* Background is here if you need it. From that link is this Tribune story…
Illinois could soon opt into the first federal school voucher program — an initiative long-championed by private school advocates and religious conservatives — but Gov. JB Pritzker has yet to weigh in.
Under the program, part of the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act, donors can get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 for giving to scholarship-granting nonprofits. Those scholarships can go to private school tuition, transportation and other education-related expenses. […]
“We will evaluate the issue through a lens focused on affordability for working families and what best supports Illinois students, families, and public schools,” according to the statement [from Gov. Pritzker’s office].
In a July email, however, Pritzker’s office criticized the program, noting that it could “potentially (reduce) state and federal funding for public schools.” […]
“It’s a federal tax credit, so it doesn’t take any state or local resources,” [Andrew Broy, the president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools] said.
* CTU/IFT press release…
A statement by the Chicago Teachers Union and Illinois Federation of Teachers President Stacy Davis Gates on Trump’s School Voucher Tax Scheme and pending decision by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on opting Illinois in:
“When Donald Trump slipped a school voucher giveaway into his so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, it was never about kids. It was a tax break handout to school-choice billionaires and a backdoor scheme to privatize public education. Then and now, we—as parents, educators, and Illinoisans who understand what’s at stake—have been clear: private school vouchers are a scam designed to undermine public education. This $1,700 federal tax credit isn’t about opportunity; it rewards the ultra-wealthy while draining resources from the educational communities that serve the vast majority of our children.
Here in Illinois, voters were clear, and the General Assembly honored that mandate by overwhelmingly rejecting school vouchers. That is why it is both troubling and confusing that Governor J.B. Pritzker would even consider opting Illinois into Trump’s federal voucher tax scheme. At a moment when the governor and general assembly still owe more than $5 billion to our public schools, any wavering on this issue breaks faith with Illinois families and the values they have repeatedly affirmed at the ballot box.
Illinois should not send public dollars to private schools with no transparency, no public oversight, and no real commitment to equity—schools that routinely exclude or push out Black students, students with disabilities, and English-language learners. We already rejected this failed experiment when Bruce Rauner and his allies tried to force voucher schemes on our state–but the Illinois Police Institute always forgets that part.
Trump repackaging the same idea at the federal level doesn’t change the facts: vouchers siphon resources from the students with the greatest needs and redirect them to the wealthiest families, hollowing out public institutions in the process.
You cannot say you support equity while starving the institutions that make equity possible. You cannot celebrate Black History Month on one hand while undermining Black students, Black families, Black working people, and their communities with the other. Allowing private school voucher schemes to take root in Illinois, in any form, would be a betrayal of our responsibility to young people and the public schools where their futures are built.”
Emphasis added.
Also, note the “Illinois Police Institute” reference.
- Really? - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 12:42 pm:
Categorizing those who send their children to private/religious schools as “billionaires” is more than a stretch.
- anon2 - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 12:46 pm:
While I support public education, I don’t understand how a federal tax credit would “siphon resources from students with the greatest needs.” Not all students in private schools are from affluent families. A healthy proportion get financial assistance from a Catholic high school I’m familiar with.
- Steve - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 12:51 pm:
CTU/IFT are being very consistent here. Any sort of tax credit or tax cut at the state or federal level is money CTU/IFT could have. CTU/IFT’s salaries come from taxpayers.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 12:53 pm:
===Categorizing those who send their children to private/religious schools as===
Um, did you not read the statement and the story above it?
- DuPage Saint - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:03 pm:
I guess it begs the question would Stacy Davis Gayes have taken the tax credit when her child went to a private school
- Socially DIstant Watcher - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:04 pm:
The Trump Administration view is perilously close to, “if you take a dime of money from us, then we can tell you how to run every aspect of what you do.” Has the administration said what hoops a school will have to jump through in order to get funded?
People here who don’t see the problem might not be reading the fine print.
- Illiana - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:09 pm:
As someone who didn’t really care whether or not Illinois participated in this program, this release makes me want us to do it now.
- JS Mill - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:13 pm:
=an initiative long-championed by private school advocates and religious conservatives=
When it comes to public education this usually translates into undermining public education and gleefully violating the establishment clause of the constitution.
=“It’s a federal tax credit, so it doesn’t take any state or local resources,” [Andrew Broy, the president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools] said.=
Sure Andrew, nothing to see here.
=I don’t understand how a federal tax credit would “siphon resources from students with the greatest needs.” =
First, almost no one but public school administrators understand how federal dollars flow to schools. Second, it may not be state money but it will reduce federal money sent to schools. Of that I have no doubt based on this administrations antagonism for public education. This is not a “victimless crime” so to speak.
= It was a tax break handout to school-choice billionaires and a backdoor scheme to privatize public education. =
I hate agreeing with Gates. I mean, really really don’t like it. But she is correct. (She is also a bit of a hypocrite).
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:29 pm:
=== would Stacy Davis Gayes have taken the tax credit when her child went to===
Your comment represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the new federal tax credit law. The credit is for people who donate to NGOs that give “scholarships” to schools.
People, if you have enough time to comment, then you have enough time to read the post.
