There were 54 Black students enrolled in Ottawa Elementary School District 141 in the 2024-25 school year, 3.8% more than the previous year, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Data showed that Ottawa Elementary School District 141 welcomed 1,740 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 3.1% of the student body to be the second least represented ethnicity in the district.
Ottawa Elementary School District 141 roughly covers schools within LaSalle County and has a main office in Ottawa.
Among the five schools in Ottawa Elementary School District 141, Jefferson Elementary School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 15 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 | 1,740 | 54 | 3.1% |
| 2023-24 | 1,768 | 52 | 2.9% |
| 2022-23 | 1,739 | 56 | 3.2% |
| 2021-22 | 1,748 | 58 | 3.3% |
| 2020-21 | 1,759 | 53 | 3% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Illinois Report Card. The source data can be found here.
