SPRINGFIELD — A judge issued a ruling this month that reads as a scathing indictment of the way his state funds and oversees public education. Education funding lawsuits may show what’s ahead ...

The school district has joined a lawsuit suing the state of Illinois for failing to adequately fund public education. Photo by Robert Cohen, [email protected] Robert Cohen

Chicago Public Schools, which have about 380,000 students, received about 15% of the state’s $10.6 billion in education funding, despite enrolling nearly 20% of Illinois' public students in 2016.

The lawsuit is consistent with the position of the Illinois State Board of Education, which has said $7.2 billion more would be needed to meet the goal of 100 percent funding to adequate levels.

A lawsuit filed Monday against Trump, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and Office of Budgement Management Director Russell Vought claimed that the Trump administration had “caused chaos” for K-12 school districts by refusing to distribute funding to six long-standing grant programs.

A group of public school districts sued Illinois on Wednesday, claiming the state was not providing adequate funding for them to comply with state-mandated learning standards.