- Alton Sinkhole - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:31 pm:
Everything about the CTU/IFT press release reads as GPT.
The constant reliance on em dashes, the “this isn’t an X this is Y” cadence. All of it seems a bit strange. Would be curious if they can say this is 100% human generated
- Ron - In Texas - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:38 pm:
Been dealing with the federal gov for the last 7 years in contracts…
This:
“The Trump Administration view is perilously close to, “if you take a dime of money from us, then we can tell you how to run every aspect of what you do.” Has the administration said what hoops a school will have to jump through in order to get funded?”
Is how it actually works. Maybe we missed that, but those that hand out money dictate things.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:49 pm:
I’m sure if the Governor opts out that will stop SDG from attacking him. /S
The billionaires really care about a $1,700 tax credit? It guess the State’s tax revenue might decrease some because it is tied to federal AGI. The BBBA was bad, but it’s law now. I think the Governor should make what he judges is the best policy decision.
- Ducky - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:52 pm:
If SDG is against it, I am for it.
Seriously though, CTU has nothing to fear from the change if the teaching in their schools is high quality.
- Think again - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 1:59 pm:
= It was a tax break handout to school-choice billionaires=
Sort of silly from SDG - there are only 23 Billionaires in Illinois (according to Wikipedia) - the savings they would get for Trump’s federal tax-credit scholarship program is tiny….
“private donors of scholarship granting organization individual federal tax credits of up to $1,700 for school choice scholarships”
- Jack in Chatham - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 2:09 pm:
These private schools would not be having so much problems with funding if State legislatures would simply ban lawsuits for sexually abusing children in Civil Court./snark
- Jocko - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 2:10 pm:
==Supporters say the program will allow low-income students to receive a better or specialized education outside of their neighborhood school.==
With no requirement that the private school demonstrate how it is better or provides specialized education…other than “Take our word for it.”
- Norseman - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 2:21 pm:
It’s always about misdirection with the right. Clearly, public schools are the target for reasons other than education. Thanks to JS the blog’s resident education expert for keeping his eye on the ball and thanks for your service to education.
- 46_Ward_Moderate - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 2:32 pm:
SDG is living in her own glass house, so to speak and has zero credibility to speak on this. This is a woman who among [many] other thing is currently spewing mis-information and blatantly dishonest nonsense about how Jim Crow South Segregationists taught the Nazis (she has become the marjorie taylor greene left wing equivalent, IMHO). She should not be within 100 miles of a classroom, let alone have any say on where parents get to send their children to school. I’m not sure when she said this, but it was fairly recently: https://x.com/CivokNilam/status/2014560343423390020
- City Zen - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 2:33 pm:
==still owe more than $5 billion to our public schools==
EBF has broken so many brains.
- JS Mill - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 2:34 pm:
=Sort of silly from SDG - there are only 23 Billionaires in Illinois…=
Sort of silly you think the issue is about how many when it is about how much. And of course the USSC.
- School Guy - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 2:49 pm:
It was a brilliant move by the Republicans to make the BBBA force the governor of each state accept whether or not to participate in this school choice program. It happened late in the game. Now Pritzker has to make one group or another mad - the teachers unions or families who wish to send their students to private schools.
There is no evidence to show that he won’t align with the teachers unions since that is what he has done most often. The timing of his decision will be interesting. I presume he is waiting to announce his decision until after the primary election to keep some attention off of the issue for Democrats over the next 6 weeks.
Polling shows that 60% or more of Illinoisans approve of school choice initiatives. Those questions, of course, generally do not suggest any changes to existing school programs or funding (which are, to date, unclear).
- Anyone Remember - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 2:51 pm:
Part of governing is agreeing with people you think are usually wrong, like SDG. My extended family had more than a few children who wouldn’t be accepted in private education - physical disabilities, PTSD, neurodivergent. 25 years ago Milwaukee’s voucher program exempted private schools (90% sectarian) from ADA, IEPs, etc.
Add to that the numbers in the Illinois Times’ current story on Springfield public schools - of the 4 schools, 33% of a high school’s students had IEPs, a reading teacher at an elementary school said he had a “high percentage” of special needs students.
My fear is voucher crowd’s reaction will be to establish schools like the one used for the background setting in William Hurt & Marlee Matlin’s movie “Children of a Lesser God” …
- low level - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 3:11 pm:
==still owe more than $5 billion==
I thought they claimed schools were owed $1B, or was it $2B? The number seems to keep changing. Listening to CTU is like hearing nails on a chalkboard.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 3:13 pm:
===The number seems to keep changing===
She’s talking statewide, but i think that changed too.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 3:16 pm:
===blatantly dishonest nonsense about how Jim Crow South Segregationists taught the Nazis ===
The Holocaust Museum in Houston would disagree.
https://hmh.org/event/the-impact-of-racist-ideologies-jim-crow-and-the-nuremberg-laws/
- H-W - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 3:27 pm:
=== donors can get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 for giving to scholarship-granting nonprofits. ===
How will these “scholarship granting” entities be regulated, and who will regulate them? Are the regulators members of the boards of the private schools themselves? Parents of children already attending? If so, then the private schools receiving the donated funds are only helping themselves, and not the communities where they exist unless these schools intend to create dozens and dozens of new seats in their schools. Even then, I fail to see how this benefits the citizens of Illinois at all.
