This fall's Veto Session in Springfield will be pivotal for the fate of the Illinois' K-12 school voucher program (aka "Invest in Kids"). The Illinois General Assembly must vote before the end of the calendar year if the program is to extend past its current sunset date. Veto Session begins October 24th, so this is the time that public school supporters need to mobilize and spread the word to neighbors, colleagues, family and friends about why privatizing our public system is wrong and why they need to contact their legislators about ending Illinois' voucher program. Here's a way to do that!
Will our state continue diverting public funds to private schools that discriminate, subverting the separation of church and state and funding low-quality inequitable education at the expense of public schools that serve all kids? Or will the Illinois General Assembly let the Invest in Kids voucher program sunset as was originally intended when it was created in 2017?
These are still open questions! Unfortunately, most of the public doesn't even know Illinois has a voucher program, much less the harm that it's doing. Since 2018 more than $250 million in state tax revenue has been diverted to private schools. Until recently, Illinois lawmakers have mostly been hearing from the families of 9,000 voucher recipients—not the families of 1.9 million public school students! That needs to change NOW.
If you're a supporter of public schools, help us inform people about the voucher program and why it needs to end: print and share our intriguing new zine about how voucher programs are an attack on public schools and the public good.
All artwork ©Cory Creswell, 2023
(Is that Godzilla on the cover? Nope, it's a fire-breathing dinosaur like the kind found in Bob Jones University Press creationist science textbooks in use in Illinois voucher schools!)
✶ To print and share - Instructions:
- Download and print this document. Choose double-sided and black-and-white printing options.
- Fold in half, then in quarters into a booklet.
- Cut along the horizontal fold (=the bottom of the booklet) in order to flip through all the pages.
- Staple in the middle for extra stability.
✶ To read electronically - This version is better suited for reading on a device!
Want to pitch in to ensure this harmful program ends? Send emails to your state legislators using this link.
And check out even more resources here to read and share about Illinois' voucher program and the campaign to end it!