There were 211 Black students enrolled in Cairo Unit School District 1 in the 2024-25 school year, 2.8% fewer than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Cairo Unit School District 1 welcomed 277 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 76.2% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the district.
Cairo Unit School District 1 roughly covers schools within Alexander County and has a main office in Cairo.
Among the two schools in Cairo Unit School District 1, Cairo Elementary School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 109 students.
Nationwide, public K-12 education spending has approached roughly $857 billion, with average per-student spending near $17,000, funded primarily through state and local sources. Spending varies widely by state, and Illinois ranks above the national average, with roughly $22,000 spent per student when state, local, and federal funding are combined.
Illinois public school enrollment continues a long-term downward trend. According to statewide reporting and education data analyses, total enrollment fell to about 1.85 million students as of the 2023-24 school year, and major districts such as Chicago Public Schools saw further declines—for example, CPS reported a drop of more than 9,000 students between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 counts.
| Year | Total District Enrollment | Total of Black Students | Black students (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 277 | 211 | 76.2% |
| 2023-24 | 292 | 217 | 74.3% |
| 2022-23 | 300 | 239 | 79.7% |
| 2021-22 | 271 | 220 | 81.2% |
| 2020-21 | 291 | 236 | 81.1% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
