Schools are supposed to lose 10 percent of their state funding when they fall below the 90 percent level of vaccinations. But no school has ever been sanctioned for this violation, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Illinois code states that funding “shall be withheld by the regional superintendent until the number of students in compliance”… reaches the “specified percentage or higher.”
But even as measles cases arrive in Illinois, the state’s Board of Education says it has no plans to start enforcing the rules through funding sanctions any time soon.
“We are not looking to penalize a district or remove money from a district,” said ISBE spokesman Matt Vanover. “What we’re looking for is compliance. It’s difficult for educators to remove or exclude a child from education, especially when the child is from a poor or struggling family. Local districts will follow through with initaitves and reminders of their own.”