The additional money is helping close funding gaps between wealthier districts and underfunded districts and increase funding for districts serving more students of color and students from low-income families, which was the goal of the law passed in 2017 that created the new formula. The formula has increased funding to public schools over the last five years by $1.6 billion, with 99% going to historically underfunded districts, found a report by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability - one of the key architects of the formula. Six years after Illinois overhauled how the state funds K-12 public schools, a new report has found that the evidence-based funding formula is working as intended to reduce funding gaps.