This federal proposal appears more-and-more to be a scheme in which private school parents are allowed to recoup portions of their tuition payments by calling them scholarship gifts. Pragmatically, this proposal is simply a tax write-off for those who live near the private schools they choose to fund, with the symbolic hope that their children are deemed eligible to attend the private schools they already attend and to which they make future “scholarship” donations.
Pritzker is correct in waiting to read the fine print. Nothing herein guarantees that poor kids will attend private schools, nor guarantees that there will be even a modicum of growth in private school opportunities anywhere in Illinois, much less in places where most poor people reside - urban central cities and rural Illinois.
And if the citizenry writ-large does not benefit in any measurable way, then why agree to federal regulations that deregulate our state’s public schools so that those who attend private schools can be exempt from all state regulation, and get tax breaks for sending their children to private schools?
- Demoralized - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 3:49 pm:
==but those that hand out money dictate things==
The way this President has been acting is totally different and you know that. The federal government generally doesn’t cut off funding because you’re a state run by Democrats. That is what is happening. So don’t give me that nonsense.
- Don't lose Sight - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 3:55 pm:
Pritzker is correct in waiting to read the fine print.
He just got his marching orders handed to him…..no more reading
- Shytown - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 4:07 pm:
SDG and CORE are in free fall. Everything that comes out of their mouths is focused on division and fear. They care about one thing only - member dues money in their pockets. It’s never about students. Students are a means to an end for them. If there are parents from humble means who feel that a private school education is a better fit for their child and this can help them pay for it, so be it.
- Norseman - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 4:18 pm:
=== blatantly dishonest nonsense about how Jim Crow South Segregationists taught the Nazis ===
Rich appropriately shot down this point. Unfortunately, the MAGA GOP effort to whitewash history is to ensure folks like the commenter stay ignorant of these facts.
- Demoralized - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 4:21 pm:
==He just got his marching orders handed to him==
I’ve seen no evidence that Governor Pritzker jumps just because SDG says so. In fact, I’ve seen the opposite.
- Mason County - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 4:26 pm:
Meanwhile the State of Illinois continues to give money to students who choose private colleges and there seems to be no discussion of that.
The Independent Colleges Capital Investment Grant Program is the primary vehicle for direct state funding to private institutions. In early 2024, the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) distributed $400 million across 45 private colleges to support construction, repairs, and renovations.
Top 2026 Capital Grant Recipients:
Northwestern University: $48,907,150
DePaul University: $43,073,336
Loyola University of Chicago: $36,722,099
Columbia College Chicago: $17,748,602
Illinois Institute of Technology: $17,710,498
Student Financial Aid (MAP)
Students attending private colleges in Illinois can receive up to $8,064 for the 2025-2026 academic year through the Monetary Award Program (MAP).
- Colorado - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 4:53 pm:
Maybe worth noting for those who assume purely partisan intent here: Gov. Polis has opted in.
- Anyone Remember - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 5:04 pm:
Polis? His pardon of Balloon Boy’s father relegates him to the “less than serious” …
- Southsider - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 5:19 pm:
This is a Federal tax credit not an Illinois tax credit, so Illinois families would benefit from extra money coming to the state in support of education. The scholarship could be used in support of families for public schools programs or for families to afford to attend private schools - much like the President of the Chicago Teachers Union and Illinois Federation of Teachers, Stacy Davis Gates, who prefers a Catholic education for her child over a public education. It’s her right and her choice as a parent. Many others would love to have a similar privilege but can’t afford it. This program would change that.
- Jocko - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 5:30 pm:
==Many others would love to have a similar privilege but can’t afford it.==
Since when does private/parochial school cost only $1700/yr.? Also, if that child has health, learning, or emotional/behavioral problems, do you think the school is going to support (much less keep) him?
- Felix - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 5:49 pm:
== the General Assembly honored that mandate by overwhelmingly rejecting school vouchers ==
Not true. The only time the GA had the opportunity to vote on that tax credit scholarship program, they voted in favor of it — when it was part of the EBF bill. A bill was introduced to remove the program’s sunset date but was never called because it didn’t meet the speaker’s 60-Dem vote threshold. Had it hit the board, it likely would have passed on a bipartisan roll call.
- Horseshoe Voter - Monday, Feb 2, 26 @ 10:20 pm:
Pritzker is wise to wait until Dept of Treasury regulations are out. We need to see what limitations states can impose (e.g., no providers that discriminate based on religion/disability, further limiting family income of scholarship recipients to
something lower than OBBBA limits…). It’s expected that public school students will be able to access scholarships as well for things like summer literacy camps, high-dosage tutoring, and enrichment after school. IL taxpayers can contribute and receive the tax credit, even if it goes to other states’ Scholarship Granting Organizations. But without opting in to the program, IL kids can’t access those funds.
I may very well support opting out once we see the regs, but as of now, I’m holding out hope that Pritzker will be able to carve a path to make this beneficial for IL students.