Gov. Pritzker gave his budget address on Wednesday, and it was heartening to hear him call out attacks on school boards and libraries, including book bans and 'Don't Say Gay' laws, and say unequivocally that here in Illinois we want our children to learn the truth about our history as a country, “warts and all.”

The push to dismantle public education via voucher schemes that start small and then metastasize to drain public coffers isn’t just a battle happening in Illinois. It’s nationwide, and it’s accelerating. Below we look at how vouchers are growing in neighboring states.

Wisconsin and Indiana have long been cautionary privatization tales. Wisconsin’s voucher program ballooned from $700K in 1991 to $444M this school year. Indiana’s program started in 2011, and initially budget figures claimed a savings of $4M from the program, but by last year the annual cost was up to $241M. Academic achievement results from Indiana’s voucher program have been dismal. Wisconsin’s program hasn’t had a long-term study for more than a decade, but the most recent study (2010) showed no achievement benefits for voucher students. (See discussion here.)

In Iowa the Republican governor’s plan for creating a massive Education Savings Account program may finally have the votes to succeed after she helped bump off the remaining opponents to it in her own party, rural Republicans, during last year’s primary election. But the battle is a noisy one in their state capitol nonetheless with robust opposition from Democrats in both chambers, and last year’s fight appeared to push public opinion there further against vouchers. 

Iowa Capital Dispatch Few Iowa families will have more choices with GOP 'school choice' plan

Little Village ‘Our public schools are not failing, elected officials are failing them’: Iowans opposing voucher bill flood legislature with comments

[Update: Iowa's voucher bill did pass. It is projected to grow from $107M this year to $341M in its fourth year.]

In Missouri lawmakers are already talking about expanding their brand new voucher program, also set up like IL’s as a tax-credit scholarship mechanism, a design choice that deliberately tries to circumvent the separation of church and state with voucher fund middlemen as the conduit for distributing tax dollars to private schools.

A rare bright spot is Kentucky, where their tax credit scholarship program was ruled unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court last month.

Louisville Public Media Ky. Supreme Court rules school tax credit program unconstitutional

Public Funds Public Schools Kentucky Remains Voucher-Free as Supreme Court Strikes Down Unconstitutional Law

The unanimous ruling makes it clear that the program raises public funds which are diverted to private schools: “[T]he income tax credit raises money for nonpublic education and its characterization as a tax credit rather than an appropriation is immaterial.“ And, since Kentucky’s constitution prohibits spending funds raised for education for anything other than public schools unless it is approved by voters, the program was ruled unconstitutional. 

Michigan is another positive piece of news. It's the home state of Betsy DeVos, and she and her family had been dumping millions into a push for a massive tax credit scholarship program there. But with the control of the Michigan legislature switching from Republican to Democratic in November and a likely defeat at the polls due to the unpopularity of voucher programs, DeVos-funded groups withdrew their attempt to get a ballot initiative approved that would have created the voucher program without the need for approval from the Governor.

Detroit News Conservative groups abandon ballot bids for private school scholarship, voting laws

Chalkbeat Detroit DeVos-funded campaign for school voucher-like plan withdraws petitions in a sign of defeat

What to make of all this from our near neighbors? One, it is imperative that Illinois’ program ends as intended! Even small-ish programs can grow huge quickly. The fight here currently is to make Invest in Kids permanent. If pro-voucher groups succeed, they will then simply return to Springfield with their busloads of voucher students to push to make the program bigger. Bills trying to do both have previously been introduced in Springfield with support from both sides of the aisle (e.g. see expansion bills here and here and bill to make permanent here.) 

Two, those of us who are pro-public schools may not have billionaires bankrolling us, but we do have the facts and popular opinion our side. Once people know about this program, they are very alarmed. As the Kentucky court case made clear, this program is taking tax revenue that should be appropriated for the public good and redirecting it for private purposes. Moreover, it is funding mostly religious institutions, and many of these schools, possibly most, engage in discrimination. (Only 15% of Invest in Kids voucher schools report serving any special education students!) 

Meanwhile, our public schools, which must serve all kids, are still short by billions of dollars of state funding. Voucher programs aren’t good public policy, and this is a fight worth having.

[Jan 3 2023: Updated alert here] Snow and winter holidays are quieting things down on the political front, but the IL General Assembly will be back right after New Year's Day in a “lame duck” session. And, just like with veto session, it’s possible that during lame duck, legislation on the Invest in Kids voucher program could move that included an extension, expansion or making it permanent.

IL-FPS was in Springfield during this week’s veto session to talk to legislators about Illinois' voucher program. The law that created the program in 2017, the Invest in Kids Act, was supposed to sunset after five years, but it's already been extended for an extra year. Voucher supporters want to remove the sunset clause to make the program permanent and also expand it. But we think public funds should only be for public schools, and we're launching a campaign to push for Invest in Kids to sunset for good. We’re happy to report back that, despite massive amounts of lobbying from pro-voucher groups, there wasn’t movement during veto session on any legislation regarding the Invest in Kids Act.

