There were 1,870 Black students enrolled in Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 in the 2024-25 school year, 5.4% fewer than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 welcomed 2,434 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 76.8% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the district.
Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 roughly covers schools within Cook County and has a main office in Markham.
Among the eight schools in Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144, Prairie-Hills Junior High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 576 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 | 2,434 | 1,870 | 76.8% |
| 2023-24 | 2,506 | 1,977 | 78.9% |
| 2022-23 | 2,482 | 1,987 | 80.1% |
| 2021-22 | 2,582 | 2,115 | 81.9% |
| 2020-21 | 2,599 | 2,142 | 82.4% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
