaign). “The funding will not only help our local schools, but should help school districts hold the line on property taxes .”

The funding comes from the 2017 Illinois Senate Democrat-backed evidence-based funding formula — an overhaul of the way the state funds K-12 education. The law made school funding more equitable by calculating the needs of individual school districts and basing its state revenue on those needs. The formula takes into account a district’s total enrollment, poverty rate and number of special education or English language learners, among other factors.

Vermilion County schools set to receive funding through the formula include:

• Danville School District 118: $156,377
• Oakwood School District 76: $77,666
• Vermilion Regional Office of Education #54: $28,595
• Westville School District 2: $473,528

The Fiscal Year 24 budget invested $350 million in new funding into students’ success through the evidence-based funding model.

For more information on the FY 24 evidence-based funding distribution, visit the Illinois State Board of Education’s website.

Faraci, Turner advocate for mental health services in ag communities

DECATUR – As strong advocates of Illinois’ agriculture industry, State Senators Paul Faraci and Doris Turner joined state officials and agriculture leaders at the 2023 Farm Progress Show to support increasing across to mental health services for rural farmers and agriculture communities.

“Mental health affects people from all professions — especially farmers whose job, success and livelihood relies on many things out of their control,” said Turner (D-Springfield), chair of the Illinois Senate Agriculture Committee. “Together, we can uplift the health and well-being of some of our state’s hardest working individuals.”

Initiated through the legislative leadership of Former Champaign State Senator Scott Bennett, the Farm Family Resource Initiative started as a joint pilot program of SIU School of Medicine and the Illinois Department of Agriculture in 2019. It originated as a pilot program covering six Illinois counties providing telehealth mental health access in addition to a helpline. Following its overwhelming success, the FFRI was expanded to cover all 102 counties in the state. In addition to the telehealth helpline, family members can now access six free telehealth mental health sessions.

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Faraci-backed law aims to address food deserts

SPRINGFIELD – A new law championed by State Senator Paul Faraci will tackle the increasing number of food deserts in Illinois.

“No one should go hungry because of their ZIP code,” said Faraci (D-Champaign). “This new initiative will provide much-needed support to grocery stores in underserved areas so people can have better access to fresh food.”

Under the new law, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will provide grants and other forms of financial assistance to grocery stores located in food deserts to help mitigate the lack of access to fresh food in communities across the state. An area is considered a food desert when urban residents have to travel more than half a mile and rural residents have to travel more than 10 miles to the nearest grocery store.

According to the USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas, which presents an overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility, there are several food deserts across Champaign and Vermilion Counties.

“Everyone deserves access to fresh and healthy food,” said Faraci. “Bridging the gap of food insecurity by addressing the growing number of food deserts will help build a stronger, more resilient community.”

Senate Bill 850 was signed Friday and takes effect Jan. 1, 2024.