There were 518 Black students enrolled in Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 in the 2024-25 school year, 11.5% fewer than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 welcomed 2,481 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 20.9% of the student body to be the second most represented ethnicity in the district.
Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 roughly covers schools within Lake County and has a main office in Zion.
Among the two schools in Zion-Benton Township High School District 126, Zion-Benton Township High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 434 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 | 2,481 | 518 | 20.9% |
| 2023-24 | 2,508 | 585 | 23.3% |
| 2022-23 | 2,441 | 610 | 25% |
| 2021-22 | 2,501 | 680 | 27.2% |
| 2020-21 | 2,531 | 686 | 27.1% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