Below is a map of Invest in Kids voucher recipients by zip code for the 2021-2022 school year. Original data via the IL Department of Revenue. Spreadsheet of data available here. Mapping courtesy of Anthony Moser. 

To 15 zip codes by number of students:

Key: No. of recipients within zip code area

Click here for a detailed map of Chicago area.

In 2017, the IL General Assembly passed the Invest in Kids Act and created what was supposed to be a temporary school voucher program that could divert up to $75 million per year in public dollars to fund private schools in Illinois. Voucher programs siphon funds from public schools, they don’t promote education equity and they don’t improve outcomes for the students who receive them. You can read our FAQ about problems with the Illinois’ voucher program here.

Now supporters want to make this program permanent and expand it. This would be extremely damaging for Illinois’ public education system, and that’s why Illinois Families for Public Schools is working with many other state and local orgs, including the League of Women Voters of IL, IL’s teachers unions, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and many others, to call for ending this program for good. 

In 2017, as a result of a backroom deal between then Governor Rauner, legislative leaders and the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, the IL General Assembly created a K-12 voucher program for Illinois in the form of a tax credit scholarship scheme. Known as the Invest in Kids Act, the law allows up to $75 million in tax revenue to be diverted to private schools each year.

This program was intended to last for five years and to sunset after the 2022-2023 school year. It has been extended for one additional school year already, and some supporters of private and religious schools want it to be made permanent and expand!

Illinois Families for Public Schools opposes extending or expanding this voucher program. Vouchers harm the public good in a variety of ways including by diverting public dollars from our already underfunded Illinois public schools, and research has shown that they do not improve academic outcomes for children who receive vouchers. Voucher schools in Illinois discriminate on the basis of religion, disability status, LGBTQ+ status and more---that's not what education equity looks like.

Public funds should be for public schools that serve all children. It should be "game over" for IL's voucher program—we need to ensure that the Invest in Kids Act sunsets as intended after this school year! Use this link to email your state rep and state senator a letter urging them to oppose any extension or expansion of Invest in Kids.

Learn more about the problems with the Invest in Kids voucher program:

• Slideshow: Illinois' Backdoor Voucher Program (Recording available here)
• FAQ Explainer: Invest In Kids Act: What you need to know to about IL's voucher program
• One-pager for legislators: Sunset the ‘Invest in Kids’ Act
• Vouchers fund discrimination: See a list of examples here.
• Who Supports Illinois’ Invest in Kids Voucher Program?
• Illinois’ Invest in Kids Act voucher program and the separation of church and state: Why it matters
• Voucher Expansion Elsewhere in the Midwest

You can email your state rep and state senator asking them to end the Invest in Kids voucher program using this form.

✶ More Resources

• Public Funds Public Schools Voucher and Funding Diversion Legal Cases
• National Coalition for Public Education Opposing Private School Vouchers: A Toolkit for Legislators and Advocates
• IL Dept of Revenue: Invest In Kids site
• Center for American Progress (May 2019) The Danger Private School Voucher Programs Pose to Civil Rights
• Network for Public Education's Privatization Toolkit 
  • Voucher FAQ
  • Tax Credit Scholarship FAQ

✶ Get Involved

Are you interested in helping us ensure that Illinois' voucher program ends? Sign up below to get updates about the campaign and opportunities to get involved!

We are happy to do presentations for your neighborhood or community group to explain IL's voucher program and why it needs to end. Email us to schedule a time.

If you represent an organization that would like to collaborate with IL-FPS on this campaign, please get in touch via email [email protected] 

The following organizations have endorsed ending the Invest in Kids voucher program:

Access Living ● ACLU of Illinois  ● Action Ridge ● Activate Chicago Parents ● AFT Local 604 ● American Association of University Women Illinois ● American Association of University Women Naperville Area ● Americans United for the Separation of Church and State ● Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago ● BG Pride ● Brighton Park Neighborhood Council ● Center for Tax and Budget Accountability ● Chicago Coalition for the Homeless ● Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights ● Chicago Teachers Union ● COFI  ● ED-RED ● Equality Illinois ● Families 4 Students and Teachers ● 50th Ward Working Families ● 48th Ward Neighbors for Justice ● Healing to Action ● Illinois Education Association ● Illinois Families for Public Schools ● Illinois Federation of Teachers ● Illinois High School District Organization ● Illinois National Organization for Women ● Illinois Parent Teacher Association ● Indivisible Chicago ● Indivisible Evanston ● Indivisible Lincoln Square ● JCUA ● Journey for Justice Alliance ● League of Women Voters of Illinois ● Learning Disabilities Association of Illinois ● Legal Council for Health Justice ● LEND ● Library Defense ● National Association of Social Workers - IL Chapter ● Network for Public Education ● Network 49 ● Northside Action for Justice ● PFLAG Council of Northern Illinois ● Pilsen Alliance ● POWER-PAC IL ● Public Funds Public Schools ● Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education ● SCOPE ● Teach Plus ● 39th Ward Neighbors United ● 33rd Ward Working Families ● Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois ● United Northwest Side