Southern Illinois News

The majority of students in Union County schools were white in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

Of the 2,456 students attending Union County schools, 87.4% were white. Hispanic students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 8% of Union County students.

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common group in Union County, representing 87.1% of the student body.

Cobden High School had the most even distribution of races among county schools, including 61% white students and 34% Hispanic students.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county dropped 2.7% compared to the previous year.

In the 2021-22 school year, Illinois had roughly 1.9 million students enrolled across approximately schools. There were more than 130,000 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 15 students, compared to the national average of 1:16.

Illinois has increased its state funding for public schools by $350 million, bringing the total to $8.6 billion for the upcoming year. This is in line with a 2017 law aiming to provide adequate funding to all schools by 2027.

However, experts suggest that this goal may be delayed unless education funding jumps to at least $550 million. According to a Center for Tax and Budget Accountability report, there’s currently a funding gap of about $2.3 billion.

School name	Most prevalent ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
Anna Junior High School	White	87.7%	235
Anna-Jonesboro High School	White	87.2%	470
Cobden Elementary School	White	79.2%	207
Cobden High School	White	61%	159
Cobden Junior High School	White	67.7%	93
Davie Elementary School	White	87.5%	112
Dongola Elementary School	White	93.4%	122
Dongola High School	White	92.7%	55
Dongola Junior High School	White	98%	51
Jonesboro Elementary School	White	94.8%	330
Lick Creek Elementary School	White	94.2%	138
Lincoln Elementary School	White	88.8%	206
Shawnee Elementary School	White	96%	149
Shawnee High School	White	97%	66
Shawnee Junior High School	White	95.2%	63