Social media giant Meta agreed to a deal with 47 states to settle a joint lawsuit last week, with Illinois set to receive up to $768 million. As the funds were announced, some in the state are calling for it to be used as additional education funding for a budget-strapped Chicago Public Schools.
A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general announced a $17.1 billion settlement with Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, in a lawsuit over risks its platforms pose to young users.
Illinois’ portion of the settlement isn’t being directly given to impacted users or their parents. Instead, the state gets to choose how to use the funds.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers said the new funds could fund the statewide education gap, which has been a focus of state lawmakers, the governor, and at Chicago Public Schools.
CPS is currently running a deficit, but passed a budget last month for the current school year. That budget counts on $150 million in state funds not-yet appropriated in order to pay teachers and staff.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s not sure using the funds for CPS’s deficit would solve the state’s larger problem with funding education.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul told the Chicago Tribune last week that talk of the settlement funds being used any one way is premature, and his office has said a majority of the funds will go toward addressing teen social media overuse and other harms.
Story from Illinois Radio Network
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