East St. Louis School District 189 recently issued the following announcement.
We are only a few days away from the end of the 2020 Census response period, which ends September 30th. It is imperative to our community, state and especially our school district, to have a complete count. In our school district, much of the support comes from federal funding through either direct appropriations or through state appropriations. Missing just one child could cause the school district to lose essential funding required to provide equitable education opportunities to youth in our community.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois received more than $34 billion in census-tied funding in fiscal year 2016. That includes $682 million for Title I grants, $518 million in Special Education Grants, $462 million for the National School Lunch Program, $139 million for the School Breakfast Program, and $40 million for Career and Technical Education programs. Just a 1 percent undercount means losing $195 million in federal funds each year for the next decade.
The 2020 census is so important because not only does it affect our schools and communities but it also affects our families too. Our families rely heavily on federally funded programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, Section 8 housing, State Healthcare Plans for Children, WIC, and other essential programs. All of these programs are based on Census data. The census also affects our communities because it determines how many representatives Illinois has in Congress and in the Electoral College, which determines how much influence our state has on national policies that affect us and our schools. This is an important time for all of us as the census only occurs every ten years.
Here are three ways that you can participate in the census: online at my2020census.gov, by phone at (844) 330-2020, or by sending back the form families received in the mail from the U.S. Census Bureau. Please do your part and be counted!
Original source can be found here.
Source: East St. Louis School District 189
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